Magic Inaugural cruise

[sagj5052]

I was wondering how long it would take for the "we are owed something" people to come out.

 

 

 

I always wear Crocs and have never fallen. The people that I have seen fall are those that don't lift their feet when they walk, or they are running on what could be a wet surface.

 

Wished you would have been there it was cruise from HELL ,Don't comment until you walked our cruise it was HORRIBLE.I EXPECT SOME COMPENSATION FOR A VERY EXPENSIVE CRUISE I COULD HAVE DONE ON TRIUMPH FOR 1/2 THE PRICE SO THEREFORE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED OUR POSITION YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT OUR POSTING WE ARE SHARING OUR views AND yes it was bad SOME GOOD MOST not so good .go to your room and have to smell sewer for days and not get rooms cleaned until very late and get stewardess complain your going into your room before she gets it cleaned after you were out of it for 8 hrs also see waiters and servers get into fights and being accousted by a young drunk person .:mad:

[pe4all]

Interesting point about the lido deck, as I found it quite 'icy' at times and saw one lady slip over. They were constantly sweeping the water off the deck, so clearly were aware of the problem, so maybe it's a design fault.

Definitely don't wear Crocs on a wet deck!:)

We went on one of the Liberty's first cruises after she "came over" also. The decks - especially the aft hottub area - was so slippery, they actually began putting towels down on the deck around it, cause so many people were slipping and falling. The next time we went on Liberty, they seemed to have fixed that problem. Guess they need to do the same on Magic.

I also wonder if they have the ship under-staffed, and if so, what is the metric they use to determine optimal coverage?

This one got me thinking. I wonder if there was a "mass exodus" when the ship got back to the U.S., as many of the crew's contracts may have been up. Maybe they didn't have time to re-staff??? Or, they just took the cheap way out, and assigned less crew to service more people. (wouldn't doubt this)

[kbmeow]

Wished you would have been there it was cruise from HELL ,Don't comment until you walked our cruise it was HORRIBLE.I EXPECT SOME COMPENSATION FOR A VERY EXPENSIVE CRUISE I COULD HAVE DONE ON TRIUMPH FOR 1/2 THE PRICE SO THEREFORE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED OUR POSITION YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT OUR POSTING WE ARE SHARING OUR views AND yes it was bad SOME GOOD MOST not so good .go to your room and have to smell sewer for days and not get rooms cleaned until very late and get stewardess complain your going into your room before she gets it cleaned after you were out of it for 8 hrs also see waiters and servers get into fights and being accousted by a young drunk person .:mad:

 

 

You may have some points but this sounds like buyers regret.

[H82seaUgo]

op, and those sharing and supporting the op, thank you.

 

balanced and fair review.

[firefly333]

The service issue has been going on for a while. The not clearing tables in the buffet area and workers standing there with their arms crossed. Iv noticed it on several ships. The lack of service is not Magic specific.

 

Dinner on Triumph took forever ever night. We did have people who didnt show up so the waiter was waiting to take orders.. until I finally complained when the maitre d' came around and asked how things were. I told him its 6:30 and we just had our orders taken. We were barely clearing the dining room by the 8 pm time when the next group were coming in to eat .. this was nightly on Triumph .. its like that on all ships.

[douglinc@msn.com]

It always amazes me that people that were NOT on the cruise know a lot more than the people that were actually there.

 

Doug

[Fighterone]

Hey guys there is another ship sailing out of galveston and it is called Mariner of the Seas and believe me you will have a BLAST!

We sailed on Voyager of the Seas the same day it arrived from a transat and service wasn't great either...I am curious to see how this week's cruise will be since it's also the first one!

 

Wished you would have been there it was cruise from HELL ,Don't comment until you walked our cruise it was HORRIBLE.I EXPECT SOME COMPENSATION FOR A VERY EXPENSIVE CRUISE I COULD HAVE DONE ON TRIUMPH FOR 1/2 THE PRICE SO THEREFORE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED OUR POSITION YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT OUR POSTING WE ARE SHARING OUR views AND yes it was bad SOME GOOD MOST not so good .go to your room and have to smell sewer for days and not get rooms cleaned until very late and get stewardess complain your going into your room before she gets it cleaned after you were out of it for 8 hrs also see waiters and servers get into fights and being accousted by a young drunk person .:mad:

 

I don't know how much you paid for your cruise on the Magic but we spend a pretty penny on the Triumph in October and service was pretty poor so I'm not sure your comparison is justified.

The service issue has been going on for a while. The not clearing tables in the buffet area and workers standing there with their arms crossed. Iv noticed it on several ships. The lack of service is not Magic specific.

