Magic 2015 Dry Dock: Concierge Lounge, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, and Other Rumors

[5Dreamers]

We sailed on the Magic in November last year, 2 inside cabins on Deck 2 Aft. I overheard maintenance staff get plumbing calls three times, not on our deck. There was a funny smell in part of the hallway, but it may have come from a service room, we were never sure. In our cabins the washroom doors had rust, and even needed to call maintenance because a piece fell off, but they came quick and fixed it just fine. Compared to the Fantasy, the Magic washrooms could use a freshening up, maybe even replace the rough washroom floor tiles and get rid of the rust, but the ship is older, so these things are to be expected.

I have to say that none of this changed how GREAT we thought the cruise was!
The showers worked great, lots of storage space in our cabins, luggage fit under the beds; those are important to us and we were very satisfied. Even though my son is especially sensitive to smells and covered his nose when walking through the relatively small section of hallway that had a strange odour, it did not take away from his overall enjoyment.

It would be good if they can figure out the plumbing issues at the next drydock so all the washrooms can work properly.

 

[OhThePain]

...It would be good if they can figure out the plumbing issues at the next drydock so all the washrooms can work properly.

I don't know if there is any specific problem on the Magic, but the most common plumbing issues on any cruise line are the passengers. While most people listen and don't flush things that don't belong being flushed, there are others who think that just because the toilet can suck down just about anything that they can use it to dispose of anything that is disposable. From talking to maintenance staff on a few different lines (usually they are they only people to talk to at 3AM) the most common reason for plumbing issues are passengers flushing diapers. It can happen at any time, any floor, any room category, any cruise line.

 

[m1ckeym0use1]

Insert "poop deck" joke here......

We were on the Magic 2/22 sailing, Deck 6 forward. Mid way through the cruise we are getting ready for bed and the toilet won't flush. I call guest services and she says she'll tell maintenance. We wait about 20 minutes then all of a sudden, here a very loud swoosh sound, then hear the toilet flush. I go in and it's all cleared and flushes fine from then on out. About 10 minutes after that, maintenance knocks on the door and asks if its working now. I told him it was and asked what the issue was. He said the entire hall was clogged. Ewwwww. Ok, that's all I needed to know. Never had any other trouble the rest of the cruise.

I did think it was rather funny that guest services called back the next afternoon (like around 2:00) to ask if the plumbing issue had been resolved. Um, yes, if it hadn't been, I wouldn't have waited to all you back....

 

[stickeymouse]

Somebody on Cruise Critic claimed in a post to have inside information (from a concierge rep) that a concierge lounge will be installed on the Magic during its dry dock. The whereabouts of the lounge were not specified.

 

[nzdisneymom]

We had a problem with the toilet not flushing on one of our first cruises on the Magic - when we called, they explained a bit about how the plumbing works on the ship and that sometimes things are "backed up" further down the line and to not be surprised if we heard the toilet "flush" on its own. Sure enough, about half an hour later, it did.

As others have mentioned, we passengers can do a lot to help prevent clogs by being responsible with what we flush.

 

[stickeymouse]

sometimes things are "backed up" further down the line

Does this mean that problems are more frequent in the Aft of the ship?

 

[Sunseeker17]

We were concierge on the Dream in January and were also told that there were rumours among the concierge staff that the Magic might be getting a concierge lounge. One can only hope...we loved the lounge on the Dream!

 

[C6PT7]

Does this mean that problems are more frequent in the Aft of the ship?

No. The plumbing works vertically. And in zones within a range of decks.
The toilet plumbing issues are caused because it is a vacuum suction system to remove the waste, not just water pushing the waste down.
Now if you dispose of sanitary towels or a diaper down the toilet, the tubes can become blocked when it reaches a bend or other obstruction so no more vacuum going up above so all of those toilets are now out of service. Until they can locate the blockage location, all of those people are without a working toilet, just because of some thoughtless or stupid person.

 

[mmouse37]

Flushable wipes (which aren't really flushable) really mess up the ship's plumbing. heard this from maintenance people onboard.

MJ

 

[nzdisneymom]

Flushable wipes (which aren't really flushable) really mess up the ship's plumbing. heard this from maintenance people onboard.

When in doubt, throw it out! If you have less than sanitary things to dispose of, your cabin attendant can leave disposal bags for your use. And they empty the trash cans in the cabins twice a day...

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

We were concierge on the Dream in January and were also told that there were rumours among the concierge staff that the Magic might be getting a concierge lounge. One can only hope...we loved the lounge on the Dream!

Personally I wouldn't go by anything you here from a CM Concierge staff or not they are usually the last to know if something is planed.

