Just Back- Mixed Thoughts

[conandrob240]

Just back from the Aug. 27, 3-nt Wonder cruise. We had a GREAT time. It was very relaxing and the two port stops were fantastic. We spent the day at Atlantis in Nassau and had a beautiful day- what a great resort! The next day at Castaway Cay was perfect weather and another wonderful family day-that is truly one of the best islands in the world, IMO. Our stateroom was very spacious and nice. Shows (esp Toy Story) were fantastic and the first run movies (esp in digital 3D) is a great treat. The poolside movie screen is also really nice. Adult pool is also really nice and rather empty most of the time.

However, I was rather disappointed with many aspects of the cruise itself this time around. 1) I thought cabin service was poor. Our attendant was not very available and not very friendly. He was professional and polite and did the minimum he was supposed to do (cleaned the room once in the am and then did turn-down). He did NOT do intermitent straightening up like every other cabin steward I have had and he did not address us by name or speak much to us other than to say hello if we passed him in the hall. Never asked us how our day was or anything personal such as that. He also seemed annoyed that we wanted the wall bunk made up rather than the pull out sofa ( for a 10 yr old , the wall bunk is quite awesome!). 2) I thought the food was poor. Our meals at Animator's palate were gross. Veal chop was all fatty and tough. Padsta dish tasted like it was 3 steps down from Olive Garden. Kid's pizza was frozen pizza from a box. Appetizers that night were decent. Dessert was poor. Our next night we ate at Palo and it was terrible. Worst piece of fliet mignon I ever had. Lamb was gamey. Appetizers just so-so. Souffle dessert was good. Took 2 hrs before we had our entree- completely unnecessary and unacceptable. We had to rush through entree and dessert to get to pirate party in time (even though we had a 7:30pm reservation!). Tritons was the best and the food was good there for dinner last night and for both days we had breakfast there. Poolside pizza was gross. Burgers, sandwiches & hot dogs poolside were decent. Buffet at Castway cay was very good 3) Dining room service. Again, professional but not friendly at all. Constantly said our child's name wrong even though we said it for them 3x. Always felt rushed even though late seating. 4) Kid's Club. Not as many activities as in the past and sometimes they were late or didn't happen at all. Way too much focus on High School musical (great for the girls but few boys were interested). HSM activities were around the KIDS putting on shows, etc. IMO, the programs should be about the staff engaging & entertaining the kids, not the kids performing. In addition, many of the counselors in the 8-12 kids club seemed disinterested and a few were downright rude. Our nephew (who never complains about anything) said one of the counselors yelled in his face:"Don't you speak english?" when he didn't understand something that was being explained. Unacceptable. 5) Ship starting to show its age- rather worn and tattered in some areas (public rugs dirty, chairs work out, etc).

My most recent cruise was on NCL 8 months ago and I have to say that DCL fell far short of NCL in almost every way. Service, food were FAR better n NCL. And DCL service and food was FAR short of where it was on our last DCL cruise 3 yrs ago.

We had a wonderful family trip filled with fun and love and laughter and Castaway Cay is still stunning and amazing. But with the DCL prices, we may not be going again because of the issues spelled out above.

 

[DMMarla07860]

I have to say I was on the cruise and had a great time, great service and met lots of great people. This trip no food was really a stand out meal, but I enjoyed the duck in triton's, but I thought the food good and can't complain about that. As for the ship I really could not tell it was showing it's age, but then again that's because I didn't really look and see if it was showing it's age

 

[conandrob240]

Well, IMO, you didn't have to "look" to see it was showing its age. Some of the rugs in the public areas were rather stained and gross. The chairs in Triton's were all worn out on the arms. None of it was a big deal but it was obvious to me. Totally disagree on the food- in many cases, it was just downright poor. Personal taste I guess and maybe you even got lucky with ordering better than we did.

