We're back and unpacked from our 5/4 Magic cruise. It was DH, DD (2 1/2), DS (9mo) and I. Putting aside DS getting sick on the cruise, I have to admit we were disappointed. It wasn't the vacation of our dreams and we do not think it was worth the $$. I've cruised Carnival and DH and I have been on RCCL. We had such lousy service on the Magic compared to the other cruise lines that I can not recommend DCL.
What we liked:
-Our stateroom. It was HUGE by cruise standards. LOVED the Verandah. Liked that DD wasn't in a pulldown berth and that we could pull the divider to get "away" from the kids.
-The Entertainment. Shows were good, although Morty the Magician was the weakest. Lots of fun family activities like dueling pianos and dancing at Studio Sea. Would have loved to have seen more on deck parties in the early evenings.
-The character interaction. We have totally been spoiled for our next visit to WDW. Lines were short for photos and we saw all the characters.
-Family time in Flounders Reef and Oceaneers Club. A must if traveling with an infant. He needed the time to play and crawl around other than in our room or on deck 4.
-Freshwater Pools. Yes, they were crowded, but still manageable. DH and I joked that we were on the "caring parents who discipline their children" cruise because children being unruly wasn't a problem.
-Castaway Cay. Beautiful. A bit crowded, but still a nice place to spend the day. Would have liked to have had more time there.
-Renting a car from Avis. Went very smoothly.
-Eating the buffet lunch in the restaraunt. Much calmer than Topsiders. Wish we would have done this from the start of the week.
What we did not like
-The hour and a half wait to get on the boat. It was loud, long and most kids were cranky. Didn't help that when we finally got in our room and laid them down for a nap they kept making announcements over the PA in our room.
-Getting off the boat in Castaway Cay. Absolutely ridiculous. Took forever. People were rude and pushing. We had to show ID to get on in St. Thomas. Why did we have to show it to get off on their private island?
-The food. I thought we'd set realistic expectations, but even then it didn't live up to them.
-The lack of a casual dining alternative to main seating that wasn't junk food. The junk food wasn't the greatest and getting a sandwhich from room service is not an acceptable alternative. Topsiders should have been open during main seating.
-Topsiders for lunch. It was loud and we felt that the servers were trying to rush us out of there by trying to remove our trays of food before we'd finished. Once, DH and DD put their tray of uneaten food down and went back for drinks. When they got back their food had been removed/thrown away. They had to wait in line again.
We also weren't impressed with the 3-4yr program in the OC. DD was allowed to participate with a parent, so we got a unique perspective. The counselers had a program they were going to do. And they would stick with it whether the kids were participating or not. They never encouraged the shyer kids to participate. One child in particular was crying for a long time. Either his parents were never paged or they never answered their page.
But the thing we disliked more than anything - and the reason we will never recommend DCL - was the service. Our stateroom hostess never smiled. She was really upset that DS was sick and couldn't believe that we were staying on the boat with him til the cruise ended. He threw up on the comforter and we never got it back. She threw away things that weren't in the trash cans (like our empty water bottles that we had intended to refill). On a slightly humorous note - we still can't figure out what 2 of the 4 towel animals she made for us were. DD says the one was an elephant, but we think it was either a dog or a bear.
Our server and assistant server were nicer. But not that attentive. We often had to wait or get a high chair for DS, even though he needed it every night. We couldn't get our water glasses refilled some nights. On the Tropical night, it was a full hour before we had food in front of us. I could go on and on, but I'll stop here.
The other aspect of service that was completely disappointing was that the CMs in general did not live up to WDW standards. One example (although I could give many): When getting off the boat in Castaway Cay, I asked where the beach strollers were. The guy told me they didn't have any, but they had carts onboard at Guest Services. When we got off the tram, we found a mini parking lot full of strollers.
So to sum it up: Fun family activies, OK food, poor service. Sorry this got so long.
What we liked:
-Our stateroom. It was HUGE by cruise standards. LOVED the Verandah. Liked that DD wasn't in a pulldown berth and that we could pull the divider to get "away" from the kids.
-The Entertainment. Shows were good, although Morty the Magician was the weakest. Lots of fun family activities like dueling pianos and dancing at Studio Sea. Would have loved to have seen more on deck parties in the early evenings.
-The character interaction. We have totally been spoiled for our next visit to WDW. Lines were short for photos and we saw all the characters.
-Family time in Flounders Reef and Oceaneers Club. A must if traveling with an infant. He needed the time to play and crawl around other than in our room or on deck 4.
-Freshwater Pools. Yes, they were crowded, but still manageable. DH and I joked that we were on the "caring parents who discipline their children" cruise because children being unruly wasn't a problem.
-Castaway Cay. Beautiful. A bit crowded, but still a nice place to spend the day. Would have liked to have had more time there.
-Renting a car from Avis. Went very smoothly.
-Eating the buffet lunch in the restaraunt. Much calmer than Topsiders. Wish we would have done this from the start of the week.
What we did not like
-The hour and a half wait to get on the boat. It was loud, long and most kids were cranky. Didn't help that when we finally got in our room and laid them down for a nap they kept making announcements over the PA in our room.
-Getting off the boat in Castaway Cay. Absolutely ridiculous. Took forever. People were rude and pushing. We had to show ID to get on in St. Thomas. Why did we have to show it to get off on their private island?
-The food. I thought we'd set realistic expectations, but even then it didn't live up to them.
-The lack of a casual dining alternative to main seating that wasn't junk food. The junk food wasn't the greatest and getting a sandwhich from room service is not an acceptable alternative. Topsiders should have been open during main seating.
-Topsiders for lunch. It was loud and we felt that the servers were trying to rush us out of there by trying to remove our trays of food before we'd finished. Once, DH and DD put their tray of uneaten food down and went back for drinks. When they got back their food had been removed/thrown away. They had to wait in line again.
We also weren't impressed with the 3-4yr program in the OC. DD was allowed to participate with a parent, so we got a unique perspective. The counselers had a program they were going to do. And they would stick with it whether the kids were participating or not. They never encouraged the shyer kids to participate. One child in particular was crying for a long time. Either his parents were never paged or they never answered their page.
But the thing we disliked more than anything - and the reason we will never recommend DCL - was the service. Our stateroom hostess never smiled. She was really upset that DS was sick and couldn't believe that we were staying on the boat with him til the cruise ended. He threw up on the comforter and we never got it back. She threw away things that weren't in the trash cans (like our empty water bottles that we had intended to refill). On a slightly humorous note - we still can't figure out what 2 of the 4 towel animals she made for us were. DD says the one was an elephant, but we think it was either a dog or a bear.
Our server and assistant server were nicer. But not that attentive. We often had to wait or get a high chair for DS, even though he needed it every night. We couldn't get our water glasses refilled some nights. On the Tropical night, it was a full hour before we had food in front of us. I could go on and on, but I'll stop here.
The other aspect of service that was completely disappointing was that the CMs in general did not live up to WDW standards. One example (although I could give many): When getting off the boat in Castaway Cay, I asked where the beach strollers were. The guy told me they didn't have any, but they had carts onboard at Guest Services. When we got off the tram, we found a mini parking lot full of strollers.
So to sum it up: Fun family activies, OK food, poor service. Sorry this got so long.
). I'm concerned about the report on the Oceaneer's Club--I would be LIVID if Buzz cried for ages and I never heard about it (and this is a very real concern for us). Not that I'm going to cancel based on one report, but it's good to know where the cruise's weak links will be!
. I'm so sorry you didn't enjoy your vacation...I just wanted to add this so that people going wouldn't think they were doomed for a bad vacation. 
