May 5, 2010 Magic of Barcelona

[sabrecmc]

Wow, all the server issues are interesting. I did notice on the last breakfast that our main server, Mario, seemed a little distracted. Now, he was still friendly and efficient and all, but did seem a bit off. Meanwhile, our Assistant Server, Alexander, talked to my daughter about his dog, since he'd learned that she desperately wants one. We also learned that his wife was pregnant with their first child. So, lots of sharing and chatting going on there. Mario just seemed a tad distant, but we figured they were all really busy with the changeover and tired from a long night. It didn't sound like they'd been given too much time off during the trip.

However, Mario had been totally fantastic the whole trip, bringing us extra food he just felt we should try, bringing my mom extra scallops when he found out she loved them, giving our tablemate a birthday cake, though her birthday wasn't until right after the cruise ended...plus, Alexander always had my daughter's drink waiting for her, which was great. They always brought her food out with our first course, got her ketchup, talked to her...Mario gave us a crash course in napkin folding one night...I don't know, they were just really fun and sweet. Mario insisted we try the Ossa Buca(sp?) one night and boy, was that out of this world! We did tip a bit extra. Not much, an extra $30 and $20 each, I think, but a tad extra. We also left a bit extra for our stateroom hostess, who did a fabulous job the whole time. Sorry so many seemed to have weird server issues. I'd definitely report it to DCL. They need to know this stuff so the next family has it better! Though, I can see enjoying the buffet each night...the few times we ate there for lunch, it was great. I particularly liked the Spanish themed buffet. Yum. It was great to get to try different dishes like that.

 

[maynrive]

We'll we just made it back from Barcelona last night. I just worked on copying all the pictures we took off of my travel drive and onto my disk server. I hadn't realized that I'd taken about 1000 pictures myself. DW probably took just as many on her cheap digital and we still haven't downloaded any from her good digital or any of the video I shot.

This was a good trip and I wish we'd made it to the meet but we were so jet lagged that first sea day, we fell asleep after lunch and barely woke up in time for the 6:30 show. Kaleigh and James were are table mates, so we weren't completely isolated from the Disboards. I have my suspicions that I'd met some of you throughout the trip, though, without knowing it.

I'm going to be posting stuff to a blog, as soon as I have some time. I still need to sort through the pictures.

Just gotta say that I miss the Brent announcements too. Though, waking up this morning, I miss the alarm clock from the stateroom. I think I was waking up a lot happier listening to when you wish upon a star instead of the loud bleeping noise I wok up to this morning...

I've just spent a couple of hours going through my notes and posting a trip report on my blog:
http://travelnow321.wordpress.com/category/med-trip-2010/page/2/

The first post at the bottom of the page is probably less interesting unless you're a mileage runner...

 

[lmhall2000]

Just gotta say that I miss the Brent announcements too. Though, waking up this morning, I miss the alarm clock from the stateroom. I think I was waking up a lot happier listening to when you wish upon a star instead of the loud bleeping noise I wok up to this morning...

I'm sure some Dis'ers are in many of our pictures and we don't even know it! I really really tried hard to love Brent..I really do LIKE him loads...but he seemed to talk and talk and talk and when I would run over the points he made it would be like one point but said 5 different ways...being a 'get to the point' kind of person, it made me worn out! I think the worst was watching him on the TV at the end when he was talking about baggage, check out, room reviews etc...

And although I had really NO problem putting excellent on the wait service review sheet (glad I filled it out before Saturday morning)..we would have eaten somewhere else for checkout breakfast but I didn't think anything was open..should have just ordered room service...but I thought it would be nice to say goodbye to our good buddies, next time I'll try a different path....nice run-on sentence....we were coached on how to fill out the survey...my father is in the service/sales industry and hates how they assess folks with those surveys, he understands that if you don't get excellent it's equivalent to a 73 or below...they only get notices/bumps if you put all excellent, but our staff asked us 5x to put only excellents and even the head guy of the room, who I also felt did not do much besides make forced conversation and he has to be tired of forcing that smile all the time...I would not like that job!

