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Disney Magic-a review

CarnivalGirl3

By CarnivalGirl3,
in Disney Cruise Line

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CarnivalGirl3

CarnivalGirl3

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Posted

Hi,

 

This review is based on my experience on the Disney Magic, Dec 15-21 (6 nights). This cruise was our first with Disney and our first with dd (but our 5th together).

 

Be aware, I'm critical by nature, so while I had a great time, I do tend to only point out the bad. (I've also written this over the past few nights, so I may jump/repeat!)

 

I'm glad we went and that we brought dd, 14 months. I would not have gone if she was still crawling. I think before crawling or walking well is perfect. The last night there was rough waters and she did lose her balance and fall once. By the third day she wanted to be held, not walk. Haha. That didn't fly with me but her daddy fell for it. We did use the umbrella stroller for ports.

 

Dd had a blast! She didn't know or care she couldn't go in Mickey's pool. She enjoyed the splash pad. Toddler Time and Wake Up with Disney Jr were a major hit! She had fun in the club/lab and just running around. Of course, my kid is easy, she spent a good part of the last morning stacking milk cartons! She ate great and slept well. She did nurse less, and that worried me at the time, but she's back to normal now that we're home.

 

The only thing was that something in the egg bothers her skin. It took us a few days to figure it out, but we're positive it's the eggs (which she ate every morning).

 

If I had to do it over again, I would have stayed on the ship rather than getting off at the ports.

 

Naptime didn't bother me, because well, I like naps. I did over pack. I packed a few small toys and dollar/kid meal books. I read her one book, once. She was just always on the go and once it was bed time she wanted to go sleep!

 

The goal of the trip was to relax, to have fun and to spend time as a family. I wanted a nap and to get a shower (alone), which I got! I even was able to read a few chapters, sit and drink a coffee. After she was in bed (passed out most nights), dh and I spent time together. It was great!

 

The whole trip was a good mix of family time, us time, and me time. Dh made it to the gym and to the movies (as did I).

 

Parking-

 

We used ezcrusing. We were visiting with family when my phone rang. They wanted to know when we'd be there; said they close at 3. It was 2:30 or so and I had no idea they closed at 3. I knew we had till 3:30 to board and we were 5 minutes away from port! We said our goodbyes and parked. We were the last car they were waiting for and they wanted to go home.

 

Boarding-

 

Where are all the people? That was my first impression. The second was, Disney sucks. In fact, I was ready to say never again (it doesn't take much for me to say that). We parked. Get dropped off, wasted $5 on a porter (our luggage was damaged and we could have brought our bags the short distance).

 

We were walking up to the desk to check in at 3pm! No issues (other than people acting annoyed for waiting on us and 44 others), walked right up (which is what we wanted). HOWEVER, NO ON BOARD picture! Are you kidding me? I have the boarding picture from each cruise, even the really bad one. But nope. They were rolling up the backgrounds as we walked by. The family in front of us was upset as well. The mom had them all wearing matching clothes, they looked cute! So we did a make due photo in the walk way. So NOT cool Disney. (Yes, I've been later with Carnival and we still got our picture!) If I had known they stopped during pictures, we would have gotten there earlier. Lesson learned. Does anyone know what time they stop taking pictures?

 

End result is I didn't buy any pictures. (The print quality sucks anyway and I have a better camera.)

 

The Ship-

 

We walk on. No wait, no fuss. Again, this was part of the reason we waited. The crew was getting ready for Muster.

 

My first thought? Where are all the people? (I had this thought many times, as did dh. My best answer is while the ship was 'full' it hold fewer guest.)

 

Our Room-

The location was perfect. The room was mostly quiet and we both loved that the balcony had 'sides'. Dh declared it a non-public space! (Which means I was free to nurse dd there or not be fully dressed.)

 

I love the toilet being separate from the shower and that both rooms had sinks. I was VERY thankful for this.

 

DD hated the tub. I'm not sure why. She loves a bath at home (and did last night and tonight) but fought and screamed on the ship.

