We'’re out of it! A summer 14 “MAGICal” Med adventure Day 14/Aug 05 updated 05/05

[dizneeat]

Oh - and I forgot to mention that the AC is really an issue that should not be! I am reading your trip report also to know what we can expect on our cruise in June and I am very happy that at least this should not be an issue. I just hope the heating is as faulty as the AC, because we will need that for sure!!

We had a few more smaller leaks, but nothing as "big" as this one. Thank god, they give you plenty of towels, so we sometimes had a "towel rug" in the hallway.

 

[Flossbolna]

We had a few more smaller leaks, but nothing as "big" as this one. Thank god, they give you plenty of towels, so we sometimes had a "towel rug" in the hallway.

Still, this just seems to indicate serious infrastructure issues on that ship... Makes me wonder whether these things will not make Disney retire the Magic sooner than they originally planned. I wonder how easy or difficult it would be to replace things like the whole AC system. But one would guess if it were easy, they would have done it in 2013...

 

[jedijill]

What a frustrating experience! I hope you complained to the tour company when you got back home. Glad you were able to salvage your day with the HOHO bus. Handing over ID/$ was not my experience at the Vatican at all. On our private tour, we met our tour guide their and she bought our tickets and ushered us through the museums.

I didn't have any issues in my cabin on the Magic in September but there were a couple of staterooms and hall that were wet most of the week. They constantly had driers running in the hall and I swear the carpet was pulled up in one of the cabins.

Jill in CO

 

[podsnel]

What a horrible tour!! Did you tell us the name of the company? I already have someone I use for Italy that I trust but I would like to make sure they don't use that company ever. We had a bad experience years ago in Rome with a company called Angel tours- they were supposed to be small group at the Vatican. But then they got a bunch more people. Who were 1 hour late. Who made it a very large tour. And then we had to leave early. Because Pods and I were doing the Scavi tour. It really was the pits- but it is a part of why we are going back- so that Pods can see the Vatican.

I love that Farmhouse salad- and the Gran Marnier Souffle is the BEST!! YUM!

 

[Teri1]

I would have been a nervous wreck over that tour fiasco. That is why we never made it to Italy while we lived in Germany, the disclaimers and warnings on the trip brochures for Italy scared me off. I would have only been comfortable going with someone who had been there before, but none of our friends had.

 

[KatMark]

Well I ate this time when I read your updates, so I wasn't hungry. Some the food looks good and some just not for me (the duck).

I am just in shock at the whole fiasco with the tour. I would have not had as much patience as you and Tom. That is just UNACCEPTABLE!

Your pictures are beautiful (even if a bit crooked).

And what a disaster with the water in your room.

Good Lord I hope things get better.

 

[jenseib]

I forgot to mention your excursion...that was like a sitcom. If it can go wrong it will. I would've been so nervous about the whole thing. Glad it worked out for you in the end.
The AC thing....nice fix Disney.

 

[dizneeat]

Still, this just seems to indicate serious infrastructure issues on that ship... Makes me wonder whether these things will not make Disney retire the Magic sooner than they originally planned. I wonder how easy or difficult it would be to replace things like the whole AC system. But one would guess if it were easy, they would have done it in 2013...

Not so sure on the retirement plans for the Magic, as they just added that ugly duck tail. But they definitely need to invest and get rid of those issues. It won't be too good for their reputation if guests need to jump over driers (and we did see a lot!) inside and outside the rooms and have to bring air fresheners so they don't have to sleep in staterooms with a sewer smell.
The thing is, that we were sure these were issues that they would have addressed during drydock, but unfortunately all they did was a few cosmetic touches and a remodel of the public areas on deck 4.

What a frustrating experience! I hope you complained to the tour company when you got back home. Glad you were able to salvage your day with the HOHO bus. Handing over ID/$ was not my experience at the Vatican at all. On our private tour, we met our tour guide their and she bought our tickets and ushered us through the museums.

I did write a review on trip adviser and while doing so I found quite a few others that had similar complaints.
And we knew that if we did not opt out of it, we would have a miserable day. With getting on the HOHO we had a fun time, were able to have lunch and then be driven back to the ship.

And I have NEVER EVER heard that you need to have an ID to buy a ticket for the Vatican. On the other hand, Italy/Rome are close enough that we can make a weekend trip there and have a look around.

I didn't have any issues in my cabin on the Magic in September but there were a couple of staterooms and hall that were wet most of the week. They constantly had driers running in the hall and I swear the carpet was pulled up in one of the cabins.

Jill in CO

We had quite a few people with issues on our cruise, but then there were others, lucky ones, with no issues at all. We might have just been "lucky" with our smelly room and leaking AC.

