Magic first cruise cancelled

[hencoll]

Some people are complaining that they see worn carpet or rust in some places. Keep in mind that they don't replace or refinish everything in dry dock. It's a continuous process.

 

Oh I know that. I sailed on the first cruise after the Wonder's dry dock in 2006, where many things were still being worked on and the fitness center was closed. That's why I don't book cruises right after dry dock. But according to reports on other boards it's more than rust and worn carpet. Copied below:

 

We had live electrical wires / sockets hanging out of the wall, the attached nightstand against the headboard was also broken, hanging only by electric wiring. Our bathroom floors were permanently dirty as it looks like they regrouted the white tile but didn't clean it. Our safe was also inoperable for half the cruise. Our sailing mates on deck two had significant inoperable and intermittant toilet issues.

 

The problems were fixed, but it took 3 days for them to finally stop by after 3 personal visits to guest services, 3 reports via our stateroom host. The most shocking thing was the log our stateroom host had showed he logged issues days before we even arrived. We've never had an issue before on any Disney ship so maybe it's typical for this lapse in time. However, with something like exposed wiring, was expecting it to be treated quickly.

 

The good thing is DCL seems to be addressing the issues. Hopefully, by the time I sail in May all things will be in order. :)

Edited November 1, 2013 by hencoll

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Something to put everything into context.

 

I was reading yesterday about a mother who has her families first Disney Cruise booked for Christmas on the Magic and now is in utter panic, she doesn’t want Christmas ruined for her young kids, should she cancel? She is so worried.

 

Now I have continued reading trip reports and listening to podcasts, and it’s as if people reporting are from different ships and many people are getting upset by the extreme reports which are negative. Its causing a lot of upset on many internet forums.

 

From what I have seen and asked friends for about 75% of reports are extremely favourable, not to say there are not some issues, but the issues do seem to be limited to a few cabins. For example I read about two concierge rooms next to each other, 8030 with sink issues and plumbing issues, 8028 perfectly fine and a great stateroom.

 

I think some of the misreporting comes from a total lack of experience in some places. Lots of experienced DCL cruisers know the Magic is fifteen years old and it was a refurbishment of a fifteen year old ship, and look at it in the correct perspective. However it seems that where the negative reporting comes from is people who expected it to be a new ship like Dream and Fantasy, that’s a totally unrealistic expectation, this comes from lack of experience.

 

You see this reading trip reports that say as we walked on I saw some rust on deck 4. Yes there will always be some rust somewhere on a ship that’s fifteen years old.

 

Pealing this back to the young families worried about their for coming vacations, one saying I was going to tell the kids in excitement but now I will not tell them as I do not want to take away their dreams, gives me personal concerns on the negative reporting that’s out of context.

 

One experienced podcast team reported a perfect trip, and they have reported negative things on other issues before so not yes men. But that was ripped into claiming they were given the best rooms etc. In fact a poster was very rude in what they said however everyone is entitled to their opinion.

 

The major plumbing issues, as I posted earlier in this week was down to something going down the pipes that shouldn't have gone and the issues are limited to a certain area. However this has been joined up that one plus one adds up to four, and the dry dock failed. Its something that could occur at any time but unfortunately has now, not sure if it was in dry dock or first cruisers.

 

What we do hear is the staff on the ships are working as quickly as possible to correct any issues as it gets reported, and now with negative reports on the internet people will be going on the ship with a negative mind looking for issues rather than thinking about enjoying a vacation.

 

We had some duct on a verandah on one cruise, not Disney we just wiped it away and got on with it. We didn’t post it around the internet.

 

There imho is some grandstanding and ‘look at me posting’, things like officers not being available for meetings post castaway club or Pin trading, well maybe their devoting their time to correcting issues that are a priority, rather than hanging around answering questions to amateur journalists who should actually be on vacation and not interviewing people. People who are not there in any official media role but booked as cruisers. I bet the staff are now worn out trying to fix the issues, not that its ship wide, its localized issues, but more they want people to have perfect vacations.

 

The old saying is you do not make a great omelette without cracking a few eggs, the people I talk to say that some of the sensational posts are not in anyway a true reflection. -are they perfect,? No. Is it being sorted out? Yes.

 

Many people have reacted to the negative reports, and not taken in by the ‘emperors new clothes’, and do not accept it as bad as some report.

 

It’s a pity that people here, who are sensible and level headed, are called names such as ‘fanboys’, it’s also a pity that ‘a few’ put all of their faith in one persons and his wife’s reporting, to be honest, Cruise critic might as well close down, and no one posts about DCL according to some, as one Blog has all of the answers, and if they say it’s true well it must be. Some of the associated, posts on the internet have been provocative and rude, I have said all along read many reports not just one, and form your own view.

Are there lessons to be learnt? I am sure the Wonder dry docks will change and learn from mistakes on the Magic.