 

The ties for the curtains are perfect to child proof the cooler... On the 4th night, I found the lights for the balcony...I'm a bit slow.

 

Muster Drill-

 

I admit it, I skip muster. I have no want or need to be standing thisclose in the heat with random people. However, we have a kid and must set a good example. Bah. BUT!

1-no life jacket

2-you gather inside!

3-I *think* just one member of your room has to check in

 

My kid was amused. She had the biggest smile watching the lady with the life jacket.

 

Service/staff-

 

Great! In fact, with the exception of the last night, there was never a wait/line at guest services (and it wasn't long). We had a problem being charged for laundry (seemed to be a 6th floor issue, there was another lady there with the same problem.). No problem, the charge was removed.

 

Dining/Food-

 

We did get early dining with a table for just us.

 

I wasn't impressed, but dh was. I judge based on fruit selection and dessert; dh judges on quality/portions of meat. He says excellent. I say needs major improvement. The meat quality and portions were great/excellent. Yummy. I LOVED the tuna and I don't like seafood unless it was caught that morning! The lamb and veal was good as well. The Caribian Jerk Chicken salad was a hit with me and dd. DD didn't like the duck, but loved everything else. (I refused to feed my kid snail or squid, but dh and I enjoyed them both!) But like I said, I don't really care about meat. I want my chocolate! I also wanted other meals that weren't just meat, but each time I tried one, I was disappointed. I ended up asking the asst. server what to order, he was spot on each time.

 

The chocolates left at turn down weren't worth eating. They were thrown out. I wasn't happy. The desserts most nights were sub-par (dh doesn't get dessert). The dessert the last night was good.

 

I did like that they had the trio but they were bite size! Good to see which one you like, then order a full size of what you like, if you have the time. The strawberry ice cream was good! Also, it seemed to be a hassle/odd that *I* ordered 2-3 desserts. Umm yes. I don't know which one I'll like! The baked Alaska was good and the brulee was great. However, more than one night I didn't like any of the dessert or only liked one.

 

Everyone's formal was our casual....at least for the main dining (most everyone there at younger kids though). I actually gave up and wore jeans on the two 'casual' nights, and felt over dressed on 'formal' night and I didn't even have my formal gown. No big deal, I'll pack differently next time.

 

I don't see the point in dining rotation (just found out today each room has different food) and really didn't like that there were cartoons/tv playing in the dining room. DD wasn't paying attention, so big deal. We'll see if it's an issue next time.

 

I didn't like that the servers (all meals) seemed to keep asking/pushing milk/juice and desserts for dd. Sorry, but hell no. She gets water only (ok, dh did let her taste chocolate milk, but she's NOT getting a glass of it with a meal). Dh did give her a taste of ice cream, and I let her try the baked apple. (I also did share a few bites of chocolate chip cookie.) I'll have to figure something out for next year.

 

We did Goofy's a few times for fresh fruit and a snack. It was always fresh and good. I also tried the french fries the last night. I went to fill dd's sippy cup and smelled them. They were perfect!

 

Ice Cream Station-

Always closed when we wanted it early/late. EVERY evening they were cleaning that area and had it blocked off. I add ice cream to my hot chocolate and coffee. They did have blueberry!

 

Drink Station-

Soda was included, great, but no Dr. Pepper or Root Beer. And only one drink station. However the asst. server will bring a soda to mdr. The coffee sucked, but there was a nice selection of tea and hot chocolate.

 

Deco-

Great, Impressive, loved the art work and such. Life size ginger bread house and big trees.

 

Pictures-

We missed the on board pictures and Disney didn't take picture at the ports. Carnival was at one port and asked if we wanted a picture. Me: 'No, we're no with Disney this time.' sigh.

 

I'm so over paying $20 for pictures with dirty dishes and random people in the backgrounds that I have to scan and photoshop. I'm not paying $20 for this anymore. I asked the photographer take our picture in the entrance of the dining room on formal night! I'm also over stock/busy backgrounds as well.

 

The pictures weren't even printed on high quality paper.

 

HOWEVER, the staff had no problems taking pictures with my camera. Dh handed them my camera to HOLD. He took pictures! sweet!

