Losing the Magic?

[Eric Julie and Hailey]

We're going on our 4th sailing on the Magic in January. I just read the Oct. 16 cruise meets board which has a lot of posts from folks who just sailed post-dry dock. Man, there are some BAD reports. It sounds like there is a serious issue with the septic system - and the general condition of the ship and staterooms are sub-par.

What's going on? Is the Magic losing her Magic? Is DCL spending the entire budget on the new ships and letting the older ones fall into disrepair?

What happened to "Project Main Street"?

Help!? Someone get us excited again... Please!

 

[Donald_Quackers]

I think it's just post drydock cleanup issues. I would think that the issues would be taken care of soon -- I'm going on her in December.

 

[nenner1]

OMG, the septic stories coming back from that cruise are disconcerting to say the least! We sail Saturday and I sincerely hope this issue has been addressed by then. It should have been handled in dry dock.

 

[Snowwhyt]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2576794

I didn't read the latest threads but as of this morning looked like the only disapointment mentioned was the laundryroom. A few machines not working there.
Also someone thought a hand rail needed paint.
Lots of great coments on the re-org of the drink station.

 

[luvdamouse91]

We spent 14 days on the Magic last month (WBTA), we did not experience any sewage odors in our stateroom. We were on Deck 5 forward. I did hear of a group that did but they found that the issue and fixed it.

As far as a state of disrepair goes, we did not experience it . After our fifth cruise, we saw the cast cleaning and taking care of issues as always.

 

[truck1]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2576794

I didn't read the latest threads but as of this morning looked like the only disapointment mentioned was the laundryroom. A few machines not working there.
Also someone thought a hand rail needed paint.
Lots of great coments on the re-org of the drink station.

The hand rail was me and it was the balcony handrails that needed paint bad. There was rust on it in places so bad you could push your fingers thru whats left of the metal. Other spots were just primer, glopped on. Not even brushed. There was also 4 brackets 2 on each side, that hold the divider to the balcony rail, that had holes in them large enough for a small child to put there fingers in, and rough enough that they could get hurt. My inlaws were in the next cabin over, and had rust on there balcony also.

 

[mousemom11]

I wouldn't be too worried about it. I've been on these boards for years, and every year the 1st cruise post-drydock always has stories like these. Which is why you won't catch me on a 1st cruise out of dry dock. There are always issues that pop up.

We were on the Magic a year ago and it was a lovely ship in great condition. So, be excited - you are going to have a great time!

 

[truck1]

We're going on our 4th sailing on the Magic in January. I just read the Oct. 16 cruise meets board which has a lot of posts from folks who just sailed post-dry dock. Man, there are some BAD reports. It sounds like there is a serious issue with the septic system - and the general condition of the ship and staterooms are sub-par.

What's going on? Is the Magic losing her Magic? Is DCL spending the entire budget on the new ships and letting the older ones fall into disrepair?

What happened to "Project Main Street"?

Help!? Someone get us excited again... Please!

I dont think that a lot of the issues were DCLs fault. That was the impression I got from Ivo the state room floor manager.
Some of it comes from sub par contractors in Freeport.
As far as the general condition of the ship, and the services, keep in mind that the ship doesnt have its normal fully trained crew. There was a lot of new hires on board in addition to the ones that have been hired recently. There was a lot of inexperienced crew onboard, in preparation for the Dream and the Fantasy. Everywhere from guest services, to characters, to dining staff. I counted no less the 30 crew with Earning My Ears tags on their name tags, or wandering the ship during the sailaway party. They were real easy to pick out. I wouldnt be surprised if the Wonder is beginning or will have similar problems.
Dont let it bother you. Within a relativley short period of time, the crews will be back to normal as far as experience and a lot of these little issues will be gone.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I dont think that a lot of the issues were DCLs fault. That was the impression I got from Ivo the state room floor manager.
Some of it comes from sub par contractors in Freeport. As far as the general condition of the ship, and the services, keep in mind that the ship doesnt have its normal fully trained crew. There was a lot of new hires on board in addition to the ones that have been hired recently. There was a lot of inexperienced crew onboard, in preparation for the Dream and the Fantasy. Everywhere from guest services, to characters, to dining staff. I counted no less the 30 crew with Earning My Ears tags on their name tags, or wandering the ship during the sailaway party. They were real easy to pick out. I wouldnt be surprised if the Wonder is beginning or will have similar problems.
Dont let it bother you. Within a relativley short period of time, the crews will be back to normal as far as experience and a lot of these little issues will be gone.

