MAGIC upgrades...need first reports !!!

[TonytheWop]

NEVER go on a cruise right after a drydock! EVER! There are still to many kinks to work out.

If you do, remember that a drydock is also a work in process. A lot of work is still being done weeks afterward.

I agree ! As anyone who purchased a new home can attest to , even after you have moved in, you will have workers coming and going for several days if not weeks after.
Nonetheless, it is not fair to charge full fare and not have full access to everything..DCL should offer to the guests OBC and/or discounts on a future cruise.

NCL had a problem with the SKY when it came out of drydock and they offered OBC and large discounts on future cruises.

 

[Caitsmama]

I agree with Dolphingirl. We were on that cruise too - right before drydock. I for one think it was beautiful before, and although there is minor wear, overall the ship is wonderful!!

I also agree that you shouldn't be spending the time on your first cruise taking pics of all the negitive.. try to just have fun and see the beauty that is right in front of you. Sure there will be things that need improvement, but why should that put a damper on your fun?

And i don't think anyone should contemplate cancelling a cruise on the Magic because of any of these reports, that seems like a total shame to me.. Honestly, you will have a great time.

 

[backtoTX]

So, how often does she typically go into drydock? And is it always this same time of year?

Adam

 

[fairfax]

NEVER go on a cruise right after a drydock! EVER! There are still to many kinks to work out.

If you do, remember that a drydock is also a work in process. A lot of work is still being done weeks afterward.

I feel so stupid, I should have checked these boards before booking this cruise and realized that we were cruising right after drydock. We board the ship on Saturday, this was supposed to be a special cruise for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and now I feel just sick about the whole thing. I was in charge of making all the arrangements and now everyone is going to be so disappointed.

 

[nokidz]

I feel so stupid, I should have checked these boards before booking this cruise and realized that we were cruising right after drydock. We board the ship on Saturday, this was supposed to be a special cruise for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and now I feel just sick about the whole thing. I was in charge of making all the arrangements and now everyone is going to be so disappointed.

Dont get all freakied out just yet. I am surprised that DCL did not have the Magic ship shaped for this 3 day voyage. I am sure with all the complaints they are receiving they will address everything and you and your crew will have a fantastic time. remember, this is Disney. Magic happens on the Magic!!

 

[ejkjmom]

I feel so stupid, I should have checked these boards before booking this cruise and realized that we were cruising right after drydock. We board the ship on Saturday, this was supposed to be a special cruise for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary and now I feel just sick about the whole thing. I was in charge of making all the arrangements and now everyone is going to be so disappointed.

You Seriously will be fine....I understand your concern,
But know....The Disney Magic is a Beautiful Ship, (and a Super Clean one at that) I agreed that I too was a bit disappointed when I heard that they didn't change out the stateroom carpet. But trust me, the carpet will Not keep you from having a Great Week with your family!!!

We were on the Magic last March and Loved it.. in fact so much, that we rebook while on board for this coming Feb...

The pools are a fluke situation...and it really is too bad that the people on the Magic right now had to deal with that..but I am almost certain that you won't have the same problem next week. We have cruised Disney 3 times and have never seen that...

Trust me, you and your family won't be disappointed from the second you reach the terminal, right up to the end of the week You will LOVE Everything!!!!

Relax and have fun, you are going on a DISNEY CRUISE!!!!

 

[lbgraves]

I have to agree with the PP. You will be on a beautiful ship. I didn't think that the carpets were terrible on the EB repo last month. DCL holds high standards for things like that. IMO the carpet in the atrium did not look bad at all last month...yet it was replaced. The experience itself is the cruise...not if there is a scratch on the drawer in your room. Maybe it is because I am getting older but I try to look for the positive in every situation. The theater personnel were anxious to see the WDT redone...and it looked great to me. I still bawled when the ship was PDd in Dreams and we enjoyed almost all the other presentations as well...the reason we didn't care for a couple of them had nothing to do with the decor. I can't imagine what the problem is with the pools as when on a cruise and a child makes a mess in the pool it is emptied, sanitized and refilled within a couple hours. There must be a problem with the pool drainage system as I can't imagine that ANYONE at DCL was happy about the condition of the pools shown in the pictures. I have to say that if we were there I would do the same thing that we do when the pools are closed for cleaning...take the kids to play ping pong, get an ice cream cone, go to deck 4 and play shuffle board, discover the pictures all over the ship that you usually are in too much of a hurry to see and of course visit with the wonderful friends we cruise with. It's just like when they can't dock at CC or make a scheduled port...DCL is going to do what it can to make their guests happy.

