Magic August 20, 2011 Mediterranean - NOT GOOD!

[M&M mom]

We took 12 family members on the Magic for the Cruise of a lifetime. The European sights were fantastic. We did three excursions (Monaco, the Marina and the little Train, Easy Pisa and The Best of Rome) all which were fantastic. We experienced some schedule issues but everything worked out fine. We traveled with 5 kids ages 8,7,6,5 and 4. The food on the ship was good but they didn't have much open after 12 am. With a time zone change coming from the States, we were definitely up after 12 am. The shows were excellent and the characters walking around the ship were such a wonderful sight!

Now to the really unfortunate part. Our room, Stateroom 2648 had sewer smells the entire trip. Disney brought us a portable air purifier, but that only masked the problem. Just a few days later, the sewer lines exploded and there was leaking feces in the hallway to the aft elevators. In order to get from our room to the elevators, we had to pass this area. We had Disney people erecting a tarp over our heads to protect us from leaking sewage. The smell was horrid and all of our family was gagging and ill. The smells perforated into our rooms and there was no escaping the contamination.

We thought clearly they would try to move us because even the Disney people were wearing masks in the halls. They didn't. We asked to be moved and they said no and there was nothing they would do for us. I couldn't believe it. We were stuck on the boat, with no where to go!

We have stayed at WDW multiple times (Polynesian, Bay Lake Towers) and never been treated so poorly. What in the world? Is this just the way Disney is in the European countries....we don't know? We don't recommend traveling on the Magic until Disney addresses the serious customer service issues. Clearly living in these conditions is also a potential health risk.

Better to be safe and stay in the confines of WDW or DL. So sad, but so true. If you want to travel the Mediterranean, do so on a more experienced cruise line. Disney has some work to do.

I am very sorry this happened to you. We have a cruise booked for March and we are suppose to be on deck 2. Were the problems just on deck 2? Are the lower decks more likely to have these problems? I am considering changing our location.

 

[CastawayJP]

We took 12 family members on the Magic for the Cruise of a lifetime. The European sights were fantastic. We did three excursions (Monaco, the Marina and the little Train, Easy Pisa and The Best of Rome) all which were fantastic. We experienced some schedule issues but everything worked out fine. We traveled with 5 kids ages 8,7,6,5 and 4. The food on the ship was good but they didn't have much open after 12 am. With a time zone change coming from the States, we were definitely up after 12 am. The shows were excellent and the characters walking around the ship were such a wonderful sight!

Now to the really unfortunate part. Our room, Stateroom 2648 had sewer smells the entire trip. Disney brought us a portable air purifier, but that only masked the problem. Just a few days later, the sewer lines exploded and there was leaking feces in the hallway to the aft elevators. In order to get from our room to the elevators, we had to pass this area. We had Disney people erecting a tarp over our heads to protect us from leaking sewage. The smell was horrid and all of our family was gagging and ill. The smells perforated into our rooms and there was no escaping the contamination.

We thought clearly they would try to move us because even the Disney people were wearing masks in the halls. They didn't. We asked to be moved and they said no and there was nothing they would do for us. I couldn't believe it. We were stuck on the boat, with no where to go!

We have stayed at WDW multiple times (Polynesian, Bay Lake Towers) and never been treated so poorly. What in the world? Is this just the way Disney is in the European countries....we don't know? We don't recommend traveling on the Magic until Disney addresses the serious customer service issues. Clearly living in these conditions is also a potential health risk.

Better to be safe and stay in the confines of WDW or DL. So sad, but so true. If you want to travel the Mediterranean, do so on a more experienced cruise line. Disney has some work to do.

We were on the cruise right before yours and there were some problems with leakage then as well.

We were in 2643, and one night we had dirty water dripping from the fire sprinkler. The next morning it got worse and they came to work on it. What was supposed to be an hour fix took almost our entire sea day.

Jakob in Guest Services took great care of us though. We were able to move to another room just a couple of doors down, which wasn't in the best shape (it was obviously not up to paying guest standards so they left it open), and needed some love, but it was dry. In addition we got an OBC, a little thanks for being patient gift, and after we got off the ship DCL in addition gave us a future booking credit.

This was the first time we have had any real issues with the ship in 7 cruises, and Guest Services was very attentive to our needs. Except for a little delay in addressing the problem, we were well taken care of. I felt bad because this was my parents first Disney Cruise experience, and I didn't want them to think this was a normal occurrence.

Unfortunately it looks like DCL is going to need to do some work on the Magic in it's next dry dock...

 

[Empress Room]

Somewhere else I read that most ships are retired after something like 10-15 years and that the Magic and Wonder are about due for that as well (which I would feel VERY sad about ).

Although the North American market seems to favor newer and bigger ships, and some do retire ships way before their time, most cruise lines build ships with the thought that they can be operated economically - and realize their rate of return on the investment - for 30 years, so the Disney Wonder and Magic have many more drydocks ahead of them. After 30 years or so, cruise lines may sell the ship to another market/cruise line (typically in Europe) where they are operated for another 10-15 years reasonably economically. There are some 50 year old ships operating today; they do so quite safely, although they tend to lack all of the newest whistles and bells and are more expensive to maintain.