 

The end results is I have a lot of time in photoshop to blur/errase random people. I did take a picture of the pirate background and will put us in front of it. :-)

 

Also note, that you have to have your key to the world card to take pictures (I'm not sure why. While you can view them on the computers, they still print them all). I don't carry mine as I rarely have pockets, that's dh's job. They had pictures set up during dinner when I was walking around with dd, but missed out because I didn't grab a card. I did remember one night and have a great one of me, dd, and Mickey.

 

Movies-

I can't say if what was playing in room is the latest or not, but we hadn't seen any of the movies. In the theaters they played Finding Nemo 3d (I was able to watch a good bit of it), wrecking ralph 3d, some others I don't remember and on Wed night at 12:01 Monster Inc in 3d. Yes, I was there!!

 

Shows-

For some reason, they keep the theater doors closed till a set time before shows. We never bothered waiting in line to wait in the theater. The shows weren't important to us. I did catch part of Villains. I didn't enjoy all the pop culture comments. If all the shows were like that, then I didn't miss out on anything. I much rather jugglers, magic acts, comedians, and that type of stuff.

 

Room Service-

I have no complaints because well, someone else was bringing me food. The wait was between 15-45 minutes each night. If we just ordered milk, cookies and mickey bars, then it wasn't as long. On the last night, the cookies were burnt. TWICE. If I asked for 1 cookie, I got two. If I asked for 2 cookies, then I got four. When I asked for four cookies, I got four. I gave up figuring out how many I'd get! Most nights they brought two mickey bars even when I only asked for one. I will state for the record-no cookies (minus the burnt ones) or mickey bars were wasted! They always gave a straw pre milk ordered. Did I tell ya'll my kid LOVES straws?!

 

Note, the pizza from room service is better than at Plutos (which was ok-needed more sauce but I'm sure if I had asked they would have made us one with more sauce). And yes, they have whole milk. In fact, there was whole milk everywhere and that's what was brought to us by default (I'm not sure if DCL was one that people were complaining about not being able to get whole milk or not.)

 

Cafe Cove:

 

They offer books and mags to read. This was a great find as I was told there was no library! And they have desserts or snacks to offer as well.

 

It wasn't quiet though. We did end up buying a coffee or two most days. I tried to hang out there one day, but there were people talking near me. I took my coffee back our room and chilled on our balcony. (I'm not a people person, thus part of the reason for the balcony. I can enjoy the water and fresh air without people.)

 

The price for coffee was very reasonable (less than our normal Starbucks). We got a coffee card (buy 5 get 6th free). Dh got an extra shot and the guy gave him marks for two coffees.

 

The Candy Cane Mocha cost more than the other drinks but was very good. However, my cup wasn't filled all the way. (And of course while it was still early, the ice cream station was down for cleaning so I couldn't add ice cream.)

 

Pirate Night-

 

Same night as first port. Ugh. BUT dh happened to find a pirate beer at a gas station that was a big hit. We had fun dressing up. Dd wore jeans, a red/white shirt and no socks 'pirate kids don't wear socks', and her DI charms (which now has more charms after 1 cruise than mine after 4, lol).

 

We were 'bad' parents and woke dd. I felt better when I saw lots of other young should be sleeping kids there as well. I had planned to take pictures from the balcony but dh figured they wake her anyway (I think he wanted to go!) So, after dinner I got her to sleep, then we woke her (this may have been only the 3rd time in her life I've woken her up!). She was pissed but got over it once we told her we were going bye bye. She watched and smiled and laughed. She wasn't sure about the fireworks.

 

As far as firework shows go, not impressive, but still cool.

 

 

Stuff for Kids:

 

Dh wasn't wasn't happy with the events/activities offered. One thing I misunderstood was that the mickey ears in the navigators are NOT open to parents.

 

DD loved the club, not so much the lab but she was able to color in the lab and bang on the keyboard. We took her to open house three times I think. She had a blast running around, sliding, climbing, playing with big foam blocks, the trucks, animals, and oh my!

