November 5th 2011 Eastern on the Magic

[princessTi]

Hi Everyone,

I know that I have been MIA for awhile (working like a beast to pay for this darn cruise)....but just had to post because when I came home this evening I had Disney mail (hotel info and luggage tags) and it made me remember it was all worth it!

On a side note...is anyone slightly nervous about all of the recent posts regarding the condition of the Magic...any thoughts?

Jai

 

[flygrl]

We are arriving on the 4th around 11a we rented a car and will travel to the Raddisson's hotel, might do a bit of shopping and pool with the kids of course.

Haven't heard anything on the condition of the Magic...? What is happening?

Tanya

 

[princessTi]

There has been quite the discussion taking place on the main boards regarding sewage leaks on deck 2, leaking stairwells, CM's with attitudes, ect....

I called Disney (as this is my first Disney cruise and have paid a ton of money) and they reassured me that IF there were any issues that should arise during our cruise on the Magic the ship's crew are very attentive and will assure that the issue would be taken care to the best of their ability and the party would continue

 

[Daniellenbella]

There has been quite the discussion taking place on the main boards regarding sewage leaks on deck 2, leaking stairwells, CM's with attitudes, ect....

I called Disney (as this is my first Disney cruise and have paid a ton of money) and they reassured me that IF there were any issues that should arise during our cruise on the Magic the ship's crew are very attentive and will assure that the issue would be taken care to the best of their ability and the party would continue

is right!! I have been avoiding the main board lately. There is definately some negativity there and I want to stay super upbeat & happy about this cruise and not second guess any part of it what so ever!

I'm still trying to figure out my favorite character! As I think about it, I realize I love more of the supporting characters like Founder & Sebastian from Little Mermaid, and the toys like Rex & Hamm in Toy Story.

Fav movies: Does Little Mermaid count as a classic yet? And I love the Toy Story movies.

Most looking forward to: Not cooking at all! Even when we go on vacations we always rent a house so that we have access to a full kitchen and can save money on food. So I'm always still cooking! This will be so great to not have to worry about one single meal for a whole week! This is our first cruise so I'm also just looking forward to the cruise experience, I still can't believe I got my DH to go on one!

How about who is your favorite Princess & Prince?
My favorite princess is Ariel & prince would be the one from Sleeping Beauty.

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

There has been quite the discussion taking place on the main boards regarding sewage leaks on deck 2, leaking stairwells, CM's with attitudes, ect....

I called Disney (as this is my first Disney cruise and have paid a ton of money) and they reassured me that IF there were any issues that should arise during our cruise on the Magic the ship's crew are very attentive and will assure that the issue would be taken care to the best of their ability and the party would continue

I am not worried at all. Anybody can have an off cruise and then complain about stuff that is usually way out of proportion to what really happened.

Kind of like a game we played as kids.
You sit in a circle, maybe 6 or 7 people. One person whispers a secret to the person on their right and they pass it on to the next and so on until it gets back to the first person.
It never comes back correct. It keeps getting changed as each person passes on what they heard.

I have seen this happen on cruises before, even with my own daughter.
She had a complaint and made it sound just aweful. Plus it was made to sound like nothing was done about it.
Once I investigated it was nothing big and was taken care of immediately. just a small glitch in the privacy curtain, but to hear my daughter tell the story everything was wrong in the room, any nobody cared.

What happened was she was having a bad day to start (hard to imagine on a cruise) so everything seamed worse to her and she took it out on the poor repair guy about the curtain. So after that everything was wrong or bad the entire day.

People do tend to exaggerate a lot when they are upset. It is in our nature.
I do believe there was probably a problem with the sewage. Crap happens (excuse the pun). it can happen anywhere on any cruise and they do deal with things immediately.
I have NEVER had a CM with a attitude problem on my 20 previous Disney cruises although I wouldnt have blamed a couple of them after seeing how poorly some were treated by guests.

Maintenance is done 24/7 on all ships. You will see it around the ship, especially while in port. But even with all the care in the world things can and will happen.
Its the same if you take a car trip, it could over heat or get a flat or have to have a tow, but things get fixed and your on your way again. Life happens and you cant always plan for it.
I roll with the punches and dont worry about the ship. Its a beautiful ship and well maintenanced reguardless of what has been said on the boards.


We have also done 1 Carnival cruise and that was a diaster and we will never cruise Carnival again but I still believe it was just one of those times where stuff happens. I know Carnival has some great cruises out there , but since we did have a bad experience i have no desire to go on them again.

I was so careful on my trip report because I was upset so it was easy for me to want to exaggerate the problems as I wrote about them. I could have easily bown it all out of context and i bet 10 others would of written and agreed with me and added their horror stories which would also have been greatly exaggerated.