This was the 1st thing that came to mind when I heard she'd be in Freeport vs. Norfolk. Not that there are 0 slackers in the US but overall I'd bet the quality of work would have been better up here.

 

[kay1864]

Some of it comes from sub par contractors in Freeport.

This was the 1st thing that came to mind when I heard she'd be in Freeport vs. Norfolk. Not that there are 0 slackers in the US but overall I'd bet the quality of work would have been better up here.

And who hired these sub-par contractors? And oversaw their work?

Rusted railings with holes? Glopped-on primer? No excuse IMO. Obvious answer is "not enough DCL personnel to check the finished product".

 

[orlandothebeagle]

She looked fine to me last month, but then again I am having such a great time I dont notivce the state of the primer etc, thats not what vacations all about for me.

 

[taswira]

On our Wonder cruise early this month, there was a busted (hanging down from one side), rusted lower rail on our verandah. Of course there was the clear plexiglass in front of it, so not a hazard, but ugly to view. There were also some "paint globs" in spots. The problem is not exclusive to the Magic. I always get an aft room and have frequently noticed the septic smell, but learned long ago about pouring a little water into the floor drain to stop it. I also carry two Renuzit (cone) air fresheners - one for the bathroom that has the toilet, and one for the main part of the stateroom. It helps.

I was on the Magic in January and will be again Dec. 4. As long as she isn't worse than in January, I'll be happy. For service it can be the luck of the draw. The CM who most impressed me on the Wonder for service, attitude and efficiency had been with DCL for 2 weeks. I expect many of the Magic newbies will have similar capabilities and, especially, fresh new enthusiasm!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Thats the type of work results you get when you go to a third world country and hire workers for pennies

Seems Newport News/Norfolk is where they should get there drydock peroids done!

AKK

 

[OurDogCisco]

We were on the Magic for 12 nights in July and I didn't notice anything super glaring but my standards might be lower. I thought everything was in great shape considering the age of the ship and how much use it gets. I do remember things looking worn or outdated but still acceptable in my standards. I think, everyone is really gonna have to keep things in perspective especially when the Dream and Fantasy come out as those will be BRAND new ships and it will be hard not to compare. We'll be on the DREAM in June so, I know there will be glaring differences.

PS. We did not have any spetic smell either.

 

[higherground]

We sailed on the Magic October 16-23, just after dry dock. The ship was beautiful and there were no odors but we did have to call about our toilet not working for the first three days in a row. The crew always got it going again; finally there were a whole group of people working in the halls on it. We overheard them tell someone that something had been flushed that shouldn't have been . . . so I got the impression it wasn't an on-going problem. Our stateroom was level 2, aft.

Just two little things to try to avoid . . . connecting staterooms for one. The doors are NOT soundproof. We didn't hear anything from our other neighbors but our "connecting door" neighbors woke us each night and I'm fairly sure our early-rising children woke them each morning. Also try to avoid being located over the crew bar . . . they had an "unscheduled event" the night we pulled out of Key West. Our entire room was vibrating and we could hear all the lyrics to the songs. It started at midnight and we finally got someone to shut it down after an hour. Again, we were located on deck 2, aft Sorry, can't remember which side.

Other than those thing, the cruise was lovely. The crew were great, and very helpful. Our family had a great time. Enjoy, just research the best location for staterooms. I'm sure there are quiet rooms in every category.

 

[joksten2000]

It's been two years since we last sailed and at the time I could see a lot of issues, she is showing her age and a simple dry dock is not what's needed. After 10 cruises we are ready for the new ships, hopefully they will do something major with the two older ships.

 

[llnolte]

We just cruised on the Magic's first cruise out of dry dock. We had a wonderful time. This was our first cruise and we loved everything about the ship. It looked beautiful! We really didn't experience any problems. Yes, there were some issues in the laundry room, but we were credited for the times when I couldn't get the washer to work. They ended up fixing the machines that weren't working properly.

We had a little smell coming from our toilet from time to time. We just used an air freshener and kept the lid closed.

But the service, our cabin, and everything else about our cruise was fantastic. We booked our second cruise while we were on board and won the $100 OBC being given away that day!! Can't get any better than that-more wine at dinner!

 

[jjgarv]

It's been two years since we last sailed and at the time I could see a lot of issues, she is showing her age and a simple dry dock is not what's needed. After 10 cruises we are ready for the new ships, hopefully they will do something major with the two older ships.