 

She enjoyed toddler time and wake up with Disney Jr. (Which is NOT them watching tv, which is what I assumed. But with a staff guy singing and dancing to popular songs from Disney shows.)

 

She also enjoyed the splash area.

 

Of course, my kid is easy. She had a blast on the deck with my flip flops and spent most of the last morning stacking milk cartons...She also did her best yet coloring on the trip! She went to town scribbling Buzz in the lab.

 

We both agree there should be an open play area and more toddler activities with parents. We aren't the type of parents to drop our toddler off with strangers. A few other moms wanted/expected the same.

 

Ports-

 

Tending at Grand Cayman- this was a pita. We should have skipped the port and stayed on the ship. Dh claimed dirty diaper so he and dd weren't sitting waiting in the theater.

 

The tender back was worse. We waited in the hot sun (I'm guessing we got there just as a boat left). They did have cold wash clothes and ice water for us once we got to the tent. This would have been nice while waiting! There's no organization for unboarding the tender boat. Top and bottom, all rows try to push off at once.

 

Finally, one mom blocked the downstairs so I could get off with dd (she had been signing milk for about 30 minutes and wasn't happy. Part of this was me misjudging how long it would take to get back to the ship.)

 

Dh and I have been to Grand Cayman, and we'll go back. BUT there's no point, ime, of going if you don't have something planned. We walked to the 7 mile beach. The water was all rocks. We couldn't really stand/walk in the water. Dh walked a ways down and didn't find a better spot. Now, had we taken a cab, then we may have found a better spot. We had dd but no car seat so a cab wasn't an option.

 

The last time dh/I went we did the hell/turtle/sting rays. LOVED IT. Once dd is old enough, we'll do it again.

 

Cozumel- We docked at a different pier than we'd been to in the past, so hey, a new shopping area. lol.

 

I did get 5 charms from DI for dd, which is better than I ever did on past cruises for me. She wore hers on Pirate Night and was thrilled!

 

Lesson-stay on ship with a toddler! I think next time we'll get of on Castaway Cay, but stay on for the other two. Once dd is older, then we'll book/do stuff. I'm over shopping and cheap trinkets.

 

Last Sea Day-

We hit rough seas/weather on the way back. I was out on the deck with dd, enjoying our first non dining room lunch when I noticed the men in white acting all official and moving tables/chairs. I asked if we needed to move. I was told told no. A group of them pointed and talked and consulted the sky. I then asked 'how long till the storm?' Man in white looked at his watch, looked at the sky, then said '20 minutes'. Ok, thank you sir!

 

I will note Mickey's Pool was closed. Some kid made a 'mess'. The pool was drained and scrubbed cleaned. Lots of upset kids/parents. This caused some of the bigger kids to take over the splash pad, which again, caused us to leave. (This happened the day before when dh took dd. Of course we let dd know why we had to leave since it wasn't her fault (we're in the 'removing her when she acts up stage')

 

Disembarkment-

Due to the rough weather (which really, I've seen worse, it wasn't smooth sailing but nothing to worry about), we were late to arrive back. I only know this because the voice in the hall said so. According to the 'welcome home' letter, which I read last night, we ate breakfast at

 

way too early and were then to leave the ship. We were expected to be out of our room by 8:30. That's funny. We woke at 8am, took our time taking showers and getting dressed. Then took truns going to the buffet to grab food, which I guess we weren't suppose to bring back to our room. Then we watched some movie with gerbils or something. DD stacked milk cartons.

 

We never heard the message 'all passengers are now free to disembark'. Finally, I was ok, I'm ready to leave and looked in the hall. yep, last ones there. I asked the room steward guy...opps. We gathered our stuff, and dd, and headed down. There was ONE family after us.

 

Then we got to wait for way too long to go through customs. Damn, didn't wait in our rooms long enough. Then suddenly, the line started moving and we were out of there!

 

Cons-

 

No on board or port pictures.

The coffee sucked. I'll be bringing my own next time.

No open play area for kids. The club/lab had open house hours, but often overlapped with toddler time/wake up with Disney Jr or with Dinner.