What a horrible tour!! Did you tell us the name of the company? I already have someone I use for Italy that I trust but I would like to make sure they don't use that company ever. We had a bad experience years ago in Rome with a company called Angel tours- they were supposed to be small group at the Vatican. But then they got a bunch more people. Who were 1 hour late. Who made it a very large tour. And then we had to leave early. Because Pods and I were doing the Scavi tour. It really was the pits- but it is a part of why we are going back- so that Pods can see the Vatican.

No, I had not mentioned it, but since you might need to know , stay away from Civitatours.
And as I mentioned before, we will return for a long weekend and catch up on the things we missed.

I love that Farmhouse salad- and the Gran Marnier Souffle is the BEST!! YUM!

Tom really liked the salad too and we both like the Grand Marnier Souffle.

 

[dizneeat]

I would have been a nervous wreck over that tour fiasco. That is why we never made it to Italy while we lived in Germany, the disclaimers and warnings on the trip brochures for Italy scared me off. I would have only been comfortable going with someone who had been there before, but none of our friends had.

Teresa, Italy is no different than any other country. It is not dangerous at all, you need to watch what you do in any big city.
We go to Italy often and it is a beautiful country, just watch out for the pickpockets.
I can just recommend that tour company.

Well I ate this time when I read your updates, so I wasn't hungry. Some the food looks good and some just not for me (the duck).

I like good timing.

I am just in shock at the whole fiasco with the tour. I would have not had as much patience as you and Tom. That is just UNACCEPTABLE!

We thought it could only become better, but when we saw that it didn't we got out of it. It was the best decision.

Your pictures are beautiful (even if a bit crooked).

And what a disaster with the water in your room.

It was a bit of a surprise to see the "backside of water" inside our stateroom.

Good Lord I hope things get better.

Not to get ahead of myself, but we had some really good experiences lateron.

I forgot to mention your excursion...that was like a sitcom. If it can go wrong it will. I would've been so nervous about the whole thing. Glad it worked out for you in the end.
The AC thing....nice fix Disney.

Yes, looking at it now, it would make a good sitcom. At the moment there, not so much.
We just said that if he took off without us, we would just take a taxi back to the ship. We had loads of time until we sailed, so we were not bothered at all.

Oh, yeah, the AC - stuff in a white towel and it is fixed. Do it the Disney way.

 

[kel585]

Loving this trip report so much! Getting us very excited for our Med trip this year.

 

[dizneeat]

Loving this trip report so much! Getting us very excited for our Med trip this year.

Great to have you on board and to hear that you enjoy our adventures so far. Lots more to come ...........

 

[JKSWonder]

I know DCL excursions are very expensive, but I think you just unintentionally sold me on them. I would've gone completely insane had I had to deal with what you dealt with. Just craziness.

I was thinking as I was reading along "Oh boy. Do they need a drink." and then there was the Prosecco!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Wow, what a day you had. I am so glad you did not tip the guy. Yea for you being proactive and not totally wasting your complete day riding around with him.

Your photos are great. Thanks much for taking the time to share them.

 

[englishrose47]

Karin what an awful Tour experience !!All your food lookd yummy!! think I would have had your choices this time except for dessert not sure about that although it looks delish I am not a drinker so not sure what Gran Marnier tastes lie I am stillwaiting for the kids to show me how to upload pix to this new laptop

 

[Leshaface]

You don't like banana bread?! I love the stuff. Probably because I can't eat raw banana anymore and in cooked, bread form is the only way I can get it into my body.

Tom's main dish looks excellent and the presentation is fun!

Oh. My. Gosh. Your tour and mini-AC shower sounded AWFUL! What a day. I'm sure I would have needed more than one bottle of prosecco I definitely wouldn't have tipped either BTW. I've tipped under minimum for bad service before (just because it's hard NOT to tip) but wow. The whole operation sounded shady.

 

[franandaj]

That tour guide/company sounded awful! I would be very wary of anything in Rome if I ever went back to Italy. While there is so much beauty there, I found the people to be a littke shady. And there was not a city in all of Europe that I was groped more on the buses than in Rome. I still have mixed memories of that city.

And then after all that to come back to the AC mess! I would have needed a stiff drink after that.

 

[Poolrat]

Yikes!!!!


You had such a wonderful tour the day before and now this nightmare.

Then back to the ship to a water where it does not belong.

You needed that whole bottle!!!!!!!!!

I hope your next day is much better. I will say dinner did look nice and the show sounded like it was a winner.

