Magical sewage back up!

[dad of 3 addicted to DCL]

They booked me....... Sacramento to LOS ANGELES to Vancouver. 400 miles the wrong way, then 400 miles back flying over my house on the way to Vancouver.

I had to laugh at this. In September, we're headed to New Orleans from DC via...JFK in New York.

 

[Mango7100]

Just got on board at 2.15. Boarding on deck 2 forward. No announcements. Atrium is closed with no explanation. Our stateroom is on deck 5 aft so we were told to go to deck 6 and walk across and then down to 5. We weren’t told why but said they hoped to have it fixed soon.

Ok that is not cool. They could have at least put a notification on the app explaining what was going on. But to close a significant portion of the ship without explanation is just poor service.

 

[Moonspinner]

Does anyone know the exact location where the problems are? Is it mainly deck 5 and 6 aft?

 

[newfamilyman]

Were they able to resolve the problem?

 

[jwalk03]

Does anyone know the exact location where the problems are? Is it mainly deck 5 and 6 aft?

Mid ship. It was raining down in the atrium from the time we left Lookout Cay to when we disembarked. Water was still raining down.

All of the characters that normally meet in the atrium met in other locations. Mainly the pool deck gazebos.

The till we meet again party was also moved to the pool deck.

They covered all the glass on the mid ship elevators so you couldn’t see In the atrium. They also closed the fire doors so you couldn’t enter except on deck 3 by guest services. They put screens up by guest services to allow you to pass through the atrium but tried to block most of the view.

You could still see water raining down from the atrium light fixtures over the screens. Several of the entertainment staff made jokes about their new atrium water feature! (The cruise director never specifically mentioned what was going on in his announcements- just said there was a “diversion” around the atrium.

One of the officers i spoke with on the last day said a pipe burst and they knew where the issue was but they couldn’t fix it until they arrived in San Juan. Not sure now what it’s like for the current cruise and if they have fixed the issue while in San Juan prior to departure.

 

[jwalk03]

We are still traveling home today after flight delays yesterday. But I will share pictures once I get home.

 

[jwalk03]

One more thing I wanted to add- the water coming down from the fixtures in the atrium was definitely not sewage. It appeared to be clean water to me and there was definitely no noticeable smell.

When it first started they had some trash cans and buckets on deck 3 catching the water- but they removed them and were just letting it run onto the carpet. Not sure the logic behind that honestly.

 

[brentm77]

Mid ship. It was raining down in the atrium from the time we left Lookout Cay to when we disembarked. Water was still raining down.

All of the characters that normally meet in the atrium met in other locations. Mainly the pool deck gazebos.

The till we meet again party was also moved to the pool deck.

They covered all the glass on the mid ship elevators so you couldn’t see In the atrium. They also closed the fire doors so you couldn’t enter except on deck 3 by guest services. They put screens up by guest services to allow you to pass through the atrium but tried to block most of the view.

You could still see water raining down from the atrium light fixtures over the screens. Several of the entertainment staff made jokes about their new atrium water feature! (The cruise director never specifically mentioned what was going on in his announcements- just said there was a “diversion” around the atrium.

One of the officers i spoke with on the last day said a pipe burst and they knew where the issue was but they couldn’t fix it until they arrived in San Juan. Not sure now what it’s like for the current cruise and if they have fixed the issue while in San Juan prior to departure.

Edit: I just realized it was probably only one night - so not as big of a deal as I thought. But is it fixed for guests this week?

 

[jwalk03]

Edit: I just realized it was probably only one night - so not as big of a deal as I thought. But is it fixed for guests this week?

It was not just one night. Lookout was day 6. (All aboard time was 330 and that’s when we re-boarded and it had happened at some point while we were on the island.) Day 7 was a sea day, and then day 8 was debarkation morning in San Juan.

No compensation was offered. (At least not unless you were in a cabin that may have been directly affected on deck 6. Not sure what was offered for them)

Does not sound like it was fixed for those boarding either. At least from what I have read today. I obviously don’t have first hand knowledge of the next voyage.

 

[brentm77]

It was not just one night. Lookout was day 6. (All aboard time was 330 and that’s when we re-boarded and it had happened at some point while we were on the island.) Day 7 was a sea day, and then day 8 was debarkation morning in San Juan.

No compensation was offered. (At least not unless you were in a cabin that may have been directly affected on deck 6. Not sure what was offered for them)

Does not sound like it was fixed for those boarding either. At least from what I have read today. I obviously don’t have first hand knowledge of the next voyage.