 

Dinner on Triumph took forever ever night. We did have people who didnt show up so the waiter was waiting to take orders.. until I finally complained when the maitre d' came around and asked how things were. I told him its 6:30 and we just had our orders taken. We were barely clearing the dining room by the 8 pm time when the next group were coming in to eat .. this was nightly on Triumph .. its like that on all ships.

 

Agree with the dining experience on Triumph! We went a month before you did, 10/15/11 and for the first time, ever on a cruise, I returned the same main course twice. We waited over an hour to get wine delivered from the package we purchased. The maître d' was also a major a$$. Good point about the waiters having more tables to wait on! I bet that's why the food was cold and they appeared to be rushed. With that kind of dining room dinner package, we didn't go back. I had always enjoyed eating dinner in the dining room. The food is not as it used to be.

 

It's really unfortunate but all these little details have burned use out on cruising for now. I always liked to come home and plan another cruise immediately to avoid the "post-partem cruise blues"! Not anymore...

 

 

I can relate to you Bassic and Galvetrazcruiser.

[Cindy]

I can understand the disappointment with the situation caused by the thruster repair/overnight in Progresso.

I've seen a lot of people questioning why they chose to do the repair in Progresso and not Costa Maya. My guess is that there were several reasons...Costa Maya is difficult to access by land, so if parts/divers were being flown in it would still have been hard to get to the port. In addition, Costa Maya is a difficult port to dock at, and ships frequently have trouble getting in because of wave conditions/strong currents. I've missed Costa Maya twice, and both times I could see waves crashing over the pier!:eek: If CCL had scheduled the repair for Costa Maya and missed the port, that would have prolonged the problem and affected another sailing. Finally, Costa Maya is much further away from Galveston than Progresso, increasing the distance to travel before the repair could be completed.

I know that doesn't make you feel any better if you had your heart set on Costa Maya, but I do think there were reasons for the decision.

[H82seaUgo]

It always amazes me that people that were NOT on the cruise know a lot more than the people that were actually there.

 

Doug

 

sad. it is almost as if some are saying they didn't see it therefore it didn't happen.

 

or, they have never experienced it, therefore it couldn't happen.

 

and the others are talking about other ships. <confused>

[nonna5]

Wished you would have been there it was cruise from HELL ,Don't comment until you walked our cruise it was HORRIBLE.I EXPECT SOME COMPENSATION FOR A VERY EXPENSIVE CRUISE I COULD HAVE DONE ON TRIUMPH FOR 1/2 THE PRICE SO THEREFORE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED OUR POSITION YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT OUR POSTING WE ARE SHARING OUR views AND yes it was bad SOME GOOD MOST not so good .go to your room and have to smell sewer for days and not get rooms cleaned until very late and get stewardess complain your going into your room before she gets it cleaned after you were out of it for 8 hrs also see waiters and servers get into fights and being accousted by a young drunk person .:mad:

 

 

I was on this same cruise. It was not the cruise from HELL. I had a wonderful time. Met some people that have already become like family to me.

 

Yes unfortunately there was a fight between a waiter (only his second day on the ship - so I do not think he was overworked) and Ken the Maitre d. I witnessed this fight. The waiter was immediately in a head lock by other staff and security took him away and Ken did not return the rest of the cruise do to his injuries.

 

My cabin steward was fantastic as were my wait team. I was always out of the dining room within 1-1/2 hours. This is typical for any cruise I have ever been on.

 

I was in a forward porthole room and the rocking is what I have experienced in other forward rooms. I guess I am lucky as I do not ever get sea sick on a cruise ship.

 

By the way the $25 credit was for missing Costa Maya. The other small I think credit around $4 was the difference in port taxes. I know you did not post this but someone else did.

 

By overnighting in Progreso I was able to see Chichen Itza at night. Something I would never have been able to do before the overnight stay.

 

I guess I am the type of person who sees the glass as half full instead of half empty.;)

[travel girl23]

Just want to make a quick comment...

 

The letter Carnival Magic sent those of us on the ship said it was compensation for not going to Costa Maya but when I asked Guest Services, I think he slipped up and told me that the credit was actually a TAX refund since Progresso is a cheaper port. Therefore, the $25 was NOT a compensation for not going to Costa Maya but a refund of the tax we already paid.

This is my understanding at least.

 

We were also credited $25 pp for missing Grand Turk.

BTW, I've found that all decks, regardless of ship, are slippery when wet. I slipped and fell on the Conquest, in Crocs, when it was raining, several years ago. There are constant reminders about this, even from the Captain in his daily PA's.

I believe I read earlier that it was Ken Byrne, Maitre'd of the Southern Lights Dining Room that was assaulted by a waiter. Didn't know it happened in the Northern Lights, also.

Sorry you did not enjoy your cruise (to the OP).

[firefly333]

The port changes were announced before the ship left. Carnival used to allow you to cancel if they announced port changes, though I could not find this language in FAQs when I looked last.