TV in the dining room/club. But thankfully dd didn't really care. She did watch in AP on show night and was thrilled!

 

We're booked on the Wonder leaving gal Dec 14th, 2013! Dh wants to cruise yearly, rather than every other year. However, since Disney isn't in New Orleans and is leaving Gal, Tx, that may be our last Disney. I can't turn down a cruise so when dh said he wanted to cruise yearly, I said ok.

 

The end result is I don't really care which line we use. I'll have fun no matter what since I'm not cooking or cleaning! The service was great and for the first time we tipped extra. I kinda felt we should since I know there was more of a mess/work with dd.

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Tonka's Skipper

Tonka's Skipper

Posted
Posted

As a retired Ships Master, my professional opinion is that Muster drills are very important. As the pp stated the Concordia was a wake up call, which the OP here does not seem to have heard.

 

In fact I would go so far as the say that skipping the muster drill is unsafe and boarding on child endangerment, in that by not knowing what to do, endangers, the op and the child and DH.

 

The cards in the room can do only so much.........you need to be there and hear and see where you are to be and instructions.

 

I dont know how the op did skip it as the roll call reqiures 1 person's ID and a head count of the room total. It seems someone missing this on her cruise.

 

We just came off the Fantasy a while ago and my wife and I wore our lifevests and when told it was not reqiured I had no problem to politely telling the CM, that everyone needs to put it on to know how to and that everyone else should be reqiured to put it on.

 

We had 3 parents thank us for pointing that out during the drill and were going to put them on in their cabin as soon as they got back.

 

I also feel that on the inside muster stations , the entire group should be walked to their boats at the end so eveyone knows the way.

 

A few minutes in a crowd is not coming to hurt anyone, but a skipped muster drill may just kill someone.

 

Just MHO and others in the profession.

 

AKK

 

PS. Before someone tells me they use the card and everyone puts them on in their cabin............B....lls..T..... The Fantasy has been out for 8 months and the 4 lifevests in our cabin had never been opened or used. They were still manufactury packed, nice and neat.

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Shmoo here

Shmoo here

Posted
Posted
As a retired Ships Master' date=' my professional opinion is that Muster drills are very important. As the pp stated the Concordia was a wake up call, which the OP here does not seem to have heard.

 

In fact I would go so far as the say that skipping the muster drill is unsafe and boarding on child endangerment, in that by not knowing what to do, endangers, the op and the child and DH.

 

The cards in the room can do only so much.........you need to be there and hear and see where you are to be and instructions.

 

I dont know how the op did skip it as the roll call reqiures 1 person's ID and a head count of the room total. It seems someone missing this on her cruise.

 

We just came off the Fantasy a while ago and my wife and I wore our lifevests and when told it was not reqiured I had no problem to politely telling the CM, that everyone needs to put it on to know how to and that everyone else should be reqiured to put it on.

 

We had 3 parents thank us for pointing that out during the drill and were going to put them on in their cabin as soon as they got back.

 

I also feel that on the inside muster stations , the entire group should be walked to their boats at the end so eveyone knows the way.

 

A few minutes in a crowd is not coming to hurt anyone, but a skipped muster drill may just kill someone.

 

Just MHO and others in the profession.

 

AKK

 

PS. Before someone tells me they use the card and everyone puts them on in their cabin............B....lls..T..... The Fantasy has been out for 8 months and the 4 lifevests in our cabin had never been opened or used. They were still manufactury packed, nice and neat.[/quote']

 

I totally agree about putting the lifevests on for the muster drill. We do put on our vests on in the room, to make sure the fasteners are all working. I spent a number of years in the theatre and dress rehersals are VERY important. Dry runs the way it will happen (putting on your vest, getting to the muster station, checking in) help set what needs to happen if a muster is actually called.

 

I'm surprised that OP was able to skip the muster. All our DCL cruises (even pre-Concordia) we had to check in with our muster head person & he/she counted to see that all for that room were there.

 

:)

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CarnivalGirl3

CarnivalGirl3

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Posted

To be very clear here, WE did NOT skip muster last week on DCL Magic (nor will we skip next year or any other time in the future).