 

[perfectmatch300]

What a day you had in Rome! I was surprised when your guide actually showed up to bring you back to the ship, and glad you already had an alternate plan in case they didn't show. We had a bit of a problem with a semi private tour once, but nothing like what you did. I had requested specific stops on the tour and did not find out that two of my requested stops had been changed until our guide arrived - late - to pick us up. I would have dressed a bit differently had I known about the changes, but once our day got started it turned out really well. We had more beach time than I had expected. That was fine with me, but I had originally planned the day to give DH a break from the beach. He doesn't love the beach anywhere near as much as I do. I also think we ended up paying a bit too much for the tour we actually did because the tour I had originally planned included admission fees to places we ended up not going to. I didn't mind too much since we did have a great day in spite of the rough start.

I really wish that Disney would have addressed the AC and plumbing during the recent dry dock. As much as I love water slides, I think the money would have been better spent getting the ship into better operating condition. You handled the situation far better than I most likely would have.

 

[RGirl]

Hi Karin! Playing catch-up after our DLR trip…..

As usual, your verandah pictures remind me that I could just never cruise without one. Those verandah moments are my favorite part of a cruise - so peaceful and beautiful and just perfect.

Whoa! The Brazilian MEAT entree really makes a statement!

Oh my goodness - the shenanigans with your semi-private tour before you even left! My head would have exploded!!!! I don’t think I could have kept my cool as well as you two did. And then the “photo ID” thing - I would have freaked the heck out. Oh, how awful for you. Good on you for ditching that horrible “tour” and doing something else - I can’t believe they even messed with you on that though! How awful!!!

Anyway, I’m glad you finally got to see some sights! And make it safely back to the ship - what a nightmare!

Okay - no - no way can you come back from such an awful port experience to a stateroom problem. Karin - how did you keep your cool at all? This is awful! I would totally having been pouring some Prosecco too! WOW!!!

Thank goodness you got to experience a nice show and a good meal and retire to a stateroom that was no longer raining.

 

[dizneeat]

I know DCL excursions are very expensive, but I think you just unintentionally sold me on them. I would've gone completely insane had I had to deal with what you dealt with. Just craziness.

It was not the price that made me think "outside the box". Tom and I really do not like to run around with the crowd. And whilst Disney tours are mostly very nice, there are always a load of people.
We really enjoyed having the freedom to change our tours and have just a handful of people.
The other thing was that we were in Europe, where we knew what to do in case something might happen.
So, what I am trying to say is that we will still give private tours a go and have some booked for our upcoming trips.

I was thinking as I was reading along "Oh boy. Do they need a drink." and then there was the Prosecco!

Yes, the drink helped to calm my nerves!

Wow, what a day you had. I am so glad you did not tip the guy. Yea for you being proactive and not totally wasting your complete day riding around with him.

We were really torn about not tipping, but I just could not bring myself to handing him any more money than we had already paid for it. And since everyone else had paid way less for the tour ........
We just had to get off the private tour in case to see some sights and get some commentary and the HOHOs are perfect for that.

Your photos are great. Thanks much for taking the time to share them.

The photos came out a bit wobbly and out of focus, but it is still fun to look at them and relive that day. Now I can laugh about it.

Karin what an awful Tour experience !!All your food lookd yummy!! think I would have had your choices this time except for dessert not sure about that although it looks delish I am not a drinker so not sure what Gran Marnier tastes lie I am stillwaiting for the kids to show me how to upload pix to this new laptop

Yes, that tour was a disaster. But you live and learn to read up on tripadvisor.
Cruise food in the MDRs and Palo was pretty nice. We did have a few complaints on room service food though.
And as far as your uploading problem goes, you will find that it is not hard at all.

You don't like banana bread?! I love the stuff. Probably because I can't eat raw banana anymore and in cooked, bread form is the only way I can get it into my body.

No, hanging my head in shame, we both do not care for banana bread. I think it is something you need to grow up with and we do not have that kind of stuff around here.
What a shame you can't have raw bananas any more. Now that is something I like and eat a lot of.

Tom's main dish looks excellent and the presentation is fun!

The presentation was definitely fun. We would have just wished that the meat quality would have been a bit better.

Oh. My. Gosh. Your tour and mini-AC shower sounded AWFUL! What a day. I'm sure I would have needed more than one bottle of prosecco I definitely wouldn't have tipped either BTW. I've tipped under minimum for bad service before (just because it's hard NOT to tip) but wow. The whole operation sounded shady.

Yes, that tour definitely wasn't worth the money. And the way DCL repaired our AC was new to me too.
But at least we had some alcohol to calm our nerves.