 

I think its a toss up between Progresso and Costa Maya, both are not touristy. Costa Maya, you have to go much further to get to a town that has anything like internet.

 

Usually they dont give any compensation for switching ports, only if one is missed and not replaced, so they probably do think $25 was adequate since it was a gift and nothing they owed.

 

I saw you said you could have done Triumph cheaper .. true, but same issues with service. The food would be the same, just fewer choices up on Lido.

[firefly333]

Interesting point about the lido deck, as I found it quite 'icy' at times and saw one lady slip over. They were constantly sweeping the water off the deck, so clearly were aware of the problem, so maybe it's a design fault.

Definitely don't wear Crocs on a wet deck!:)

 

I was on Magic for the preview and noticed the wet looking Lido, though I didnt slip. I wondered if it was something like the change of weather? I know I had a coating of wet on my entire balcony too.

 

I saw Lido all empty (so people could dance) and thought wow, it looked dangerous to me even though they did try and keep the wet off it. Might be a bad design I thought too. It was great they had such a large open deck, but it was wet at night when I was there too.

[SE NC]

Wished you would have been there it was cruise from HELL ,Don't comment until you walked our cruise it was HORRIBLE.I EXPECT SOME COMPENSATION FOR A VERY EXPENSIVE CRUISE I COULD HAVE DONE ON TRIUMPH FOR 1/2 THE PRICE SO THEREFORE UNTIL YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED OUR POSITION YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING NEGATIVE ABOUT OUR POSTING WE ARE SHARING OUR views AND yes it was bad SOME GOOD MOST not so good .go to your room and have to smell sewer for days and not get rooms cleaned until very late and get stewardess complain your going into your room before she gets it cleaned after you were out of it for 8 hrs also see waiters and servers get into fights and being accousted by a young drunk person .:mad:

 

Cruises or anything else, it's funny when people SCREAM compensation...compensation:p! Please share with us what you want...a FREE cruise...a Ship on a Stick....chocolate covered cherries or maybe a dozen roses:D!

[firefly333]

Last year the compensation for missing a port that is not substituted went from $25 per port to only the taxes on the port charges.

 

The taxes are less than half the $25, so if you got $25 OBC it was something Carnival gave as a gift. They also do not give any OBC normally if they substitute another port. zero. So, people were owed nothing per Carnival's terms.

 

I missed two ports a year ago and got less than $25 for missing both Jamaica and Caymans.

 

Go read the FAQs .. the current policy is only the taxes on the port charges.

 

They gave $25 OBC sounds like hoping to head off people who would complain about the change. .. nothing they had to give.

 

Im not taking sides, what people feel they were owed .. just pointing out that the FAQs say zero was owed since a port was substituted. If you just did not have a port at all, then you would have gotten less than half the $25. I see some misinformation above about what the policy is.

[sagj5052]

Cruises or anything else, it's funny when people SCREAM compensation...compensation:p! Please share with us what you want...a FREE cruise...a Ship on a Stick....chocolate covered cherries or maybe a dozen roses:D!

 

I have never never asked to be compensated but yes for this cruise I and many others feel we should get compensated for the lousy cruise we experienced at a higher rate that we were charged ! Not given the choice to cancel ,with them knowing the ship had mechanical issues .I was like you ( until this sad cruise) if this Happens to you then you can say what you will lets see how you scream about it .I have never in 7 cruises complained, but this cruise was over kill . Cozumel was a great stop yes been there and progreso 6 times now wouldn't hear much if we were stuck in Cozumel for 36 hrs a great port:D

[flounder315]

Hey guys there is another ship sailing out of galveston and it is called Mariner of the Seas and believe me you will have a BLAST!

 

Carnival sails out of Galveston year around. Which means alot to me. The other cruise line you mention only sails out of Galveston 5 or 6 months out of the year.

[Callisto]

By the way the $25 credit was for missing Costa Maya. The other small I think credit around $4 was the difference in port taxes. I know you did not post this but someone else did.

 

@nonna5

I was the one who posted this. This was what Guest Services told me. The $4 was for the drop in Petroleum/oil prices since it was higher until the day the Magic left Galveston.

 

In regards to what someone said about the port tax being a lot less than $25, I would have no idea. I was only going by what Guest Services told me.

[firefly333]

Carnival sails out of Galveston year around. Which means alot to me. The other cruise line you mention only sails out of Galveston 5 or 6 months out of the year.

 

So you should deprive yourself of the experience because you dont like the schedule?? Cutting off your nose to spite your face kinda thing.

 

Princess and Disney also coming. Disney too is part time, didnt look too close at Princess.

 

Im going to enjoy Oasis next week .. I am not loyal to any line, whatever fits the price and my schedule.