 

[eeyorefanuk]

Hi Lindy, I think the head servers must have issues with British People, as we only saw ours three times, once at the second dinner, another time when I didn't eat my pasta and on the last night when when he was roaming the tables for his tips. Our head server was George and we were on first sitting.

Everytime I got in line for the characters, some CM came along and stopped the queue forming. I too would have liked to have seen more characters after dinner.

We too had a blast and all of us are looking forward to going again, hopefully in the Med.

Our head server was george and TBH you could not meet a friendly man.

He came to talk to us at breakfast (if we were in his dining area) and every dinner, was very informative and very friendly - I felt sorry to say goodbye to him - so that is very weird (unless two george's) - our george was from croatia I belive

 

[Elfinjojo]

Hi Lindy, I think the head servers must have issues with British People, as we only saw ours three times, once at the second dinner, another time when I didn't eat my pasta and on the last night when when he was roaming the tables for his tips. Our head server was George and we were on first sitting.

Everytime I got in line for the characters, some CM came along and stopped the queue forming. I too would have liked to have seen more characters after dinner.

We too had a blast and all of us are looking forward to going again, hopefully in the Med.

I don't think being British has anything to do with the Head servers not paying you attention. We have cruised DCL 8 times in various locations including the Med and have had excellent H.servers for almost every trip(there was just one who we felt didnt make his prescence felt) and yes we are BRITISH.

 

[twindaddy]

Why cant sewer explosions happen to people who really deserve it, like my in-laws.

 

[kltruck]

We sailed at the same time and also were on the second floor. We were exposed to actual sewage as well as a constant sewage smell. We took pictures and I would love to show all what we endured for a week- suffice it to say it was nasty.

This is a real problem. It is very unsafe to expose our children and ourselves to sewage and the diseases that can be lethal with exposure. The sewage was dripping on us as we ran down the hall.

Disney did not protect my children. They won't protect yours either- don't take the risk. A Disney Cruise on the Magic is not magical!!!!!

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

We sailed at the same time and also were on the second floor. We were exposed to actual sewage as well as a constant sewage smell. We took pictures and I would love to show all what we endured for a week- suffice it to say it was nasty.

This is a real problem. It is very unsafe to expose our children and ourselves to sewage and the diseases that can be lethal with exposure. The sewage was dripping on us as we ran down the hall.

Disney did not protect my children. They won't protect yours either- don't take the risk. A Disney Cruise on the Magic is not magical!!!!!

Is there a reason you can not post the pictures?
I hope you forwarded them to DCL Management so they can SEE the extent of the problem. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. I am very sorry you had that experience.

 

[kltruck]

I can't upload directly here on disboards (any help on how?) but I can link to images on my Snapfish album.

Please take a look for yourselves. The Disney workers clearly are wearing protection- gloves, face masks,goggles, Disney coveralls, etc. And you can see this is the hall our family had to pass through to get to our room. The pipes are in disrepair and leaking. Drip, drip ...

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=8149859013/a=94455051_94455051/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/


I urge caution if you are considering a cruise with Disney. This may be your experience and they will not do anything about it while onboard, and when you get home you'll get a form letter and 25% off to expose your family on another Disney cruise. Not so magical.

 

[3Goofy's]

We are on the Magic this March. Very upsetting to hear this. Terrible you had to go through that!!

 

[Wadekind]

I can't upload directly here on disboards (any help on how?) but I can link to images on my Snapfish album.

Please take a look for yourselves. The Disney workers clearly are wearing protection- gloves, face masks,goggles, Disney coveralls, etc. And you can see this is the hall our family had to pass through to get to our room. The pipes are in disrepair and leaking. Drip, drip ...

http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=8149859013/a=94455051_94455051/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/


I urge caution if you are considering a cruise with Disney. This may be your experience and they will not do anything about it while onboard, and when you get home you'll get a form letter and 25% off to expose your family on another Disney cruise. Not so magical.

Thank you for the pictures.

 

[jenelabri]

Unfortunately it looks like DCL is going to need to do some work on the Magic in it's next dry dock...

We are taking a family vacation including grandparents on the Magic in may. None of the 8 of us have ever cruised. Will the Magic be in drydock before then to hopefully fix some of these problems?

 

[magic458]

I think some of you are being a little too kind on the sewage issue.

This is a major health hazard. Medical/science background here but RAW sewage is a critical issue and I am not seeing anywhere here that Disney handled it in a way that is sufficient.

I would be as forceful as to say that I spend 1/3 of my time in my room cruising and that was time spent in RAW sewage. I am requesting 1/3 towards a future cruise and OBC.

I would think that one thing that they are likely more willing to do is to discount future cruises rather than refund backwards. They know their numbers and even when you are on the ship for free, you still generate income.

Prepping to sail on the magic and concerned.