 

[DMMarla07860]

Well, IMO, you didn't have to "look" to see it was showing its age. Some of the rugs in the public areas were rather stained and gross. The chairs in Triton's were all worn out on the arms. None of it was a big deal but it was obvious to me. Totally disagree on the food- in many cases, it was just downright poor. Personal taste I guess and maybe you even got lucky with ordering better than we did.

well for the worn out part, I've seen hotels more worn out, so didn't notice that and the food I go with personal taste, because on the ship while talking with people who cruised and some it was there first time. I got people who said the liked and loved the food and people who didn't love or like the food. So I just say it's a personal taste of food.. Not saying it was the best food I have ever had, but wasn't gross for me.

 

[nokidz]

Sorry for your bad experiences, cant talk about the food or the service, but i beleive the Wonder is due to dry doc in a few weeks.

 

[conandrob240]

Just because I may have seen hotels more worn out or had worse food, doesn't make it okay. DCL is very expensive compared to other cruise lines and, for that money, food, service and quality of the ship should be nothing less than GREAT.

 

[MommyMinnie]

But with the DCL prices, we may not be going again because of the issues spelled out above.

Good to know what you like and don't like in a cruise. I'll be happy to miss you on my next Disney Cruise while I'm having fun and you are picking at your meal.

 

[kcashner]

The ship is due for dry dock in the October. We have previously noted some need for work...a little "shabbiness" or "showing her age" on the Magic shortly before scheduled dry docks. Nothing was "gross" or really objectionable, just ready for a full fix up. Then, when you sail several months after dry dock, everything is beautiful again.

Some room stewards are more comfortable than others with English and with "chit chat." The steward is only supposed to do the room twice a day. I've never seen any "intermittent straightening up" beyond that, but they do pick up when they do the turn down service. Certainly if you need anything else, ask. We never had a problem with DD wanting the bunk--she did that a lot!

They are training a lot of new CMs in preparation for the new ships--that might or might not have something to do with your experience in that area.

I haven't sailed with the new menus, so can't speak to that...but I've never had a bad meal in Palo. If something wasn't to my liking in the other rooms, I always felt it was a matter of my taste as opposed to anything having to do with the food. The only exception is the cakes--general rule there is that the better it looks, the more tasteless it is!

 

[conandrob240]

How rude you are, MommyMinnie! I posted a review of my personal experiences on DCL some of which were less than stellar. It was an honest review. Why would you attack me? Geesh, lighten up people, I ddn't attack your mother- I pointed out some things that weren't up to par, IMO, on a cruise that costs a lot of $!!!

On other cruiselines, I have ALWAYS had the experience of the steward coming in and bringing in ice or stopping in after we showered to pick up the towels or the plates after he saw we had a room service snack, etc. I have also ALWAYS been referred to/greeted by name and even those who whose English was weak, have asked me if I had a nice day or similar. He was fine- he just wasn't as engaged or friendly as others we have had. As I said, he was professional and he did his job adequately,nothing more. Service around the ship elsewhere was similar, adequate but never quite top notch except from a few. So maybe the training does explain that.

 

[TheWog]

Good to know what you like and don't like in a cruise. I'll be happy to miss you on my next Disney Cruise while I'm having fun and you are picking at your meal.

Wow.

 

[dizneyfan23]

I haven't had the new menus yet either (going in two weeks), but over my different cruises there have been a couple times that I didn't like the food one night, or perhaps something I ordered wasn't what I expected. In any case, all I had to do was ask my waiter either to take it back and get a new one, or get a different item, and the waiter was happy to do so for me.

 

[rlduvall]

Good to know what you like and don't like in a cruise. I'll be happy to miss you on my next Disney Cruise while I'm having fun and you are picking at your meal.

Seriously?

 

[bama-mom]

As a first time cruiser and Disney fanatic, I appreciated your review! No need for nastiness, OP was just being honest. I am paying a lot for this trip, I want all the reviews I can get !!

Glad you still had a great family trip!! And thanks for your honesty!!

 

[conandrob240]

In this experience, this was NOT a case of us simply not liking the meal. It was a case of poor quality of food- cuts of meat were tough and fatty, prepared pasta (on 2 different occassions and dishes) were bland and box or frozen quality. That sort of thing. If it had been the case where it just didn't meet our tastes, I would have not given a review that the food was "poor". We travel often to all-inclusive resorts (usually Sandals) and I have been on 4 cruises (DCL, NCL & Princess)- this DCL cruise was BY FAR the lowest quality of food in that scope of comparison.

