Magic 6/23 ship in poor conditon (a short report)

[MomOTwins]

I don’t think it is a fake review.

I think they had some user error that they blamed on the cruise line. There are water filling stations but they must not have found them (or asked). The family size that sleep 4-5 on the Magic are ONLY on deck 8, so with a deck 7 room they must have misread when and booked as those rooms are advertised as sleeping 3-4, so yes some sleep 3 and some sleep 4. Not arriving early enough to shows is another mistake.

BUT, look I tend to agree there are some legitimate gripes in here. A sailing in summer in the Caribbean needs adequate air conditioning and would be fairly miserable without it. I’ve seen other complaints on social media about air con problems on the magic, so it sounds like that is a genuine issue right now. And the one time we had late dining, we did not get our drinks until 9 and our food until 9:30 (part of why we will never do late dining again), so I don’t think really slow service is inconceivable. Though that is a staffing problem rather than ship age, as are dirty bathrooms. Regardless, I’m not sure I’d want to sail DCL again either if that was my first experience.

 

[LJWR]

Excellent experience in April. It was crowded in some places, but it was a sold out spring break cruise. Can't really even think of anything to complain about. Food was really good, service excellent, no issues with rooms, elevators, water bottle fillers, or fountains. Lovely time in the adult pool area, and watching funnel vision late afternoon in the hot tub.

If you booked a 4/5 person room and received a 3 person room, did you take that to guest services? I would have expected that they would fix that immediately.

Insider/disability secret is use the front elevators whenever possible. They usually come right away and nobody’s ever on them.

Is that the elevator on the end?? I have to admit, highest traffic elevators on the ship and not to work is a bummer. But if you use the front elevators it’s far less stress. It’s particularly upsetting that they can’t still get that one working it’s been almost a year now if not longer. But not enough of a problem to turn it into a man made reef.

We are a party of five adults, with a scooter. I’m sorry you found it difficult some scooters are harder to steer. We looked at it as if we were in two rows. Left row 3 deep and right row is scooter + 1.
Needed to ask your dinner staff where to see the fireworks. Get more of the insider tips to work in your favor. Since scooters need room, they could have advised you how not to follow the herd and accommodate your needs.

With frequent entertainment down there, the only time I’ve ever seen difficulty is during the farewell program and Jack Jack diaper Dash. Those are ones you needed to arrive early. There’s always plenty of room to watch any of the singers and entertainers otherwise. But then again, you are there in peak season.

This way people aren’t passing germs from one to another. I’m guessing you would be as concerned and displeased, as I would be to see somebody refilling their personal bottle with water. The splashing off someone else’s drink just gives me the willies.
Perhaps you thought there was a charge for tapwater? Any of the bars or lounges (d-lounge, fathoms, cove, keys, etc.) would give you a glass of water for free. I would sit in any of the lounges and ask for a glass of water. I also would give a dollar tip for each glass of water.

I’d like to know what room you had on deck 7 that only had 3 beds? I thought only deck 2 had the 3 person beds. I find it refreshing that you found the other beds so undetectable. Your room must have been so well cared for that they weren’t even noticeable!

I was on MSC earlier this year just a month after my five day cruise on the Magic. Even though MSC is over 6 years old(but has only sailed for over 4 now with Covid shutdowns , I found the exact same problem there as well must just be difficult to evenly heat and cool cruise ships.

I’m thankful I’ve had the chance to try Disney, MSC, and Royal Caribbean so far and find all the ship toilets work the same. Not much different than an RV either. My only complaint is MSC often had no toilet paper in public areas.

Don’t you just love them! Out of all the other companies I have sailed, hands-down, Disney employees are the kindest warmest individuals out there.

Live theater always unexpected. Hopefully they were able to fill the time with a backup plan for you. Unusual to have sold out shows, but during peak season I guess this could happen easier. I know when we went during Thanksgiving week they had several showings of the hot new movies that were out, featured multiple times a day.

Well, this is surprising since only 4 months ago, this is not what we experienced on the Magic. I had 2 nearly warm meals on MSC and asked for replacements though.
As to the begging for excellent rating, I think we all can agree, that’s pretty darn annoying.
Out 8 different times sailing the only time I’ve found a bathroom that was not pristine was up near the pool. Kids….