Did anyone else get 'pressure' ..of course I didn't put we got pressure b/c I really wanted them to get good ratings..but I did share our disappointment on a 25 minute survey I had in my email box on our return...it asked if we would sail out of NY or Galveston, looks like new ports in store!

Tara

 

[sabrecmc]

We didn't have anyone say anything about the ratings. Our stateroom hostess asked us to please remember to fill out the card, but didn't say anything beyond that. Interesting! I wonder if their pay or something is tied to the ratings.

 

[Goofy Mum]

Tara, we weren't pressured to fill out the survey although our stateroom hostess asked us to fill out two because we had adjoining rooms. I asked her why do I need to fill out two and she said it would be helpful for her promotion. I filled them out no problem as she was more than worth it!

 

[Kaleigh]

Weird about the pressure stuff. We didn't get any at all. As far as servers, our assistant server was wonderful. She always had our drinks ready as we sat down, was very personable and seemed to do more than our head server. He was nice, but nothing special. I celebrated my birthday on the ship, but was at Palo that night. I told our server the night before that we would be gone the next day for my birthday and he said that we would celebrate the next night, but I guess he forgot because nothing was ever said. Also, on the first night I asked if it would be possible to get a copy of all the menus because I am writing a blog for a disney food website and he said that he would look into it. He mentioned it again on the second night that he was working on it and I said that it was fine, as long as I could get them before we left. He never mentioned it again and when I asked our asst on the last day, she said that they NEVER do that because so many people ask. Why wouldn't he just tell me that in the beginning so that I could take pictures of the menus? There were other little things at times like him not bringing out my husband's soup, but overall he was okay. We really didn't understand what we were tipping the head server for. He came by and said hi at maybe 3 meals and took the shell off our lobster that night. And when our server had problems keeping up, he was not jumping in and helping.
Interesting to hear everyone else's experiences. One thing that made our dinners worth looking forward to... talking with Maynard and Eliza (maynrive). I am so glad that we arranged for that ahead of time and will try to do it again. After hanging with your spouse all day, it is nice to have people of like mind to talk to and to hear about their day.

 

[Goofy Mum]

Kaleigh,
I snuck out one of the Pirate night dessert menu's. Simply because it was small, cute and I wanted to use it in my scrapbook.

 

[everafter1]

I'm sorry to hear about the servers. We really lucked out with our servers, they were awesome! We usually tip the recommended amount, but this time, I added more because they were so good.

The only server we were dissapointed with was our Palo server, we had him for both dinner and brunch. He was efficient, but played a few jokes on us. While I don't mind that in the dining room, I didn't feel Palo was the place for it. First, at dinner, he asked if we wanted drinks and I explained that we had the wine package and he said "Oh, that doesn't work at Palo." I said, "Um it has the last 3 times we've been here," and I had on my serious face. He then said, "I'm kidding! You guys are too serious!" At brunch we went with my whole family and my sister decided to treat us, she gave him her card and he brought it back and said, "Um this card says the account's been closed and it rejected the card." My sister asked him multiple times if he was serious and he kept saying "yes, I need another card." Finally when she looked like she was about to cry and my mom handed him her card he announced he was kidding. I just didn't feel like that was an appropriate joke. Looking back, I wish we'd said something to the manager, because I've always loved Palo. Otherwise our service was fantastic.

Our stateroom was always clean, but the hostess never seemed to want to give us refills on soap, sampoo, etc. Our soap was paper thin before we got more. Otherwise, she kept the room nice for us.

I'm sorry to hear that a few people got sick. My husband and I caught a cough right at the end, but we're doing ok... I already want to do another cruise!

 

[Goofy Mum]

everafter1, our hostess was really stingy with the toiletries also. I asked for extra's to take home which she left on the bed one night but she only refilled our shampoo and conditioner one time. The bath soap was a tiny sliver by the time our cruise was over.

 

[downtick]

we left the cruise with pink eye! I guess everyone left with something!