 

To repeat: Last week, dh, dd, and I attended Muster.

 

I'm now a parent. I can't do the things I did BEFORE I was a parent. (Before being a parent, it was just MY life.) We also made sure the life jackets for us and for DD were in our room and that we knew how to put dd's on.

 

I have no control over DCL's policies. Yes, I was happy it was inside and no life jacket was required. Had it been outside with life jackets, we would have gone (as I'm now a parent).

 

(It's very easy to skip. We went to Muster on our first cruise, then skipped after that on Carnival and NCL.)

 

 

I have no idea what Concordia is/was/what happened. I'm assuming it's a ship.

 

Shmoo-I actually don't think the whole party was required to check in?! Dh told them our room number and said there were three of us. The staff did not check that dd and I were there. I have no idea if this was an oversight or normal.

 

horric29-I had a list for you, but computer rebooted and I lost it!

 

I'll get back to it later.

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Shmoo here

Shmoo here

Posted
Posted
To be very clear here, WE did NOT skip muster last week on DCL Magic (nor will we skip next year or any other time in the future).

 

To repeat: Last week, dh, dd, and I attended Muster.

 

I'm now a parent. I can't do the things I did BEFORE I was a parent. (Before being a parent, it was just MY life.) We also made sure the life jackets for us and for DD were in our room and that we knew how to put dd's on.

 

I have no control over DCL's policies. Yes, I was happy it was inside and no life jacket was required. Had it been outside with life jackets, we would have gone (as I'm now a parent).

 

(It's very easy to skip. We went to Muster on our first cruise, then skipped after that on Carnival and NCL.)

 

 

I have no idea what Concordia is/was/what happened. I'm assuming it's a ship.

 

Shmoo-I actually don't think the whole party was required to check in?! Dh told them our room number and said there were three of us. The staff did not check that dd and I were there. I have no idea if this was an oversight or normal. Yes, they are supposed to check that everyone is there. That's how it's supposed to be handled. Once person will "check in" and then point out the people in the room to the CM.

 

horric29-I had a list for you, but computer rebooted and I lost it!

 

I'll get back to it later.

 

The cruise ship Costa Concordia partially sank on the night of 13 January 2012 after hitting a reef off the Italian coast and running aground at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, requiring the evacuation of the 4,252 people on board. Thirty people are known to have died; two others were still missing as of October 2012, and presumed dead; and 64 others were injured (at least two seriously). Two passengers and a crewmember trapped inside were rescued in the days after the incident.

 

Captain Francesco Schettino had deviated from the ship's computer-programmed route to treat people on Isola del Giglio to the spectacle of a close sail-past or near-shore salute. The ship was on the first leg of a planned 6-port cruise from Civitavecchia when she hit a reef off Isola del Giglio and started to take in water, flooding the engine room and generators, causing the ship to drift for more than an hour off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio before running aground and being evacuated.

 

Schettino was arrested on preliminary charges of multiple manslaughter in connection with causing a shipwreck, failing to assist 300 passengers, and failing to be the last to leave the wreck. He was subsequently also charged with failing to describe to maritime authorities the scope of the disaster (for which seven other officers and managers of Costa Cruises are under investigation) and with abandoning incapacitated passengers.

 

Bodies of crew and passengers trapped in the wreck were still being found in the first few months of 2012; salvage operations were scheduled to begin in May.

The Costa Concordia entered service for Costa Cruises in July 2006 as the largest ship built in Italy at the time, measuring 114,137 GT, 290.2 metres (952 ft) long, and costing €450 million (US$569 million). By tonnage, it is the largest passenger ship to have sunk.Industry analysts believe the vessel is a constructive total loss. Costa Cruises has offered specific compensation terms to passengers and intends to refloat the ship and tow it to a salvage yard in Sicily, where it will be cut up for scrap.