It’s not like the ship got smaller over the years. June, July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. You pay a lot of money to go during peak periods. The days when everyone is out of school and can travel as a family. All family entertainment venues will feel overcrowded during school breaks.

I’m going with my family of five adults, three with disabilities cruising again in December even though we just left the Magic a couple months ago.
We will be on a ship newer than the Magic, the Dream. If I could change anything about my reservation, it would be that I could go on the Magic instead of the Dream.
I was on the Fantasy year and a half ago it was my least favorite of all the Disney ships.

PS the Astoria sailed 75 years and was scrapped earlier this year.

Please, for the sake of your precious disabled family members keep your dream reservation, I kept praying and thanking God I did not have a mobility scooter and was able to walk up 2-3 flights of stairs and more coming down. If I ever go on another cruise I will try and train on a stair stepper. There were actually less children than I expected, which was sad. But the little girls that were there looked sweet in their princess dresses and tiaras.

 

[LJWR]

I think the 53 minutes they spent here. From the time they joined to the time they were last seen is proof enough for much of what we all knew was true. But I’m sure they are watching. Lit a fire and ran!

I started to reply and it got lost in the ether. It is no spam. I enjoyed reading the boards before my cruise and registered to make my report. I am a highly educated older lady and figured you deserved my opinion (LOL).

 

[Mommb]

Please, for the sake of your precious disabled family members keep your dream reservation, I kept praying and thanking God I did not have a mobility scooter and was able to walk up 2-3 flights of stairs and more coming down. If I ever go on another cruise I will try and train on a stair stepper.

I don't think the Dream would be any better than the Magic as far as accessibility. The elevators may be larger, but there will also be more guests on board, and there are more decks so going from restaurants or the Atrium to the pool deck takes even longer.

On any Disney ship (and probably on any cruise ship, though I have been on only 1 other), your choices are waiting a potentially long time for an elevator or going up and down a lot of stairs. My husband has knee trouble when he goes up stairs, so we try to book cabins on an upper deck (making it quicker to get to the pool deck). After we're downstairs for dinner, we wander in the shops until the crowds around the elevators dissipate so we can go up to our room.

 

[LJWR]

Sorry you had that experience. I just sailed the Magic in October and had none of those experiences. The public bathrooms were always clean with an attendant in there.

I think saying the ship is too far gone to continue sailing is a huge generalization. Yes, she is getting older but I think she still has many years left in her.

Again, sorry you had so many problems. No one wants that. Also, do you mean 5/23 Magic?

MJ

Thanks. I meant June 2023

 

[Snowwhyt]

I started to reply and it got lost in the ether. It is no spam. I enjoyed reading the boards before my cruise and registered to make my report. I am a highly educated older lady and figured you deserved my opinion (LOL).

I apologize. I meant you no harm. The Magic is my first love.
I am sorry you had difficulty. Had I been able to give you pointers before your trip, you’d still have some problems, but you could have cut it down to a few unavoidable DCL errors. Like the ice, ugh, I love ice! 15 hours a day and I have ice at my bedside too!
I do feel your trip could have been far less eventful and way more enjoyable. Perhaps you could try again outside of peak?
Wish I liked the Fantasy, I now fear the Dream unfairly. But am open to the Wish.

Did you have a handicapped room?
Which room on 7?

 

[o&smom]

Thanks. I meant June 2023

I thought you might have mastered time travel.

 

[auntlynne]

If you ever cruise again - Disney or other - Some issues will continue to exist (elevators and scooters + other guests jumping in front of you. And elevator doors shutting before you can get to it. I have heard complaints about elevators on pretty much every ship I have been on.

Things like ice - if on deck, especially if the machine is broken (I consider the current Magic soda station failure a very rare thing), ask any Crew Member for a glass. Or go to a bar (those are usually close in multiple locations. In your room, pick up the phone and ask for some. Or ask for some to be in your room - the room steward does this.

The air conditioning situation truly was a shame. We had a cool room the entire trip, but not as cool as we were a year previous on the same ship. I cannot imagine trying to sleep without that working. In the public areas, away from outside doors, I did not notice.