 

[sabrecmc]

Interesting about the toiletries...while we had our soap replenished at least twice and never had a problem with running out of shampoo or conditioner, on our first cruise on the Wonder, one thing we all commented on was that they practically innundated us with shampoos and stuff. Like they brought new ones everytime they cleaned, which ended up with lots to take home. Not so this trip, though we certainly had plenty to use.

Downtick, I may have been patient 0 for the pink-eye. I got a raging case in Italy on our pre-cruise trip. It was so bad, I went to the pharmacy and the nice Italian pharmacist gave me antibiotic drops though I didn't have a prescription. It was loads better by the cruise, but definitely no fun. I feel your pain!

Did anyone else rebook more cruises? I just rebooked some we already had that had gone down in price with the discount. We have one in November, the repo and first Alaska cruise next year, a 5 night double-dip on the Dream and a NYE cruise in 2011 back on the Magic. We apparently enjoy cruising, huh? The Alasks and NYE cruise had both gone down in price, but the others we were better off with what we had. Interesting how all that works.

 

[maynrive]

I guess that's why they have you sanitize every chance you get. I hope everyone's feeling better soon. I just wanted to say it was a pleasure have Kaleigh and James as our tablemates for dinner. It's nice having people to talk with who understands your Disney obsession. I have to agree that our main server wasn't the best one out there. He was pretty good the first night when he insisted on getting me another steak when the one I got was more well done than I wanted, but it went downhill from there. He was very distant on that final breakfast. Jess was a pleasure, though. Very willing to play mystery drink with me. I'll also say that we dealt with the head server, Zan, a bit more. He was very friendly and approachable. We let him know when we were not happy with the service or the food. We also let him know when something exceptionally good happened, though that was a little rare.

We had a pretty good relationship with our room steward. I think the shampoos were replaced about 3 or 4 times. We don't check luggage, so it would have been a pain for us to try and bring anything home, so we didn't try.

Also realized, when I was looking at the group photo on the facebook page that the second woman on the left is the one DW and I ran into at martini tasting, guest services on the last day and at El Corte Ingles a couple days after the cruise. Now I really wish I'd made it to the meet, so I knew who she was when we were on board!

 

[everafter1]

Yeah, I thought it was weird about the toiletries too. On our past Disney cruises, they've always given them out so freely, so it was strange to almost run out. Our stateroom host last year actually gave me some extra to take home. It's fine, I just made sure to buy some body butter while on board, I love that stuff

 

[lmhall2000]

Yeah, I thought it was weird about the toiletries too. On our past Disney cruises, they've always given them out so freely, so it was strange to almost run out. Our stateroom host last year actually gave me some extra to take home. It's fine, I just made sure to buy some body butter while on board, I love that stuff

We never used the body butter but brought the full tube that was still there, now I'm going to have to try it!! I have the hardest time finding nice lotions that aren't watery or oily!

We had plenty of shampoo..those little bottles lasted one hair wash for each of us, our girls' hair is waist length so to get it clean it seemed we went through half a bottle..I never asked for extra but each time I got in the shower, there was a new bottle in there...our girls went swimming so often and their hair was like STRAW after spending an hour in the pools...it was yucky!! I went through a whole bottle of conditioner on both of them just trying to get their hair to feel normal again...

So sorry you got pinkeye downtick! That's miserable! We're just now getting over our mediteranean colds, I really almost think it was more flu than cold..lasting 10 days!!! EEk!

Well, we really want to plan another cruise...didn't think we would..but it really is a nice getaway...my two nieces are both seniors next year (college/high school) and will graduate in May..I really want to take them somewhere..they both want to do the Med..but I'm not up for repeating it...Dover doesn't look that much better, I just want warmth and sun...maybe they'll be happy with just Caribbean? But I'm having a hard time shopping by location without knowing a month...I wish it would let you shop by ship...I think the Dream would just be sooo big, but I know the kids would love the amenities...but we've never been on the Wonder...any comparisons from Magic/Wonder??

Thanks all!!
Tara

 

[sabrecmc]

any comparisons from Magic/Wonder??