 

But Magic and Wonder are fifteen / fourteen years old and if you go on the Magic with the wrong perspective and have your negative tinted glasses on expecting the Dream/Fantasy experienced of new ships, your going to see it and report it wrong. This was the first long dry dock of this nature for DCL so no one has a yardstick to measure it.

 

I could run off a number of names here who have said very positive things about the ship. Experienced, DCL journalists with official and unofficial books about DCL, and national newspapers, and travel agents, and also the podcast, but it seems all their reviews are completely ignored, and then that leaves the poor family awaiting their lovely Disney Cruise at Christmas all upset. I feel for them and others with unjustified worries now.

[bear3412]

What has happen to the world. lol.

 

Normally here on these boards ships are brutally critiqued w/o remorse.

And supported and enforced.

 

The other boards are the ones who struggle with reality.

 

Have the magnetic poles shifted. :D

 

Interesting. Life is so ironic. :p

 

:)

[Gatrcruzer]

Given that I will be boarding the ship in 4 days, I have been anxiously reading the reports from the Magic. My impression is that the renovations to the public areas are awesome, and the crew is fantastic. Those who had cabins that were fully functioning had a great time. Even those whose cabins were not ready for primetime seemed to have had a reasonably good time for the most part. However, it really disturbs me that Disney was willing to send paying customers on this ship when there were so many rooms that were in seriously problematic shape, and clearly this happened - even in the Walt Suite. This wasn't one or two whiners, or people with unrealistic expectations, inexperienced passengers, or people looking for problems. These were seriously flawed rooms, and not what one would expect from the Disney product. People reporting these things are doing all of us a service, and their concerns should not be be dismissed. Why did some people have no problems and others did? Because some people had seriously problematic cabins, and others did not. Frankly, I found most of the people who had problematic rooms were not expressing nearly the amount of outrage or disgust that I would have under those circumstances. The fact that certain people are referring to them as "inexperienced" or "not level headed" or "having unrealistic expectations" is quite insulting, in my opinion. I am keeping my fingers crossed that things will be fixed by the time I board, but at least I am going in with low expectations so that I will be better able to manage if the cabin has issues, and will be thrilled if our cabin is fine.

[Flygirlchico]

Why does everyone keep saying "by Disney standards". It should be by any company standards that their product should be of the highest standard and that any and EVERY customer should have a quality product and experience. When I go on the 6th. I want my daughter and I to have a great time. I will not look for the negative. If it happens I will address it if it is major enough. If it is worn carpet or rust who cares. Do I wish that every person on the ship have a cabin that is to their satisfaction yes. We will see.

[ducklite]

Something to put everything into context.

 

I was reading yesterday about a mother who has her families first Disney Cruise booked for Christmas on the Magic and now is in utter panic, she doesn’t want Christmas ruined for her young kids, should she cancel? She is so worried.

 

Now I have continued reading trip reports and listening to podcasts, and it’s as if people reporting are from different ships and many people are getting upset by the extreme reports which are negative. Its causing a lot of upset on many internet forums.

 

From what I have seen and asked friends for about 75% of reports are extremely favourable, not to say there are not some issues, but the issues do seem to be limited to a few cabins. For example I read about two concierge rooms next to each other, 8030 with sink issues and plumbing issues, 8028 perfectly fine and a great stateroom.

 

8030 is the Walt suite. 8028 is a regular balcony cabin, not concierge.

 

Pealing this back to the young families worried about their for coming vacations, one saying I was going to tell the kids in excitement but now I will not tell them as I do not want to take away their dreams, gives me personal concerns on the negative reporting that’s out of context.

 

Some people get far too emotionally attached to vacations, particularly when the word Disney is involved. Kids don't give a rats behind about a little rust. They don't even know to notice or look for it.

 

There imho is some grandstanding and ‘look at me posting’, things like officers not being available for meetings post castaway club or Pin trading, well maybe their devoting their time to correcting issues that are a priority, rather than hanging around answering questions to amateur journalists who should actually be on vacation and not interviewing people. People who are not there in any official media role but booked as cruisers. I bet the staff are now worn out trying to fix the issues, not that its ship wide, its localized issues, but more they want people to have perfect vacations.

 

I don't understand the big deal about meeting the Captain. Do they expect to meet the GM of every hotel they stay at? The GM when they shop at a large department store? Personally I think it's ridiculous.

 

That said, given the number of issues, I think Disney, should have been more proactive about contacting people who were going to be in affected cabins in advance and either offering to reschedule, rebook them to WDW, or a substantial refund of their cruise fare. I was in a RCCL cruise that was terrible, with a lot of problems in my cabin, and they weren't at all apologetic, forthcoming, and offered nothing to refund part of the cruise fare. It's left a bad taste in my mouth and I would never cruise with them again. To just assume that people will be satisfied with paying a lot of money and getting a cabin with significant problems is bad judgement to say the least.