 

[barney4liz]

Well I will have to chime in with the OP on a couple of things. We cruised with Disney for the 3rd time this past August, and the food in the rotation restaurants was overall much worse than our previous two cruises. And we are not super-picky eaters, but we do like good food and enjoy nice restaurants. One of the teens with us did not feel well one evening and ordered the mac n' cheese from the kids menu -- that stuff was awful!

We did have a wonderful meal at Palo, so I am sorry for the OP's experience there. It has consistently been the best food of our cruises.

The ship is definitely due for her dry-dock makeover. We also noticed a lot of stained carpet in our area of the ship, and our hall had a very bad musty odor the entire trip, despite big fans running. Fortunately, it did not permeate our stateroom.

We decided we would probably try another line next time just for comparison. Of course, that did not stop me from getting a "Kids Sail Free" quote for 2/2010.

 

[Leanne1977]

Thank you for your review. Although I don't agree with any of your findings you are perfectly entitled to tell us what you experienced.

We are regular vistors to WDW from the UK and are also DVC members but on 20th Aug we took our first Disney cruise on the Wonder.

From start to finish our experience was fantastic. From the servers, kids clubs, food, shows, room, cleanliness and so on, everything was top notch for us. Each and everytime we passed a member of staff they would ask how we were and if there was anything we needed.

I have sat here going over every single part of our cruise and I honestly cannot think of anything bad to say. The only negative thing would be Nassau as we really didn't enjoy it there and were back on the ship within 20 minutes.
We had an outstanding meal in Palo and could not fault the food or the service.

So I am sorry that your cruise wasn't up to scratch but I am glad you had a good time anyway.

 

[MickeyMouse'sBFF]

I am on here looking for anything I can find out about the dcl. I am trying to figure out if this is worth the $ they ask for it. I personaly am GLAD to have honest opinions here. Just because the opinions dont "match" what someone else is thinking about it, it doesnt make it WRONG. Why people can't allow someone to note something in their own opinion is crazy to me. I found the information helpful about your cruise. Quality is important when you choose to spend ALL your vacation funds for that entire year on something. Thank you speaking up and sharing. I know THAT is what I came here to find out~ Oh, I also apreciate the info on the stuff you DID like too. I noticed someone didnt hear anything you said about THAT~

 

[barney4liz]

And to be fair, I will also add that despite our disappointment in the rotation dining meals, and the funky smell on our hall, we still had a fabulous time, probably the most enjoyable of our 3 cruises overall. Just very relaxing and pleasant. Our stateroom hostess was great, and our dining servers were great, they just did not have much to work with. I even won bingo 2 sessions!

I guess I just felt like -- I would rather have eaten some of the yummy wraps from Goofy's Galley or a burger or dog, lounging by the pool, than spending time in the restaurants for a sub-par meal. It is unfortunate, but maybe if they get enough feedback they will work on that.

 

[MommyMinnie]

OP, you proved your attitude in the first two words of your response.

barney4liz, I'm sorry your son didn't like the mac n cheese. We find the kids menu el blan dan erino (bland) at best. Probably aimed at little bitty ones who want the same thing every day. Most of it's not much more than finger food at best.

In all my cruises with DCL the room stewards do spend most of their time trying to blend into the background. I wonder if anyone else has an opinon on the comparison between NCL "outgoing" stewards and DCL "blend in" stewards.

I also wonder if it has to do with the number of underage passengers.

 

[trimix]

I am curious - did you complain about the food quality or send a dish back?

I was enjoying seven nights on the Magic last week, and I did not have any problems with the food. However, one piece of meat my wife ordered was rather fatty. We sent it back and she had an ideal cut of meat within five minutes.
Then, as on eshould expect when trying a lot of new things, there was the one dish I just plain didn't like. My server offered alterate suggestions and again I had a new main course within five minutes.

The Magic was in drydock last September and was overall in good condition. When I took a close look I saw areas of wear and a bit of rust, but maintenance was ongoing (as you should expect in any ship that large) and almost everything looked like it was recently refurbished.

The three night cruise makes absolutely no sense to me, and after a week on the Magic I am glad I chose seven nights over four.