We had a great time on the Wonder, but it did seem more fast-paced than the Magic, which I felt was more formal...that's not really the word I'm going for, because I felt it was very laid back as well, but I don't know...the Wonder was just more about whoo-hoo, let's have a blast, whereas the Magic was more like "ahhhh...this is so relaxing."

It was only 3 nights on the Wonder, so it kind felt like I didn't have as much time to really get to know the ship and crew. It was still a blast though. Maybe more of a party than our cruise, which seemed to me to have lots of families with young kids and grandparents along. I did notice that on the Magic, I had to search out drinks while on deck, whereas on the Wonder, there were drink guys constantly walking around with trays of drinks of the day! I do have to admit that I think I liked the Golden Mickeys more than Villains Tonight...I'm such a sap, but I like that schmaltzy kind of stuff! I liked Lumiere's more than Triton's though, perhaps b/c I don't eat seafood. Both ships have been really fun. We're back on the Wonder for a 3 nighter in November. It will be interesting to see if there are any differences. I'd heard that some of the Magic crew were coming to the Wonder since it was doing the longer voyages next year. Not sure how all that works though.

 

[strawberryblonde]

I guess that's why they have you sanitize every chance you get. I hope everyone's feeling better soon. I just wanted to say it was a pleasure have Kaleigh and James as our tablemates for dinner. It's nice having people to talk with who understands your Disney obsession. I have to agree that our main server wasn't the best one out there. He was pretty good the first night when he insisted on getting me another steak when the one I got was more well done than I wanted, but it went downhill from there. He was very distant on that final breakfast. Jess was a pleasure, though. Very willing to play mystery drink with me. I'll also say that we dealt with the head server, Zan, a bit more. He was very friendly and approachable. We let him know when we were not happy with the service or the food. We also let him know when something exceptionally good happened, though that was a little rare.

We had a pretty good relationship with our room steward. I think the shampoos were replaced about 3 or 4 times. We don't check luggage, so it would have been a pain for us to try and bring anything home, so we didn't try.

Also realized, when I was looking at the group photo on the facebook page that the second woman on the left is the one DW and I ran into at martini tasting, guest services on the last day and at El Corte Ingles a couple days after the cruise. Now I really wish I'd made it to the meet, so I knew who she was when we were on board!

Oh how funny!! I never thought to ask if you were disers, I should have...who knew! You are both such fun, sorry that we had to run to the kids' show we really enjoyed chatting with you two

I feel lucky that we didn't catch anything this vacation, sorry for you folks that did. I appreciated the wipes that Disney provides, and CJ'smom left a really handy spray in our FE .

I'm wondering if DCL asked their stateroom hosts to be careful with the supplies so that they don't run out. I think our shampoo/conditioner were only replaced once or twice. I had the body butter in my purse and we didn't recieve another for days....when I asked for another, I was given one with a smile, so I think they were just being careful. I liked the toiletries they provide now, much better than the tear pouches from years past. I wasn't sure if I would like them, so I had travel sizes of my own to use as well.

Both of my kids enjoyed the clubs, new clubs for both of them this time around. DD's (10) first time in the lab and first time with self-checkout, which she loved! DS's (13) first time in Ocean Quest and that went well. He went for at least one activity each day. He did two midnight activities.....glow in the dark dodge ball up on the sports deck one night and one hour of free arcade games on another. I did wait up for him with the light on, but he was very responsible and came right back on time, it worked out great for us. We had a wipe-off board on the inside of our door where all of us would write where we were. We checked in with each other often and the kids loved it. They followed our rules closely and I couldn't be more pleased with how it worked out.

We took them off ship with us at each port except for La Spezia. It was such a rainy, cold day and they were tired out from Rome the day before. We allowed them a "sea day" while we went and did Cinque Terre on our own. They appreciated not doing all of that walking through the rain, and we enjoyed being just the two of us for a change.....it could have been my favorite port if it had been sunny! Our terms were that DD was not to check herself out while we were off ship, but that DS would come and get her and take her uptop for lunch. They enjoyed being independent and having lunch together, but stayed in their clubs besides that. We had pirate dinner and pirate party that night, so lots of family together time....it was a great balance. So nice when things work out!