The Magic still has some (good) life left in her. She is loved by many cruisers for her smaller size and lack of crowds. She can handle a lot of guests without feeling as “crowded” as other ships do. (Possibly this is by comparison, which is achieved by sailing many times).

Did you say in your report that anything went right or that you had fun? Did it? did you? I hope so, for your sake.

 

[LJWR]

I don’t think it is a fake review.

I think they had some user error that they blamed on the cruise line. There are water filling stations but they must not have found them (or asked). The family size that sleep 4-5 on the Magic are ONLY on deck 8, so with a deck 7 room they must have misread when and booked as those rooms are advertised as sleeping 3-4, so yes some sleep 3 and some sleep 4. Not arriving early enough to shows is another mistake.

BUT, look I tend to agree there are some legitimate gripes in here. A sailing in summer in the Caribbean needs adequate air conditioning and would be fairly miserable without it. I’ve seen other complaints on social media about air con problems on the magic, so it sounds like that is a genuine issue right now. And the one time we had late dining, we did not get our drinks until 9 and our food until 9:30 (part of why we will never do late dining again), so I don’t think really slow service is inconceivable. Though that is a staffing problem rather than ship age, as are dirty bathrooms. Regardless, I’m not sure I’d want to sail DCL again either if that was my first experience.

 

[Buccaneer Bob]

I am a long-time lurker, first-time poster - I just returned from the 6/1-6/5 Bahamas cruise on the Magic out of Miami so I can comment on some things here:

I enjoyed my cruise on the Magic very much - first time on this ship. I have sailed before on the Wish and Dream previously, so coming into this cruise, I knew that I was going to need to manage my expectations since this was a completely different ship, and the Magic is also smaller and older (the original!). However, there were still some issues around which I had to navigate:

1. Atrium - the main atrium is definitely MUCH smaller than the one found on the Wish due to the mid-ship elevators. I never realized just how big the atrium is on the Wish when the elevators are not there! As a result, our Sail Away party (it was raining when we embarked so no deck party) and final night party were VERY crowded, and folks had to get there early to reserve a seat or place at a railing. During character meet and greets, even though on different decks, they all seemed very crowded due to the small size of the atrium.
2. Elevators - the elevators on the Magic are TINY compared to the elevators on the Wish, and as the OP noted, one of the elevators (I think mid or aft) was not working. I learned very early on the cruise to take the Front elevators as much as possible, because most people were primarily using the aft and mid elevators (atrium, Cabanas, restaurants) and that those elevators were going to be a madhouse of people during each of the dinner times. I feel like the front elevators are a well-kept secret which most do not know about on the Magic, because on deck 3 they are in the After Hours area.
3. Air conditioning - Although I had read that there were air-conditioning issues post-dry dock, the only places where I noticed it very warm and humid were on the mid/aft staircases on decks 9 and 10, but I think that was because those staircases were on floors of those decks where the doors were constantly being opened to the outside where it was already hot and humid so that weather was constantly flowing in. My stateroom was on the 8th floor, and I did not experience any air issues either inside or in the hallways.
4. Water leaks - a few of the concierge rooms on deck 8 had wet carpet issues. I do not know if it was an internal leak or from the rain on departure day and Nassau day.
5. Staircases - the staircases are much narrower on the Magic than the Wish which can make going up or down a bit difficult if someone is going the opposite direction at the same time. Those staircases on the Wish are really wide!
6. Food - I never have the highest level of expectation for cruise food - I put it on the same level as banquet food, since the chefs are preparing food for thousands of people at the same time. For what it was, I enjoyed it.

Even with the issues, I will say that I REALLY liked the Magic. I like it more than the Wish, because the Wish just seems BIG, and when it is full with 4,000 people, you can definitely feel it. I believe that this June cruise was close to capacity (almost 2700), and although it is a smaller ship so it can still feel busy/packed on board, on Castaway Cay day I could definitely tell less people were on the island.

To the OP: I am sorry to hear of your issues onboard the Magic. If this was your first cruise, in so many ways there is no way to prepare yourself for what to expect until you actually experience it all first hand. I hope that you will consider another Disney cruise on a different ship - this way you will be able to better manage your expectations, to rely on our own firsthand knowledge of how to handle various issues such as elevators, lines at Cabanas, etc., and to see if the issues which you experienced are Magic-specific, DCL-specific, or just cruises in general.