Thats why I dont worry about threads like are on the main board.

If I go expecting problems then I will probably be looking for the bad, so thats all I would see.

I go with an open mind. I have a blast, even if its not 100% of what I thought something might be. The good out wieghs the bad.

Your on Disney, that in itself is awesome!!!

No cooking
Midnight dessert buffet
No cleaning
No scrubbing toilets
Free Entertainment
Safe clubs for the kids to have fun
Warm tropical breezes
Foreign ports to explore
Characters hugging you
people all around having fun
Movies to watch
Great people on this thread to meet.

How could that be bad??

Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Favorite Prince and Princess??

I am not much into princesses and princes but if I had to pick one I guess it would be Princess Fiona and Prince Shrek.

GOTCHA!!!
They are not Disney. But they are my favorite,

Ok for disney it would have to be Cinderella and Prince Charming.


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

I did our count down chain for 30 days from the day we leave for the airport, which is 30 days from today.

So i removed the first link this morning

I still need to make hotel reservations for that night and the night we get back. Time is flying by, I better get that done ASAP!!


Love the pool at the Radisson. The water fall is fun to go under and in the evening the man who sings is quite good for entertaining all the cruise goers staying there. He does Jimmy Buffet songs and a few others that are typical for hearing on cruises.

It really sets the mood for the crusie the next day

Kathy

 

[wtgilligan]

Gotta go with Princess Minnie and Prince Mickey. Only ones who really matter anyway

 

[clj1410]

Gotta go with Princess Minnie and Prince Mickey. Only ones who really matter anyway

Agreed

 

[LovesToRun]

I am not worried at all. Anybody can have an off cruise and then complain about stuff that is usually way out of proportion to what really happened.

Kind of like a game we played as kids.
You sit in a circle, maybe 6 or 7 people. One person whispers a secret to the person on their right and they pass it on to the next and so on until it gets back to the first person.
It never comes back correct. It keeps getting changed as each person passes on what they heard.

I have seen this happen on cruises before, even with my own daughter.
She had a complaint and made it sound just aweful. Plus it was made to sound like nothing was done about it.
Once I investigated it was nothing big and was taken care of immediately. just a small glitch in the privacy curtain, but to hear my daughter tell the story everything was wrong in the room, any nobody cared.

What happened was she was having a bad day to start (hard to imagine on a cruise) so everything seamed worse to her and she took it out on the poor repair guy about the curtain. So after that everything was wrong or bad the entire day.

People do tend to exaggerate a lot when they are upset. It is in our nature.
I do believe there was probably a problem with the sewage. Crap happens (excuse the pun). it can happen anywhere on any cruise and they do deal with things immediately.
I have NEVER had a CM with a attitude problem on my 20 previous Disney cruises although I wouldnt have blamed a couple of them after seeing how poorly some were treated by guests.

Maintenance is done 24/7 on all ships. You will see it around the ship, especially while in port. But even with all the care in the world things can and will happen.
Its the same if you take a car trip, it could over heat or get a flat or have to have a tow, but things get fixed and your on your way again. Life happens and you cant always plan for it.
I roll with the punches and dont worry about the ship. Its a beautiful ship and well maintenanced reguardless of what has been said on the boards.


We have also done 1 Carnival cruise and that was a diaster and we will never cruise Carnival again but I still believe it was just one of those times where stuff happens. I know Carnival has some great cruises out there , but since we did have a bad experience i have no desire to go on them again.

I was so careful on my trip report because I was upset so it was easy for me to want to exaggerate the problems as I wrote about them. I could have easily bown it all out of context and i bet 10 others would of written and agreed with me and added their horror stories which would also have been greatly exaggerated.

Thats why I dont worry about threads like are on the main board.

If I go expecting problems then I will probably be looking for the bad, so thats all I would see.

I go with an open mind. I have a blast, even if its not 100% of what I thought something might be. The good out wieghs the bad.

Your on Disney, that in itself is awesome!!!

No cooking
Midnight dessert buffet
No cleaning
No scrubbing toilets
Free Entertainment
Safe clubs for the kids to have fun
Warm tropical breezes
Foreign ports to explore
Characters hugging you
people all around having fun
Movies to watch
Great people on this thread to meet.

How could that be bad??

Kathy

I TOTALLLLLLY agree with you 100%, Kathy!!!! This is exactly how I view things, too.