 

[squirrel]

What is the deck area at the front of the ship with the small pool being used for? I know it use to be a staff area, but thought it changed to teen area. That would be my guess for a Concierge lounge.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

What is the deck area at the front of the ship with the small pool being used for? I know it use to be a staff area, but thought it changed to teen area. That would be my guess for a Concierge lounge.

it's the crew pool and is still used as that. The teen club on the Dream and Fantasy was put there. Also it's only access is via crew areas so not likely for a lunge for passengers of any kind.

 

[squirrel]

it's the crew pool and is still used as that. The teen club on the Dream and Fantasy was put there. Also it's only access is via crew areas so not likely for a lunge for passengers of any kind.

Thanks! It would be a shame to take away their pool then. I guess I was getting confused about the newer ships and the classic ones about the pool.

 

[Dave2425]

Personally I wouldn't go by anything you here from a CM Concierge staff or not they are usually the last to know if something is planed.

I feel pretty confident with the info I received.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Firstly on the Magic we had some plumbing issues, there was a leak outside our room and a dehumidifier was running day and night. Concerning the Concierge lounge I asked about it and they said from cruisers who had been on the new ships it was the most requested thing. I asked why not do it then, the reply lack of space. I said you can drop it in the arcade on deck 9 easy for all concierge to get to, and next to a bar for supplies, you can move the arcade to near a kids area. At this point Brent the CD chipped in quite rude saying you can't rip the ship apart for a CL. However it has been considered but I understood it was not going ahead.The planed DD is a routine one to re paint areas they couldn't get to last time as the ship was on blocks and sort out the plumbing.

 

[truck1]

The Magic and the Wonder to a lesser extent have had plumbing issues pretty much their entire service life. Theres several reasons for this, and over time I have found ways around and reasons behind most of them.
First, the odor. Typically this is caused by the floor drains in the bathrooms, P trap drying out. Simply put 2 or 3 glasses of water down EACH floor drain (Theres one by the bath tub and one by the toilet if you have a split bathroom) and the odor should go away in a short period of time. Ive noticed the smell in in different parts of each ship, different rooms, different decks and even different sides.
Second the mysterious "ghost flush". From being on the Magic, the cruise right after a drydock, I was talking to one of the plumbing maint supervisors. What happens is this. The actual flushing mechanism is computer controlled. And as stated above, the sewage system is a vacuum system. At some point during the day, the system will be taken off line for routine maint, etc. So when you push the button and nothing happens, chances are that the zone you are in is undergoing routine or clearing maint. No big deal. When the system comes back online, the computer reads room xxxx has pressed the flush button 3 times so the toilet will flush 3x. Could be seconds or could be minutes from the initial flush. Hence the follow up phone call of is it working now?
Water dripping from a/c vents. This is usually caused by a drain not operating properly so the water backs up in the drip pan. Or another source is that if the a/c has been off for a while and you are in a humid climate with say a balcony door open, it can change the humidity in the room and the a/c has issues removing the humidity.

Pipes. On the Magic class, for some odd reason, the pipes that carry water, either to and from a room or area, or even overboard for rain, leak. It seems to be a never ending chase. Ive seen reports of pool water ending up in the deck 3 Atrium, and in the chandelier, to leaks in the public hallways.

 

[truck1]

Its kind of funny I saw this thread. I follow a certain person on FB who is the head CD of a different line. He had this post this morn, that I saw right after I posted above. Apparently DCL is not the only line with issues:

"I saw one of the hard working crew this morning, Luis, one of our plumbers. He and his assistant were in the corridor on deck 1 as I headed forward from my cabin for my morning visit to the coffee shop. I have known Luis from the Miracle in Alaska and said a cheery hello. He told me that 10 cabins had no toilet flush for the last hour and he had discovered it was because someone in one of the cabins had flushed a ladies sanitary product which had blocked the suction system to the neighboring 10 cabins. Everything is working now and it had though taken Luis and the team an hour to repair the problem during which ( I checked) the guest services desk had received 7 comments from those 10 cabins about the toilet not working.

So one person flushing that ummmmmm……………..product……………resulted in all of this happening so I thought I would kindly remind everyone here that the suction toilet system is very complicated and please don’t flush anything down there except the toilet paper we provide. Sanitary bags are available in every cabin of course…………….thanks from me and a huge thank you from every plumber in the Carnival fleet.

I know wet wipes/ sanitary wipes/ are very popular and as far as I know you should not flush them either."

 

[C6PT7]

I love reading John Heald's post's on FB! It's a shame his blog hasn't been updated in such a long time.
Mostly because he is so direct, upfront and honest on issues such as this!

 

[truck1]

I do too. I think he was our cd on Imagination several years ago. He was just as funny in person.