 

I can tell you that my cruises on Carnival this year .. I have come back each time and kind of thought .. not the best cruise, maybe Im just burnt out?? But all 4 cruises on Carnival this year, I had second thoughts about cutting back on cruising when I came back so dissatisfied.

[nycruise]

Very fair and unbiased review. We were on the Magic in October for 9 nights, luckily we had great weather and wonderful ports in Europe, but the ship was nothing special and the food stunk to high heaven, particularly the buffet. Definitely not anywhere near up to Carnival's past standards in 2008 & 2009.

 

The thruster had to be replaced in Rome, but luckily we didn't miss any ports.

 

Below was my review of the cruise:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1504033

 

Below is my poll on the food quality, even though the results are in favor of the food, I believe many of the voters haven't sampled the "new and improved menu".

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1517777

[5waldos]

...

The thruster had to be replaced in Rome, but luckily we didn't miss any ports.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1517777

 

 

It had to be replaced in Rome and is acting up again? Wonder what in heaven's name is wrong.

[stevenr597]

I'm really sorry to hear of your experience and must say that I am truly mystified. I did the inaugural cruise of the Dream in the Med and it was wonderful. Service, everything. Then it goes to the Caribbean and nothing but complaints. Especially about the smell. They seem to have fixed that and I think the consensus was that they would correct the problem (whatever it was) on the Magic.

 

Then I went on the second voyage of the Magic in the Med--same thing--Magical. Great food, nice portions, wonderful services, smiles all around (which isn't easy when all those Russkies are onboard, apparently). Then it comes to the Caribbean and you report the same kinds of issues.

 

What is the underlying cause, I wonder?

(I'm not even going to talk about passenger rudeness, because Carnival is not responsible for that unless you need the Security department).

 

The European Cruises have a more "upclass" group of passengers. In addition, the ships are less crowded in that they do not routinely sail "over-capacity" In the Caribbean the ships are more crowded and the passengers tend to be more the more younger and tend to want to "party" more.

 

It odes appear that with their two "newest" ships the Dream and Magic, Carnival decline in the quality of the cruise including the service has continued, even accelerated.

 

If cost is the major factor, sail Carnival. In service and having a "upscale" vacation is your criticeria, skip Carnival

[sagj5052]

I really try to be fair- sure, I have some complaints, but I'm not looking for a free cruise. I just wanted to point out some very real observations. I did have some fun, just not as much as previous cruises. Not trying to be negative, but it is what it is.

 

Thanks Bassic for your reporting I to had some fun just Magic was not magical it was a bomb after being in service for what 6 months or more ? Most kinks should have been worked out .I am not looking for a free cruise but do feel they should give us compensation of a percent of our cruise money back for future cruise we spent big bucks for our room and to sleep in it for several days with a sewer smell that made you want to puke was bad .Just charge us for what it would have been for us to go to those 2 ports on triumph not for what we paid for . I too like progreso but come on 36 hrs there is over kill .I called Carnival and told them they need toBE forward and upfront with their patrons and not lie about your cruise they knew it was still broke yet never informed us until we set sail GIVE US THE RIGHT TO CHANGE IT.AIRLINES HAVE TO COMPENSATE WHY NOT CRUISE LINES :confused:?????

[DebJ14]

 

This one got me thinking. I wonder if there was a "mass exodus" when the ship got back to the U.S., as many of the crew's contracts may have been up. Maybe they didn't have time to re-staff??? Or, they just took the cheap way out, and assigned less crew to service more people. (wouldn't doubt this)

 

Let's put it this way - I have never ever seen such a long line of new crew members waiting to board in Galveston. We were at the overnight event on Sunday the 13th. We had a balcony overlooking the pier. There was a steady stream of new crew members coming on board in Galveston with all their luggage. Usually, there are a few every cruise but this line just seemed to grow longer as the day wore on.

[DebJ14]

I was on this same cruise. It was not the cruise from HELL. I had a wonderful time. Met some people that have already become like family to me.

 

Yes unfortunately there was a fight between a waiter (only his second day on the ship - so I do not think he was overworked) and Ken the Maitre d. I witnessed this fight. The waiter was immediately in a head lock by other staff and security took him away and Ken did not return the rest of the cruise do to his injuries.

 

My cabin steward was fantastic as were my wait team. I was always out of the dining room within 1-1/2 hours. This is typical for any cruise I have ever been on.

 

I was in a forward porthole room and the rocking is what I have experienced in other forward rooms. I guess I am lucky as I do not ever get sea sick on a cruise ship.

 

By the way the $25 credit was for missing Costa Maya. The other small I think credit around $4 was the difference in port taxes. I know you did not post this but someone else did.

 

By overnighting in Progreso I was able to see Chichen Itza at night. Something I would never have been able to do before the overnight stay.

 

I guess I am the type of person who sees the glass as half full instead of half empty.;)

 

Thank you - there are always 2 sides to every story.