We just returned from the 10/16-23 Western, and I'd have to agree with this. There are some areas (like most armrests worn down to the bare wood in the Walt Disney Theater) that need a major overhaul. In addition, this was the first cruise where we noticed things not quite 'excellent' in our stateroom. For example, there was some sort of gunk on the tops of the desk/coffee table, the carpet was bubbled/coming up, tiles were completely loose from the floor in the bathroom, and we had issues with the toilet all week. Guest services was alerted, and they promptly came to service the toilet each time we called. The majority of the ship is still as beautiful as ever, and we had another magical vacation. I think the wear-and-tear is inevitable with the number of years that the Magic's been sailing and the thousands of people who are sailing on her each week. We still have a deposit on an Eastern on the Magic for 2011, as well as deposit on a Western on the Fantasy, so these glitches will not keep us away!

 

[truck1]

We just returned from the 10/16-23 Western, and I'd have to agree with this. There are some areas (like most armrests worn down to the bare wood in the Walt Disney Theater) that need a major overhaul. In addition, this was the first cruise where we noticed things not quite 'excellent' in our stateroom. For example, there was some sort of gunk on the tops of the desk/coffee table, the carpet was bubbled/coming up, tiles were completely loose from the floor in the bathroom, and we had issues with the toilet all week. Guest services was alerted, and they promptly came to service the toilet each time we called. The majority of the ship is still as beautiful as ever, and we had another magical vacation. I think the wear-and-tear is inevitable with the number of years that the Magic's been sailing and the thousands of people who are sailing on her each week. We still have a deposit on an Eastern on the Magic for 2011, as well as deposit on a Western on the Fantasy, so these glitches will not keep us away!

Were pretty much doing the same thing. If the Magic was going to be here in August, wed book another 7 day on her ( HINT DCL we cant do 7 days if the ships not here ) so were doing the Dream instead for 4. Then the Fantasy for 7 the following year.

 

[Silverfox97]

Just off the Magic Jan 3-8th - 3rd cruise; our 1st 2 were on the Wonder.

When I walked onto the ship, I was overcome with the beauty of the ship - to me, it looked more elegant that the Wonder (although the Wonder is beautiful, too). Lumiere's is beautiful, Beat Street is neat (I personally like the look better than Route 66). Everything looked good.

Now, a few things - I didn't notice things falling apart, the Walt Theater seemed fine to us. There was no leaks, nothing like that. We did notice a slight sewage smell the 1st day at port, BUT, they use a very strong deoderizer to cover it up (it works, but it is strong). Plus, the stateroom hostess kept the doors to the bathrooms closed. Over all, no big deal. Now, there was grout missing in our shower in between some of the tiles. It would be quick to caulk it up. Our table in the stateroom was broken, and stuck in the up position, but that really didn't affect us.

This was our "budget" cruise - we booked an 11C GTY for ~$1500 for 3 of us. We were put into 2628, a cat 9C. WOW - noisy. WOW. I was surprised that they would put a family with a small child in such a noisy room. On the 1st Castaway Cay day, they were chipping paint with some high pressure water device and it was SO LOUD. That kind of stuff should've been done in dry dock, not during DD's nap. DH did mention it to Guest Services, and they assured us it wouldn't happen again, and it did not.

There were a lot of new cast members in the Asst. Server positions, and they were not wearing "Earning my Ears." I knew that at least 3 were new (including ours), because I heard them talking about it. MOST cast members were teriffic - truly.

Palo has changed. There is a new chef, and he has changed some of the dishes and has new rules. It was definitely not as good as it was on the Wonder in August. A little disappointing.

Errors in the Navigators. Unbelievable. I can't believe that Disney, who prides themselves on attention to detail, was asleep at the wheel on that one. It wasn't one or two, it was a few every day.

The most surprising thing - and feel free to flame me - the lack of dress code. I cannot believe the number of people in shorts, tank tops, and flip flops in the main dining rooms. There were so many, that those of us that did dress appropriately looked out of place, rather than the other way around. DH and I kept saying, "Wow, and this is suppose to be the more formal ship." Really? No way. Not on our cruise. The Palo manager literally called us 3 times to remind us of the dress code - maybe they should shift the focus to enforcing it in the main dining rooms.

Overall, it was a great cruise. To us, the Magic didn't look worn and tired (although the sign on the Deck 7 aft overlook door fell off when the door slammed closed from the wind - the double-sided tape gave out!). She looked beautiful. In fact, DH and I talk about how we just prefer the elegance of the Wonder/Magic to the massiveness of the Dream/Fantasy. (Not a fan of how the Dream looks head on or from the back AT ALL - looks nice from the side). Service was great - it has been better, but it wasn't bad. The carpet looked fine. They were continuing to work on the ship - painting the anchor, lights, etc. We are going to be back on the Magic in Oct and are really looking forward to it!!