 

[Joanna71985]

I'm sailing on the Magic in September, and really looking forward to it

 

[lois00525]

We have been sailing with DCL since 2000, and mostly on the Magic because in 2005 they started cruising on longer itinineraries (Panama Canal), and then off to Europe with the Transatlantic. We've also been on the Wonder to Hawaii and Alaska. We only sailed on the Dream once because I wanted to experience the larger ship, which was amazing. Bottom line is that I love the Magic and Wonder because i prefer the smaller ships, but since the Dream will be in Europe I am looking forward to sailing on the Dream again.

 

[LJWR]

I am a long-time lurker, first-time poster - I just returned from the 6/1-6/5 Bahamas cruise on the Magic out of Miami so I can comment on some things here:

I enjoyed my cruise on the Magic very much - first time on this ship. I have sailed before on the Wish and Dream previously, so coming into this cruise, I knew that I was going to need to manage my expectations since this was a completely different ship, and the Magic is also smaller and older (the original!). However, there were still some issues around which I had to navigate:

1. Atrium - the main atrium is definitely MUCH smaller than the one found on the Wish due to the mid-ship elevators. I never realized just how big the atrium is on the Wish when the elevators are not there! As a result, our Sail Away party (it was raining when we embarked so no deck party) and final night party were VERY crowded, and folks had to get there early to reserve a seat or place at a railing. During character meet and greets, even though on different decks, they all seemed very crowded due to the small size of the atrium.
2. Elevators - the elevators on the Magic are TINY compared to the elevators on the Wish, and as the OP noted, one of the elevators (I think mid or aft) was not working. I learned very early on the cruise to take the Front elevators as much as possible, because most people were primarily using the aft and mid elevators (atrium, Cabanas, restaurants) and that those elevators were going to be a madhouse of people during each of the dinner times. I feel like the front elevators are a well-kept secret which most do not know about on the Magic, because on deck 3 they are in the After Hours area.
3. Air conditioning - Although I had read that there were air-conditioning issues post-dry dock, the only places where I noticed it very warm and humid were on the mid/aft staircases on decks 9 and 10, but I think that was because those staircases were on floors of those decks where the doors were constantly being opened to the outside where it was already hot and humid so that weather was constantly flowing in. My stateroom was on the 8th floor, and I did not experience any air issues either inside or in the hallways.
4. Water leaks - a few of the concierge rooms on deck 8 had wet carpet issues. I do not know if it was an internal leak or from the rain on departure day and Nassau day.
5. Staircases - the staircases are much narrower on the Magic than the Wish which can make going up or down a bit difficult if someone is going the opposite direction at the same time. Those staircases on the Wish are really wide!
6. Food - I never have the highest level of expectation for cruise food - I put it on the same level as banquet food, since the chefs are preparing food for thousands of people at the same time. For what it was, I enjoyed it.

Even with the issues, I will say that I REALLY liked the Magic. I like it more than the Wish, because the Wish just seems BIG, and when it is full with 4,000 people, you can definitely feel it. I believe that this June cruise was close to capacity (almost 2700), and although it is a smaller ship so it can still feel busy/packed on board, on Castaway Cay day I could definitely tell less people were on the island.

To the OP: I am sorry to hear of your issues onboard the Magic. If this was your first cruise, in so many ways there is no way to prepare yourself for what to expect until you actually experience it all first hand. I hope that you will consider another Disney cruise on a different ship - this way you will be able to better manage your expectations, to rely on our own firsthand knowledge of how to handle various issues such as elevators, lines at Cabanas, etc., and to see if the issues which you experienced are Magic-specific, DCL-specific, or just cruises in general.

Thank you so much Buccaneer Bob!!! ((hugs))

 

[LJWR]

I don’t think it is a fake review.

I think they had some user error that they blamed on the cruise line. There are water filling stations but they must not have found them (or asked). The family size that sleep 4-5 on the Magic are ONLY on deck 8, so with a deck 7 room they must have misread when and booked as those rooms are advertised as sleeping 3-4, so yes some sleep 3 and some sleep 4. Not arriving early enough to shows is another mistake.