800px-Collision_of_Costa_Concordia_5_crop.jpg

 

:)

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Tonka's Skipper

Tonka's Skipper

Posted
Posted
The cruise ship Costa Concordia partially sank on the night of 13 January 2012 after hitting a reef off the Italian coast and running aground at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, requiring the evacuation of the 4,252 people on board. Thirty people are known to have died; two others were still missing as of October 2012, and presumed dead; and 64 others were injured (at least two seriously). Two passengers and a crewmember trapped inside were rescued in the days after the incident.

 

Captain Francesco Schettino had deviated from the ship's computer-programmed route to treat people on Isola del Giglio to the spectacle of a close sail-past or near-shore salute. The ship was on the first leg of a planned 6-port cruise from Civitavecchia when she hit a reef off Isola del Giglio and started to take in water, flooding the engine room and generators, causing the ship to drift for more than an hour off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio before running aground and being evacuated.

 

Schettino was arrested on preliminary charges of multiple manslaughter in connection with causing a shipwreck, failing to assist 300 passengers, and failing to be the last to leave the wreck. He was subsequently also charged with failing to describe to maritime authorities the scope of the disaster (for which seven other officers and managers of Costa Cruises are under investigation) and with abandoning incapacitated passengers.

 

Bodies of crew and passengers trapped in the wreck were still being found in the first few months of 2012; salvage operations were scheduled to begin in May.

The Costa Concordia entered service for Costa Cruises in July 2006 as the largest ship built in Italy at the time, measuring 114,137 GT, 290.2 metres (952 ft) long, and costing €450 million (US$569 million). By tonnage, it is the largest passenger ship to have sunk.Industry analysts believe the vessel is a constructive total loss. Costa Cruises has offered specific compensation terms to passengers and intends to refloat the ship and tow it to a salvage yard in Sicily, where it will be cut up for scrap.

800px-Collision_of_Costa_Concordia_5_crop.jpg

 

:)

 

 

Just to add,

 

As of now they have, as you pointed out Shmoo, charged the Captian. They are also investigating 3 senior deck officers, 3 senior excutives in the Costa office and a month or so ago, they started a full investigation of Carnival Corporation, due to many fires, acidents, safely issues, ship design and poor operation and maintaince rountines on carnival line and other lines owned by Carnival Corporation.

 

This investigation is including various international Maritime groups including the IMO, Solas rules and regulations committee (part of the IMO), Itialian and US Coast Guards, other various European Maritime groups like LLoyds.

 

It will be very interesting reading in the future!

 

 

AKK

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Tonka's Skipper

Tonka's Skipper

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Posted
To be very clear here, WE did NOT skip muster last week on DCL Magic (nor will we skip next year or any other time in the future).

 

To repeat: Last week, dh, dd, and I attended Muster.

 

I'm now a parent. I can't do the things I did BEFORE I was a parent. (Before being a parent, it was just MY life.) We also made sure the life jackets for us and for DD were in our room and that we knew how to put dd's on.

 

I have no control over DCL's policies. Yes, I was happy it was inside and no life jacket was required. Had it been outside with life jackets, we would have gone (as I'm now a parent).

 

(It's very easy to skip. We went to Muster on our first cruise, then skipped after that on Carnival and NCL.)

 

 

I have no idea what Concordia is/was/what happened. I'm assuming it's a ship.

 

Shmoo-I actually don't think the whole party was required to check in?! Dh told them our room number and said there were three of us. The staff did not check that dd and I were there. I have no idea if this was an oversight or normal.

 

horric29-I had a list for you, but computer rebooted and I lost it!

 

I'll get back to it later.

 

 

 

Very well Carnival girl, then my comment about bordering on child endangerment should not in anyway refer to you.

 

But your qoute in a post, which was about being on the Magic was unclear.

 

Muster Drill-

 

I admit it, I skip muster. I have no want or need to be standing thisclose in the heat with random people. However, we have a kid and must set a good example. Bah. BUT!

I feel very strongly about muster drills for passingers and I take alot of flaming from others with opposing opinions, but I will not back down.

AKK

 

 

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CarnivalGirl3

CarnivalGirl3

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Since this was the first 6 night cruise on the Magic out of Galveston, I have a question. Was there a character breakfast or a Tea with Alice? Thanks!