That is a bigger issue on an entire sea day. I really dislike the whole conversation about compensation because, inevitably, someone wants to debate whether it's "required," or how it wasn't Disney fault, which I believe misses the point. Of course, it's not required, and crap happens that is beyond a companies control. However, it is a reasonable expectation in situations like this, where a significant part of the ship is unusable and navigating the ship becomes much more challenging. People pay more for Disney and rightfully have high expectations. Furthermore, between the customer and Disney, Disney is in the best position to attempt to prevent this sort of stuff with better maintenance,. Yes, even there, crap still happens. But if I were running a cruise company and wanted to send the message that customers could trust us with their vacation money and time, I wouldn't hesitate to offer a gesture of goodwill in situations like this.

 

[jwalk03]

That is a bigger day on an entire sea day. I really dislike the whole conversation about compensation because, inevitably, someone wants to debate whether it's "required," or how it wasn't Disney fault, which I believe misses the point. Of course, it's not required, and crap happens that is beyond a companies control. However, it is a reasonable expectation in situations like this, where a significant part of the ship is unusable and navigating the ship becomes much more challenging. People play more for Disney and rightfully have high expectations. Furthermore, between the customer and Disney, Disney is in the best position to attempt to prevent this sort of stuff with better maintenance,. Yes, even there, crap still happens. But if I were running a cruise ship company and wanted to send the message that customers could trust us with their vacation money and time, I wouldn't hesitate to offer a gesture of goodwill in situations like this.

Yeah I could see a small future cruise discount or something I suppose.

Honestly it was annoying- but we still had a great time. Not sure if they would have offered something if I complained- I did not and don’t feel like it ruined our trip by any means.

The most annoying part was trying to get to breakfast on debarkation morning. Our cabin was deck 2 forward and we had AP on deck 4 aft for breakfast. And we had 4 large suitcases to lug around. The forward elevators were reserved only for debarking on deck 1 forward. And every elevator we tried to board mid ship was full. We ended up having to lug 4 full size suitcases up a flight of stairs just to be able to get to breakfast 10 minutes late after never being able to get an elevator.

 

[brentm77]

Yeah I could see a small future cruise discount or something I suppose.

Honestly it was annoying- but we still had a great time. Not sure if they would have offered something if I complained- I did not and don’t feel like it ruined our trip by any means.

The most annoying part was trying to get to breakfast on debarkation morning. Our cabin was deck 2 forward and we had AP on deck 4 aft for breakfast. And we had 4 large suitcases to lug around. The forward elevators were reserved only for debarking on deck 1 forward. And every elevator we tried to board mid ship was full. We ended up having to lug 4 full size suitcases up a flight of stairs just to be able to get to breakfast 10 minutes late after never being able to get an elevator.

I was thinking even a small stateroom credit to be used for ice cream, or something. I personally don't love when companies mess up and give you a discount for future use, because it always strikes me as odd to say, "trust us to get it right next time by giving us more business," instead of making it right now. But that would have been better than nothing. I wouldn't have complained over this either. I love that you made the best of it and had a great time.

 

[dreamer17555]

DCL not communicating about the issue directly to guests when they can push messages out via the app is unacceptable IMO.

I am honestly surprised that DCL did nothing as far as guest recovery. I would think even a small token like $25- $50 per stateroom in onboard credit would make guests feel better and let's be honest they will spend it (or more) in the shops, on drinks, etc- the loss to DCL's bottom line would have been minimal.

Photos showing the state of the current atrium carpet are on Reddit and honestly it looks every bit as bad as the Allure of the Seas did this year right before it went to a much needed dry dock... but the difference is with Royal's Allure I paid $800 for 2 people, 4 nights, in an oceanview balcony. DCL is at least twice that. It looks bad.

I am someone who Loves DCL. I have sailed 16 times since 2020 but I do not blindly support all their choices. They should have done more for guests on the last cruise who were impacted and the least they could have done is communicate clearly to all guests about the issue. DCL needs to do better.

 

[katyringo]

DCL not communicating about the issue directly to guests when they can push messages out via the app is unacceptable IMO.

I am honestly surprised that DCL did nothing as far as guest recovery. I would think even a small token like $25- $50 per stateroom in onboard credit would make guests feel better and let's be honest they will spend it (or more) in the shops, on drinks, etc- the loss to DCL's bottom line would have been minimal.

Photos showing the state of the current atrium carpet are on Reddit and honestly it looks every bit as bad as the Allure of the Seas did this year right before it went to a much needed dry dock... but the difference is with Royal's Allure I paid $800 for 2 people, 4 nights, in an oceanview balcony. DCL is at least twice that. It looks bad.

I am someone who Loves DCL. I have sailed 16 times since 2020 but I do not blindly support all their choices. They should have done more for guests on the last cruise who were impacted and the least they could have done is communicate clearly to all guests about the issue. DCL needs to do better.