 

[kcashner]

I think we've seen the Magic in all her phases--we were on the first voyage with paying guests. She was bright and shiny, but services weren't up to par. That improved quickly.

A few years later, she was looking a bit shabby...and after dry dock, looked great.

We cruised after the previous week had no guests due to a hurricane and the crew spent the time cleaning everywhere--and the dirt in the corners of the bathrooms was gone!

Frankly, I didn't think she looked bad at all on our last cruise. The issue really is upgrading and keeping things great.

I can't wait till the next one (scheduled!) Yes, we pay a premium price, but I feel the ship and the service are worth it. Nothing is perfect ever, anywhere, but the crew of the Magic strives for excellence and generally meets that standard.

A few dings on furniture is a silly thing to fret over!

 

[fairfax]

OK thanks for talking me off of a ledge, everyone I'm feeling better. My major concern was in another thread the OP said he'd asked to be moved to another room and the reply was most rooms are still not ready for occupancy yet. My mother is a very particular person and can be vocal if she feels things are not right, I just want things to be as good as possible for their anniversary. If she ended up in a room with worn carpets, dinged furniture, and a sagging matresses I'd be hearing about it for the whole cruise! I have a 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old and they'll have plenty of other things to do if the pool is not operational, they adore the kids' club and Wall-E is playing in the theater .

Thanks again!

 

[feenie]

OK thanks for talking me off of a ledge, everyone I'm feeling better. My major concern was in another thread the OP said he'd asked to be moved to another room and the reply was most rooms are still not ready for occupancy yet. My mother is a very particular person and can be vocal if she feels things are not right, I just want things to be as good as possible for their anniversary. If she ended up in a room with worn carpets, dinged furniture, and a sagging matresses I'd be hearing about it for the whole cruise! I have a 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old and they'll have plenty of other things to do if the pool is not operational, they adore the kids' club and Wall-E is playing in the theater .

Thanks again!

I have a feeling that those other rooms were not ready because they had not finished installing the TVs and doing anything that needed to be done in them.
When we have sailed in the past we have noticed that there might be a ding or two in the furniture, or that the seat at the desk was a bit faded, but it never bothered us. When you step back and just enjoy your room, then you don't see the little imperfections.
that being said... Saggy beds would get a call to our room steward.
When we booked our 11/1 cruise we knew that there would be about a month for them to finish up the dry dock projects. The people we are traveling with would have prefered the beginning of October, but when we told them that there are often projects not fully done right after dry dock, they were happy to wait.

 

[Keggy]

The poster that posted the pictures said that his room was changed due to other issues that he did not discuss on the thread. Not because of the dings.

To the poster who is worried about cruising next week, don't be. You are your family are going to have a Magical vacation!!!

 

[safetymom]

I am sure by the cruise on Saturday the ship will be ok. Kevin has already mentioned that many things have improved since yesterday.

 

[mom2two2]

...and as far as the whole "make a note on your comment card" and describe what is wrong....ppl having things better "the next time" - what if you are saving a year and a half for this and it will be the only cruise you and your family take? When there IS no next time you want it to be right the first time.

As you should expect with this price tag.

mom2two2

 

[jd99]

...and as far as the whole "make a note on your comment card" and describe what is wrong....ppl having things better "the next time" - what if you are saving a year and a half for this and it will be the only cruise you and your family take? When there IS no next time you want it to be right the first time.

As you should expect with this price tag.

mom2two2

Honestly I think you need to take a deep breath and relax. Your cruise, if you book it, will be fine. I have been on the Magic four times with the fifth coming in 2 months. I have NEVER had a bad experience when it came to cleanliness, service or quality. I think that Kevin's experience was an unfortunate set of circumstances with all things happening at once. There is probably a good explanation about the pools that will ultimately come out and yes, I'd be horrified if that happened on my sailing, but I'd get over it because sometimes things happen that people can't control. I'm betting the bigwigs at DCL had a tough decision to make. Go ahead with the cruise as is and race against time to correct things or cancel the sailing. Can you imagine the howling had they canceled?