 

character breakfast.

Which was a NICE surprise as we weren't expecting it. The time/date was printed on the dinning tickets.

 

Due to the time change, we overslept. The head guy in our dinning room called the other guy (LOVE those wave phones!) and was able to get us on the last sea day. It was worth it. The handler took pictures (there are no formal dcl pictures taken, so bring your camera!!). The dinning staff was SO MUCH FUN. Since they weren't our dinning staff, I don't know if they were always that much fun or not. They made cool 'hats' from the napkins and even from the silver plate covers.

 

While we couldn't stay the whole time, we did get pictures with Mickey, Chip and Goofy.

 

*I didn't know it was the first or that there would be others....We thought it was because this week is Christmas and an 8 day cruise.

 

(Now, I want to know if they will be Tea with Alice on the Wonder out of gla next year?)

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theycomeintwos

theycomeintwos

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Thank you for the review. We are taking this same cruise in 2 weeks. Do you still have the navigators by any chance? I would love to see them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since this was the first 6 night cruise on the Magic out of Galveston, I have a question. Was there a character breakfast or a Tea with Alice? Thanks!
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CarnivalGirl3

CarnivalGirl3

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Thank you for the review. We are taking this same cruise in 2 weeks. Do you still have the navigators by any chance? I would love to see them.

 

1 tip. Have you left from gal, tx before? They sometimes have delays due to fog, esp in Jan. There was an issue with parking for some last Jan (lot full from those returning, so those leaving couldn't park).

 

Also, The cruise lot we used has a discount if you're sailing Disney and is right by the port.

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Host Mick

Host Mick

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Yes, but do I need to upload them somewhere first or can they be uploaded from my computer? I tried with pictures, but it seems they must first be uploaded somewhere...

 

Let me see if I can get them uploaded and linked after bedtime.

 

You're correct. The images need to be uploaded to an online storage like Photobucket first, then linked to.

Here's the How to thread.

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CarnivalGirl3

CarnivalGirl3

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I'm glad to read your review. We sailed her in March 2012 after several sailings on RCL. My kids (ages 12 and 8) were not impressed with Disney. I think we are going to try NCL or Carnival next.

 

Service on NCL was subpar when we sailed. We all said never again. However, I've heard they have the under 2 zoo, which would be great (an open play area!) Carnival is great, -no complaints, but service/quality is better on Disney. I'm not really sure it matters, it is what you make of it (as long as room service answers!!!)

 

The ice cream cones were always stale on Carnival and kids seem to run free.

We had NO issue with kids on Disney. By that I mean the parents seem to have control. Could be the time we traveled as well (week before Christmas, rather than Thanksgiving).

 

DD's not into the characters yet, so the Disney part was lost on her. We also didn't do many of the thing offered, since we had dd. I will say we missed out on A LOT. If this had been our first cruise, I wouldn't be impressed. BUT that's not Disney's fault.

 

*I'm uploading to photobucket, which is SLOW and I had to turn my music off because of ads. So not likely photobucket right now. But my gmail shows my full name.

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Shmoo here

Shmoo here

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Service on NCL was subpar when we sailed. We all said never again. However, I've heard they have the under 2 zoo, which would be great (an open play area!) Carnival is great, -no complaints, but service/quality is better on Disney. I'm not really sure it matters, it is what you make of it (as long as room service answers!!!)

 

The ice cream cones were always stale on Carnival and kids seem to run free.

We had NO issue with kids on Disney. By that I mean the parents seem to have control. Could be the time we traveled as well (week before Christmas, rather than Thanksgiving).

 

DD's not into the characters yet, so the Disney part was lost on her. We also didn't do many of the thing offered, since we had dd. I will say we missed out on A LOT. If this had been our first cruise, I wouldn't be impressed. BUT that's not Disney's fault.

 

*I'm uploading to photobucket, which is SLOW and I had to turn my music off because of ads. So not likely photobucket right now. But my gmail shows my full name.

 

I use http://tinypic.com/ for downloading pictures to post. It's real easy.

 

:)

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