BUT, look I tend to agree there are some legitimate gripes in here. A sailing in summer in the Caribbean needs adequate air conditioning and would be fairly miserable without it. I’ve seen other complaints on social media about air con problems on the magic, so it sounds like that is a genuine issue right now. And the one time we had late dining, we did not get our drinks until 9 and our food until 9:30 (part of why we will never do late dining again), so I don’t think really slow service is inconceivable. Though that is a staffing problem rather than ship age, as are dirty bathrooms. Regardless, I’m not sure I’d want to sail DCL again either if that was my first experience.

User error???? Im not a travel agent or a blogger or "influencer" so I should just stay off of cruise ships. And this board which is clearly for the trade and not the public.

 

[auntlynne]

User error???? Im not a travel agent or a blogger or "influencer" so I should just stay off of cruise ships. And this board which is clearly for the trade and not the public.

What?

What this forum is mainly made of is die-hard Disney cruise fans. Some are snarky, some extremely helpful, a lot with strong opinions and mostly just loyal.

And some will straight-forward say when they believe Disney is doing things wrong. There are plenty of posts where much of your concerns have been addressed because they love the product, but also because they are willing to pay high Disney prices for what has been a good product for many years.

Unfortunately, individuals come on the forum and make their first (or only) post lambasting their cruise experience. That stirs up a hornets’ nest - and they did nothing to help fellow cruisers.

You probably have seen all that I mentioned in the reading you did previously. Just didn’t realize that posting your first thread, with no established positive presence, and then radio silence while others tried to engage you, would lead to negative responses.

 

[Karin1984]

But stateroom workers were the hardest working, kindest people of the crew so I did not complain

Ok, I do not recognize most of what you describe, but this one truly baffles me.

Your AC is not functioning, your ceiling is leaking and your toilet isn't working properly. And you decide not to complain?

Complaining about crowds is useless, but a stateroom with technical issues? Why wouldn't you complain about this? This sounds so much like 'oh woe is me, I'd rather suffer than have these issues fixed'.

Your stateroom host isn't the one who is going to fix your plumbing or your air conditioning or your ceiling. If you had spoken to them, they would tell you to call maintenance. Maintenance usually is there within a few minutes and a lot can be solved. We had an extremely creaky ceiling on the Wonder recently. We called and within 10 minutes it was solved and we had several checks afterwards to make sure we were alright.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

To the OP: I am sorry to hear of your issues onboard the Magic. If this was your first cruise, in so many ways there is no way to prepare yourself for what to expect until you actually experience it all first hand. I hope that you will consider another Disney cruise on a different ship - this way you will be able to better manage your expectations, to rely on our own firsthand knowledge of how to handle various issues such as elevators, lines at Cabanas, etc., and to see if the issues which you experienced are Magic-specific, DCL-specific, or just cruises in general.

I think this is so true. My first cruise was on Dream, and we honestly did not have a great time at all. Our kids were pretty young, and that was part of the problem. But we also had some things that didn't go well just because I didn't have the experience to know what would work best for us. We got off that ship just as soon as we could and I didn't think we would ever cruise again. But over time, the bad parts of it faded a bit, and I just kept kind of thinking of the veranda and sipping my coffee. The gentle motion of the ship. Some of the things we hadn't done - like watching a new release movie in the theater, or the rainforest room, or the adult only areas. The (mostly good) food, and not having to prepare anything myself. So eventually I decided to give it another go. The things I did differently, which there is no way I would have known to do this other than the first experience:

