Live Updates from the Disney Magic - Feb 13th-20th

[Tarabra]

When we got off the Magic in January they did swipe our cards but customs never looked at our passports. DH had Dad in his wheelchair and I had Mom in her wheelchair. Our porter with the luggage handed them our customs forms and as I started to hand over our passports the customs guy said "You're good. Go ahead." Maybe it was because we had elderly folks in wheelchairs?

Wonder if the reason they didn't swipe the cards was not having enough card readers at the temporary port?

I thought we didn't need pasports on the closed loop cruises???

 

[tvguy]

I thought we didn't need pasports on the closed loop cruises???

Sounds like they didn't look at Passports or photo I.D. I can understand that given that Immigration, Port Staff and Disney staff were stretched thin because they had to offload/load two ships in one day instead of one.

 

[jessica52877]

I thought we didn't need pasports on the closed loop cruises???

You don't still as of this time. Just photo ID and birth certificate are fine.

Sounds like they didn't look at Passports or photo I.D. I can understand that given that Immigration, Port Staff and Disney staff were stretched thin because they had to offload/load two ships in one day instead of one.

I agree, but what does this say about security then. It is okay because of the time constraints?

 

[truck1]

I never expected constant updates on the ship's status. I knew that the bridge was busy trying to keep us safe and work on plans. It was a serious situation and I wanted their focus on that. Especially once they confirmed we'd be on the ship another night, we didn't really need to know what was going on unless we hadn't left by 5pm Saturday.

However, there are plenty of crew members who would not have been involved in that and could have done a better job communicating our options for contacting our airlines for rescheduling travel home. They could have done a better job helping guests know which line to be in at guest services. Those are the crowd control and communication things I'm talking about. I don't know the management structure to know which senior officer would have responsibility for that, but even if it was someone who was needed on the bridge, they should have delegated dealing with these things to a junior office as their priority for the day.

With all of that said, I was more than thrilled with our cruise and suspect that DCL handled this at least as well, if not better, than anyone else would have. Just sharing the experience, helping myself with thoughts for my letter to them, and hoping DCL learns from the experience (as I'm sure they will do) because there were things that could have been handled better.

Dont get me wrong. For the most part most people will take what happened with a grain of salt and you appear to be one of them.Theres always things that can be improved.

After reading the pages on different boards about what happened and all the specualtion as to why the ship was in the position it was in winds etc(Im not going to second guess Capt John.Ive been in a few hot seats where someone asked me what was I thinking, when they werent there or have all the info.Sometimes you do what you can based on what the info available, and if something happens after that decision, its usually out of your control.From the little I understand, is that the weather came in faster than anyone thought.If it was the same front Im thinking of, it passed thru here the day before, and didnt do anything that the weather guessers said it would, and dropped at least 2 unconfirmed tornadoes while it was on its march thru the state.)there seems to be a lot of people that think that they should have had their own personal assistant, and be priviledged to what the Capt and shoreside and probably Karl Holtz were discussing and be part of the conversation.
Plus theres always the monday morning quarterbacks.

As far as learning from the experience,Im sure someone has and will be taking notes,and will be applying the lessons learned to future cruises, and what they learned this weekend,will be apllied to other situations.


"However, there are plenty of crew members who would not have been involved in that and could have done a better job communicating our options for contacting our airlines for rescheduling travel home. They could have done a better job helping guests know which line to be in at guest services. Those are the crowd control and communication things I'm talking about. I don't know the management structure to know which senior officer would have responsibility for that, but even if it was someone who was needed on the bridge, they should have delegated dealing with these things to a junior office as their priority for the day."



This is where the experience and outside the box thinking comes in.Youre right in that those options didnt change and should have been better communicated, and segregated the lines at GS.You dont even need an officer.A waiter or a sound engineer form one of the shows could have stood at the end of the line and said "Travel Issues to the left, all others to the right"Thats where we in transport knew if we didnt didnt put someone at the end of the line,people would be unhappy when they finally got to the bus to find out it wasnt going to the All Stars, but the parking lot instead.The GS could benefit from looking at the other areas of the world and watching what they do.