People do make a bigger deal out of things or exaggerate. For me, I grew up on boats (ie, my parents always had a boat and we spent tons of time on a boat all growing up), so just like any motorized vehicle (boat, car, motorcycle, etc), small things can go wrong or happen, but they get fixed, and you just roll with the punches. This will be my 4th Disney Cruise in November, so I'm not as seasoned of cruiser as Kathy is, but I've never had bad experiences on the Disney ships. I think that is probably because we go on the cruise just with the mindset that we are SO fortunate to even be on this cruise, and be on vacation for a week.... and just so grateful!!! When you have that attitude the small things that happen (not getting a good seat in the Walt Disney Theater, your waiter not bringing your food out as fast as you wanted, some water leaking on the stairs up on deck 9, crowded pools, etc), I really don't care when those small things happen because I am just SO grateful to even be on the ship!!!

Also, I know this experience is singled out to me, but for me, either my husband or I have been injured on every single Disney cruise we've been on (either injured JUST before we left on the cruise, or injured while on the cruise), and we still came home thinking this was the most awesome vacation ever, and I think it's the optimistic view and grateful view we have that we are even able to go on this cruise! Now, I'm HOPING that this November cruise, that nobody in our family is injured or gets injured during our cruise , but no matter what happens on the cruise (which almost always is just out of our control), we just roll with the punches and just have the time of our lives and don't let the small things bug us or get to us.

I remember when we went on our Panama Canal cruise, which to us, literally was a trip of a lifetime, and we probably won't ever do a trip that big again for many many years. We had booked it 1.5 years in advanced and really saved up for it. Then, I fractured my back 2 weeks before our cruise! I was devastated, but I then just changed my mindset and realized how grateful and lucky we were to even do this cruise. Well, when I got on the ship (I had this big back brace on, and was walking slower than an elederly person walks with a walker ), I met this lady who had a big leg brace on, and she had torn her ACL (ligament in knee) just before the cruise, and she had just had surgery, so she was basically "in the same boat" as me (no pun intended) with being pretty much disabled while on the entire cruise, and for her, it was also a trip of a lifetime. But, the first thing she told me was, "well, my trip is ruined.... I ruined this trip for my entire family because I tore my ACL." This made me realize that people just have different mindsests (and that is OK.... that is what makes the world so diverse), but for me, I had a fractured back and had to cancel all of my port adventures, I couldn't run (which I LOVE to do on the ship), etc. etc., and I never once had the thought, "I've ruined my trip...". Instead, I just kept thinking how awesome it is to be on this trip, to be able to go through the Panama Canal, and to just be away with my family for 2 weeks.... and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

So, that is kind of an example, I think, of the posts I read sometimes on the main Disney boards. One person might see a water leak on the stairs and a sewage problem somewhere on the ship as it ruining their experience and making them not want to ever go on that ship again, and another might just let it roll of their shoulders and just not even let it affect their experience and just focus on all the awesome things that they are doing, experiencing, and most of all, being fortunate enough to go on vacation on a Disney Cruise.

That said, I would not worry at all about the Disney Magic! I bet she is just as beautiful of ship as she was when I was on her last year, and I think you'll just LOVE your experience to the fullest!!

-Kathy

 

[LovesToRun]

Hmmmm.... favorite princess & prince.... I, too, am not really into the princesses or princes. BUT, I do love the movie, "The Princess and the Frog"... so I guess this is my favorite Prince and Princess

 

[flygrl]

Well just got a call from my TA and our tickets are in, I am going to pick them up tomorrow at lunch or Monday.... YIPPEEEE!

Favorite princess would be Belle, that is Meghan's favourite as well, for Prince I don't really have one... (yet)! heehee

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday
Tanya

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Well its lunch time in my neck of the woods so I thought i would drop in.

I booked our pre flight hotel and parking of our vehicle while we are on the cruise and at WDW. The hotel is only 2 miles from PDX and has a shuttle starting at 4 a.m. which is what we will need. We have a 6 a.m. flight that morning. Plus since we have to leave before the continental breakfast is served we get a special breakfast bag to go! I havnt a clue whats in it, but its better than nothing.

Plus they have a secure area for keeping the truck for 15 days. I got it all for $137.00. Most places to just park the truck was $114.00, so I figure I did good. Its a Howard Johnsons so should be ok.

Plus I booked a hotel for the night we get back, it will be late and too long a drive to go straight home afterwards.
Now I feel I am all set!!!

Kathy

 

[Switzert]

While the problem probably occurred. It was most likely was a accident by a child or an illiterate Adult who didn't read what not to throw down the toilets.

If it came from deck 7 and clogged in Deck 2. Deck 2 would pay for it. It would really ruin their cruise but Disney didn't cause it but they would get the blame for it. Sewage systems are pretty simple unless something is put into them that clogs them.... Then the S..T hits the fan.... or the floor.... or the ceiling depending on velocity...