I do kinda agree with this even though we had a wonderful time. The whole way communication happened around it was so odd. Earlier in the cruise we had a medical emergency and had to reroute to Miami which delayed our arrival at castaway a bit- and there were announcements like every hour so when this happened and.. nothing.. it felt odd.

 

[Moonspinner]

Mid ship. It was raining down in the atrium from the time we left Lookout Cay to when we disembarked. Water was still raining down.

All of the characters that normally meet in the atrium met in other locations. Mainly the pool deck gazebos.

The till we meet again party was also moved to the pool deck.

They covered all the glass on the mid ship elevators so you couldn’t see In the atrium. They also closed the fire doors so you couldn’t enter except on deck 3 by guest services. They put screens up by guest services to allow you to pass through the atrium but tried to block most of the view.

You could still see water raining down from the atrium light fixtures over the screens. Several of the entertainment staff made jokes about their new atrium water feature! (The cruise director never specifically mentioned what was going on in his announcements- just said there was a “diversion” around the atrium.

One of the officers i spoke with on the last day said a pipe burst and they knew where the issue was but they couldn’t fix it until they arrived in San Juan. Not sure now what it’s like for the current cruise and if they have fixed the issue while in San Juan prior to departure.

Thanks for the info. We are booked on 6 forward. I really don’t want to end up in one of the affected rooms! It doesn’t sound like Disney handled this well IMO. With the price of a Disney cruise you do expect them to go above and beyond. In this case it sounds like they did the absolute bare minimum.

 

[n2mm]

I would’ve expected compensation at least to those directly affected. I’ve been compensated a few times and I never asked for it. One cruise there was a loud noise throughout the night. Then Again the next night. Many of us complained and an officer came and spoke to us. Surprisingly we all got $100 credit to our accounts. The next time was when we got up on a Thursday sea day to messages that we would be heading home and skipping castaway because the ship was having problems and it would take us two days to get home. We got a 25% off future cruise and a shipboard credit $200. When I was on an excursion last summer where the vendor put our lives in danger, we got full refunds for the excursion, and gift basket. Btw, I suck at choosing excursions.

 

[Moonspinner]

I would’ve expected compensation at least to those directly affected. I’ve been compensated a few times and I never asked for it. One cruise there was a loud noise throughout the night. Then Again the next night. Many of us complained and an officer came and spoke to us. Surprisingly we all got $100 credit to our accounts. The next time was when we got up on a Thursday sea day to messages that we would be heading home and skipping castaway because the ship was having problems and it would take us two days to get home. We got a 25% off future cruise and a shipboard credit $200. When I was on an excursion last summer where the vendor put our lives in danger, we got full refunds for the excursion, and gift basket. Btw, I suck at choosing excursions.

I agree. I feel like the % off on a future cruise is only a win for Disney and if they really did a full analysis it probably affects their bottom line positively. My thoughts on this:

1. Large amounts of people don’t end up using the % off but Disney still gets the good will uplift
2. Many people who were not going to book another Disney cruise in the next two years now will with the extra % off (that pattern is invaluable). Once you start doing one a year or one every two years it is hard to stop!
3. Many cruises end up discounting large numbers anyway to fill the cruise, not only in GT rates but for employees and travel professionals.
4. Studies show that people who feel like they got a deal spend the money in the store anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that people who get that extra % off often splurge on dining, spa services, or shopping while on board, buy the photo package they would not have normally purchased, or tip employees a bit more than they normally would have.
5. And the biggie= loyal customers who have only admiration for the company

It’s just a win win from my perspective.

 

[DCL58]

We sailed the Magic in 2019 and the toilet in our cabin wouldn’t flush some of the time. I feel like the plumbing issues on the Magic have been going on for a while, and will get worse as the ship ages.

We are on the Magic for the 10 night this summer. Reading this thread makes me uneasy and question whether we should have booked the Magic again. We normally sail the fantasy.

 

[lois00525]

I just looked a video posted by Don's Family Vacation, and the photos of the bathroom that Don claims is on the Disney Magic. This is not on the Disney Magic. I have sailed on this ship over 30 times. The bathroom in the video shows a tank over the toilet bowl and next to it a shower stall. Disney Cruise Line does not have a tank over the toilet bowl, nor does it have a shower stall. I don't where he got this video from, but it is completely untrue.

I understand that there is a leak in their atrium, and hopefully it has been repaired, but the leak is definitely not due to sewage.

 

[dreamer17555]

@lois00525
The first video used click bait (we discuss it in this thread) but yes there was a sewage back up on the Magic and then the next sailing had the atrium leak- different events but the Magic's plumbing is in need of some love for sure.