 

[tvguy]

I agree, but what does this say about security then. It is okay because of the time constraints?

Since it is a closed loop cruise, I don't think security is an issue. Everyone on board started their trip in Orlando. I guess folks could have snuck contraband (alcohol, funny tobacco, other illegal substances purchased in port) in easier.

 

[TestTrackBoy]

Seems like my thread has changed topics...but I am still live updating via @DCLUPDATES on Twitter. Feel free to ask me any questions while I'm on the Magic. I will keep checking this thread for any replys. Have a great day!

 

[taswira]

Seems like my thread has changed topics...but I am still live updating via @DCLUPDATES on Twitter. Feel free to ask me any questions while I'm on the Magic. I will keep checking this thread for any replys. Have a great day!

Thanks, TestTrackBoy! My only question right now is still about those edible flip-flops I was not brave enough to try.

 

[TestTrackBoy]

Thanks, TestTrackBoy! My only question right now is still about those edible flip-flops I was not brave enough to try.

I still haven't tried them! Every time that I look at them I just can't bring myself to bite into it. I think I would rather eat the key chain!

 

[teach22180]

Seems like my thread has changed topics...but I am still live updating via @DCLUPDATES on Twitter. Feel free to ask me any questions while I'm on the Magic. I will keep checking this thread for any replys. Have a great day!

I'm enjoying your twitter updates very much! I feel like I'm on the ship with you. Thanks!!

 

[tjbaggott]

I still haven't tried them! Every time that I look at them I just can't bring myself to bite into it. I think I would rather eat the key chain!

I tried one last November, it's tastes like straight SUGAR! In my opinion, home made was better than those (even not so good homemade ones, lol). It might have been better without the icing. They were pretty to look at though and grab some photos of.

 

[tigger2002]

Seems like my thread has changed topics...but I am still live updating via @DCLUPDATES on Twitter. Feel free to ask me any questions while I'm on the Magic. I will keep checking this thread for any replys. Have a great day!

http://twitter.com/DCLUPDATES


Great updates so far. Hope you get lots of details about Castaway Cay, water temperature, weather, construction, etc.

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[nickcapp]

Testtrackboy:

Can you please tell me who the cruise director on the Magic is now?

Can you please tell me any members of the cruise staff currently on the magic? (The entertainment folks)

Weather details would be great, although I already caught a lot of it on your twitter!

We are cruising in a week and would love to know!

Thanks!

 

[TestTrackBoy]

Our CD is Peter. I will get a list of current entertainment CM for you. The weather has been pretty good so far but it's cloudy today and the seas are rough.

 

[moochpuppy]

Our CD is Peter. I will get a list of current entertainment CM for you. The weather has been pretty good so far but it's cloudy today and the seas are rough.

Is Brent on vacation?

 

[ducky_love]

Will Peter be CD next week? He is our favorite!

 

[ibouncetoo]

Is Brent on vacation?

He must be. He was on the Magic 2/20. Wonder if he'll be back for the Transatlantic in 7 weeks? I've never had Peter as a cruise director, and wouldn't mind some 'new blood'!

I know a server who just got off the ship last Saturday (Sunday!) and doesn't return till the first Med, so maybe that's when Brent is back.

.

 

[platinumcruzer]

Our CD is Peter. I will get a list of current entertainment CM for you. The weather has been pretty good so far but it's cloudy today and the seas are rough.

Big favor......
Could you find out if there is a waiter named Clive on board...He is from Jamaica and has been on the Magic since the beginning....

 

[love2driveinct]

Big favor......
Could you find out if there is a waiter named Clive on board...He is from Jamaica and has been on the Magic since the beginning....

For some reason I specifically remember a Clive from Jamaica onboard the Magic last week. He wasn't our server, but I do remember seeing him around. We did a galley tour, so maybe he was there? I don't know, I just know that I'm pretty sure I saw him somewhere. HTH!

 

[ibouncetoo]

And could you ask Peter if he will still be on board for the transatlantic, or will Brent be back.

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