DCL is really a huge step above most hospitality experiences. We stayed in $500 rooms at the St. Regis in Dana Point, CA after our Mexican Riviera cruise and I saw dings on the furniture. I've been in Ritz Carlton properties with the same dings. But my overall experience was never impacted.

Kevin had a BAD room on the first sailing after what was likely a frenzied dry dock, then the ship had to sail home in very bad weather. The difference here is that DCL made it right.

But if you are going to dismiss DCL because of this one report, then that is your choice of course, but I doubt that you are going to get a better experience on NCL, RCCL or any of the other purveyors. Just MHO.

 

[CraftyMouse]

Honestly I think you need to take a deep breath and relax. Your cruise, if you book it, will be fine. I have been on the Magic four times with the fifth coming in 2 months. I have NEVER had a bad experience when it came to cleanliness, service or quality. I think that Kevin's experience was an unfortunate set of circumstances with all things happening at once. There is probably a good explanation about the pools that will ultimately come out and yes, I'd be horrified if that happened on my sailing, but I'd get over it because sometimes things happen that people can't control. I'm betting the bigwigs at DCL had a tough decision to make. Go ahead with the cruise as is and race against time to correct things or cancel the sailing. Can you imagine the howling had they canceled?

DCL is really a huge step above most hospitality experiences. We stayed in $500 rooms at the St. Regis in Dana Point, CA after our Mexican Riviera cruise and I saw dings on the furniture. I've been in Ritz Carlton properties with the same dings. But my overall experience was never impacted.

Kevin had a BAD room on the first sailing after what was likely a frenzied dry dock, then the ship had to sail home in very bad weather. The difference here is that DCL made it right.

But if you are going to dismiss DCL because of this one report, then that is your choice of course, but I doubt that you are going to get a better experience on NCL, RCCL or any of the other purveyors. Just MHO.

Well said.

 

[TonytheWop]

I am sure by the cruise on Saturday the ship will be ok. Kevin has already mentioned that many things have improved since yesterday.

While I can appreciate that the MAGIC crew are working very hard to get things improved, the issue is that drydock is the time meant for that work and not when the ship is full of hard-working , honest pax who paid alot ( to them ) for 3 days of pleasure on the ship.

I have been going to Disney World for many years ( this is going to be my first cruise ) and I expect MUCH more from Disney than what I have seen from Kevin's pictures. The condition of the pools is totally unacceptable and there is NO EXCUSE for it. I own a freshwater pool and it takes days under a hot sun for water to turn like that

As I already posted it is not enough to fix the pools or move the pax to another cabin...DCL must compensate ALL the pax for even allowing them on a ship that was obviously not ready to sail.

On a final note, from what I have heard and seen from Kevin's reporting the drydock was more about the engines than it was about the interiors. It seems like DCL tried to get away with a coat of paint and call it a makeover.
I'm sorry to say but DCL you dropped the ball here !!!

 

[kritter]

Can you tell us what the dining rotations are like now on the Magic???!!!

 

[mmackeymouse]

We are not even scheduled to cruise, so I am not quite as concerned about the pools and things like that.

Something I have read a lot lately is that the ships are looking "old and worn." That is the part that concerns me, and if you knew my family you would understand.

We are not high maintenance or snooty or anything, but when we DO shell out that extra buck, they expect perfection. I mean, we stayed at Port Orleans (then Dixie Landings) and we had a fine time, no complaints about the room, because we knew that we got what we paid for.

However, on our last vacation, we had a budget, and went a little over budget to get this great beach view condo. Parts had been renovated. Some parts hadn't. They had replaced the entire condo except for the bedrooms with new tile. Unfortunately, the carpet in the bedrooms were "old and worn." There were brand new appliances in the kitchen, but the beds were not luxury. We had a great location and beach view, but the starter on the grill was broken, and we had to light it ourselves.

Of course, all of these things are minor inconveniences. But, the first 2 or 3 days of our cruise, everyone was kind of blah, not because of the carpet or grill or beds, but mainly because they felt that we had overpaid and gotten ripped off.

I don't want the same thing to happen on a Disney Cruise, but for the price, I fear that a little wear and tear may be noticed. Scratches on the furniture I think would be alright. Wear to the carpet/bed, a yucky bathroom would likely not.