• Selected a longer itinerary with more interesting ports, and planned activities at all those ports. We needed to get off the ship and have adventures. The ship is great but it seemed to make us a little stir-crazy the first go around.
• Selected a later port arrival time, and ate a very early lunch at a restaurant before arriving. We are not crowd people. We tried to get on early the first time and the crush of people was just overwhelming. And the kids had gotten hangry. The second go, we ate first, arrived at port maybe around 12:45, no wait for anything at all, walked on, and were able to go right to our room, where we had cold beer waiting. We ordered some room service to share because of having such an early/light lunch, and skipped the crowded pool deck and Cabanas altogether. It was wonderful.
• Late dining. Early dining was just way too early for us, it felt like we were just rushing from one meal to another without even enough time to digest.
• I quit worrying and being upset that the kids didn't want to use the kids club. They tried it out, didn't love it, didn't want to go back. The first time, I felt like we weren't getting good use of the amenities if they didn't use the club. The second time I decided it's their vacation too, I don't care if they want to lie in bed and watch cartoons. My older did end up liking Edge a lot more than the younger club, and was there several times that trip. And, thank goodness I didn't push them to use the Oceaneers club that time - that's where the stomach bug seemed to circulate that trip.
• Not feeling pressure to do things that didn't appeal to us. The first time we were up on deck for the crowded sail-away party, because I thought that's what we should do. We didn't like it. It was just standing around in a crowd. Subsequent trips we enjoy the sail-away watching from our verandah.

There's probably more. Our 2nd and 3rd cruises have been amazing. Point is, I would not have known to do any of those things if I hadn't first experienced it and figured out what didn't work for us. For the OP, you might find as time goes by, you will remember whatever might have been positive from your trip, realize what you could do differently, and decide to give it another try.

 

[Mango7100]

User error???? Im not a travel agent or a blogger or "influencer" so I should just stay off of cruise ships. And this board which is clearly for the trade and not the public.

Yes there is some user error. Everyone has some user error on vacations that are not the companies fault. Very few of us on these boards are bloggers or TAs or influencers. You stated you thought your stateroom slept 4-5 but only slept 3. Were you expecting 2 beds standing in the room instead of the pullout sofa or beds that come from the ceiling? How many were in your party? If you entered 4 in a stateroom then it only shows you cabins available that sleep that many. You can’t book a cabin that sleeps less than you entered travel party. Are you saying you had 4 people on your party and someone didn’t have a bed? And as far as shows being crowded, that’s par for the course for pretty much any cruise line. Little Mermaid opened in theaters 2 weeks ago, of course it’s going to draw a crowd. You aren’t going to be able to go to the theater 5 minutes before a show starts and expect to find seats for your party to sit together. Thats a learning experience that now you know…it isn’t the cruise lines fault. You stated problems with your room but you didn’t complain. How in the world do you expect it to be addressed if you don’t say anything? You didn’t even allow a chance to correct your stateroom. If you brought up your concerns ON the ship and they weren’t addressed that’s an entirely different issue. But coming off the ship and writing a review after the fact does nothing. Absolutely DCL has its faults. Other lines also have their faults. But IMO not all of your concerns are the cruise lines fault…

 

[tvguy]

• Late dining. Early dining was just way too early for us, it felt like we were just rushing from one meal to another without even enough time to digest.
• I quit worrying and being upset that the kids didn't want to use the kids club. They tried it out, didn't love it, didn't want to go back.

I agree about late dining. It certainly depends on your routine at home. And I am constantly amazed at people at home who have dinner on the table at 5 or 6 pm. In our house it was a mad dash to get our kids from school at 3pm to Little League or Soccer at 3:30 pm. Soccer went until 630 pm, this time of year Little League went until about 30 minutes after sunset, so that would be like 9 pm on days light today. Only after that did dinner, homework and showers come into play.

Our kids also didn't like the kids club, didn't like them on HAL either. However, we took our kids on the cruise to spend every waking hour with them. My wife and I had no plans to any time away from them. We did do the Champagne tasting and then went to the Music Trivia contest in the kids club. Sadly, the castmembers running it knew little about music.........including one who did not know Paul McCartney had bee in a group before Wings!

 

[cwis]

So you joined today just to complain about a ship that is the oldest in the fleet and has recently been through a refurbishment.....ok then. Sorry the cruise was not up to your expectations. Perhaps stick around the forums to read more about the other ships and itineraries you might enjoy.

I was thinking the same thing regarding the date they joined. However I'm not sure it's relevant to point out to the other ships and itineraries, I mean, they're either a troll in which case we better let them, or part or all of their story is true in which case it is unacceptable (please point me to the thread that lists the benefits of filthy restrooms on the other ships).

PS: don't get me wrong I'm on your side here, personal belief is OP is a troll, although there have been similar reports about bad experiences on the Magic, at least regarding the elevators and beverage stations, the latest a few weeks ago.