Maybe the Disney chef's tried some new recipes like black bean and rice...

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Well just got a call from my TA and our tickets are in, I am going to pick them up tomorrow at lunch or Monday.... YIPPEEEE!

Favorite princess would be Belle, that is Meghan's favourite as well, for Prince I don't really have one... (yet)! heehee

Hope everyone is having a great Thursday
Tanya

Thats AWESOME Tanya


Kathy

 

[mom x4 grandma x4]

Jenny (a friend on cruise critic) just got her documents!!


Now I want mine

Too early for the mail here.

Keeping my fingers crossed they will come soon,

Kathy

 

[GreensboroKG]

Kathy & Kathy,

I agree with you entirely about some of the negative posts on the main boards. If you want to have a bad trip, you can find things to complain about anywhere. If you want to have a great trip, you can find great things anywhere! Some of the people on the main boards just seem to live in some weird world where their main occupation is complaining (although it's not as bad as Cruise Critics, holy cow, I hope I don't become as miserable as some of those people are, complaining because a 9 month-old baby is crying!? So what, babies cry, you were a baby once and I bet you cried too!)
I've never been on a Disney Cruise, but fully intend to have a wonderful time and won't let a stray maintenance problem ruin my vacation.

BTW, how'd you break you back???

Scott

 

[LovesToRun]

Kathy & Kathy,

BTW, how'd you break you back???

Scott

Long story, but the short of it I was strength training in my garage with a friend (my friend came over once a week and we'd workout together), and it had just snowed outside and so as all of you know that come from states that snow, when it snows, your car tracks in lots of sand in the garage from the sand the sand trucks put on the streets. Well, I was on a big yoga ball (you know those big workout stability balls you can it on), and I was resting on it on my back while I was doing a chest press with dumbbells. Well, the ball was accidentally put on just a little bit of sand that my DH's car had tracked into our garage, and that created (unbeknownst to me) a very slippery surface. So, when I was done with the chest press exercise, I went to get up off the ball, and the ball slid out from under me and I came crashing down RIGHT on my Sacrum (big lower bone in your lower back) directly on the concrete floor and it fractured!!!! My friend was supposed to be spotting me, but wasn't... If my friend had been spotting me, this would most likely not had happened... that is the long story, which i won't go into. But, my friend felt horribly bad, and we worked it out. There was a lot of "in hindsight" talk going on, too.... "I should have done this, I should have done that...", but like we all say, hindsight is 20/20.

I was very very fortunate, though. My othopedic doctor told me by viewing the xrays that if I had fractured it just one vertibrae up, it would have been 100% surgery, and if that had happened, we would have had to have cancelled our trip (one good reason to have trip insurance!!!). So, my dr. told me if you're going to fracture your Sacrum, the place I fractured it was the best place to fracture it because surgery would not be required. The bummer part is that there is really nothing you can do except just take pain meds, ice often, no lifting, limited activity, and just rest and wait for it to heal. So, what a BETTER place to do all of that than on a Disney Cruise!!! The one place you can just sit and rest ALL day long and get catered to as much as you want. So, though the back injury was horrible timing because of our Panama Canal cruise, in some ways, it was GREAT timing because if had to choose to rehab and heal on a Disney Cruise ship, or at home trying to juggle my daily life AND rehab and heal, I'd choose a Disney Ship HANDS DOWN!!

So, that is that story!! Crazy, huh??!!! I don't workout in my garage ANY more. I use the gym only!!!!

ps. I'm totally all healed now from head to toe and totally back to my normal active life...been a crazy year of injuries for me, though, so hoping to KEEP it that way!! I am just much more cautious now!

 

[Agent555]

Jenny (a friend on cruise critic) just got her documents!!


Now I want mine

Too early for the mail here.

Keeping my fingers crossed they will come soon,

Kathy

Haha yes Kathy I did receive my documents!!!

 

[SLM]

We are DVC members and over the years I have read similiar horror stories about people's stays. We have never stayed in a less than immaculate villa since purchasing (2004) and have never had less than courteous and professional behavior from the CMs. Maybe we're just lucky, but I go with the attitude that I'm on vacation with the people I love and it's going to take alot to make me unhappy!
Since the two Kathys have been on the Magic recently, I am going with their take on the condition of the ship. I have also looked at many of the pictures of the day and the ship looks beautiful! I love the early morning pictures when everything looks so clean and fresh . I can't wait to be sitting on one of those lounges!
And LovestoRun Kathy, here's to an injury free vacation-please be extra careful these next few weeks!

Sandy