 

 

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[Gatrcruzer]

Why does everyone keep saying "by Disney standards". It should be by any company standards that their product should be of the highest standard and that any and EVERY customer should have a quality product and experience. When I go on the 6th. I want my daughter and I to have a great time. I will not look for the negative. If it happens I will address it if it is major enough. If it is worn carpet or rust who cares. Do I wish that every person on the ship have a cabin that is to their satisfaction yes. We will see.

 

I completely agree with you: every company should be this way. However, many are not. I think that this is a reference to the fact that Disney tends to take great pains to go above and beyond for their passengers, and they tend to pay great attention to details in their parks and resorts. This is why sending a ship out that wasn't quite ready is particularly surprising.

 

That said, I think we'll have a great trip, so don't stress. I'll see you on the 6th! :)

[Flygirlchico]

I completely agree with you: every company should be this way. However, many are not. I think that this is a reference to the fact that Disney tends to take great pains to go above and beyond for their passengers, and they tend to pay great attention to details in their parks and resorts. This is why sending a ship out that wasn't quite ready is particularly surprising.

 

That said, I think we'll have a great trip, so don't stress. I'll see you on the 6th! :)

 

See you on the 6th. Yes we will have an awesome time.(hopefully )

[Lita74]

Why does everyone keep saying "by Disney standards". It should be by any company standards that their product should be of the highest standard and that any and EVERY customer should have a quality product and experience. When I go on the 6th. I want my daughter and I to have a great time. I will not look for the negative. If it happens I will address it if it is major enough. If it is worn carpet or rust who cares. Do I wish that every person on the ship have a cabin that is to their satisfaction yes. We will see.

 

Disney is known in the corporate world for having a high quality product and providing great customer service. During our mandatory training session earlier this year (non-hospitality company), Disney was used as an example in many case studies. They raise the bar, so when people purchase a Disney experience, they come to expect top-notch. I don't expect Disney quality when I visit a Six Flags park, so I am sure the same translates the same for others with the cruise line.

 

 

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[Flygirlchico]

Disney is known in the corporate world for having a high quality product and providing great customer service. During our mandatory training session earlier this year (non-hospitality company), Disney was used as an example in many case studies. They raise the bar, so when people purchase a Disney experience, they come to expect top-notch. I don't expect Disney quality when I visit a Six Flags park, so I am sure the same translates the same for others with the cruise line.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

Look I know that. We are franchises in the restarurant business owning many in northern California. We get complaints from our customers almost every day. We do the best we can in fixing the situation sometimes returning thier money we just want to make sure they are repeat customers.. If a person is paying a pretty penny for their vacation and something seriously is wrong with their cabin or their experience because isn't that what you are buying an experience. I hope they compensate them in some way.

[purplethorn]

I will see you on the 6th as well ;) :D

[Lita74]

Look I know that. We are franchises in the restarurant business owning many in northern California. We get complaints from our customers almost every day. We do the best we can in fixing the situation sometimes returning thier money we just want to make sure they are repeat customers.. If a person is paying a pretty penny for their vacation and something seriously is wrong with their cabin or their experience because isn't that what you are buying an experience. I hope they compensate them in some way.

 

I am not disagreeing with you. I am just explaining why people use the phrase "Disney standards." They are well known for the quality of products they deliver.

 

 

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[justKirbo]

Given that I will be boarding the ship in 4 days, I have been anxiously reading the reports from the Magic. My impression is that the renovations to the public areas are awesome, and the crew is fantastic. Those who had cabins that were fully functioning had a great time. Even those whose cabins were not ready for primetime seemed to have had a reasonably good time for the most part. However, it really disturbs me that Disney was willing to send paying customers on this ship when there were so many rooms that were in seriously problematic shape, and clearly this happened - even in the Walt Suite. This wasn't one or two whiners, or people with unrealistic expectations, inexperienced passengers, or people looking for problems. These were seriously flawed rooms, and not what one would expect from the Disney product. People reporting these things are doing all of us a service, and their concerns should not be be dismissed. Why did some people have no problems and others did? Because some people had seriously problematic cabins, and others did not. Frankly, I found most of the people who had problematic rooms were not expressing nearly the amount of outrage or disgust that I would have under those circumstances. The fact that certain people are referring to them as "inexperienced" or "not level headed" or "having unrealistic expectations" is quite insulting, in my opinion. I am keeping my fingers crossed that things will be fixed by the time I board, but at least I am going in with low expectations so that I will be better able to manage if the cabin has issues, and will be thrilled if our cabin is fine.

 

Excellent post.

[Irene7]

I am not disagreeing with you. I am just explaining why people use the phrase "Disney standards." They are well known for the quality of products they deliver.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

 

 

I agree with you 100%. "Disney Standards" has been said for many many years. Disney is extremely strict with their cast members to be as perfect as possible (my daughter is one). They are a leader and power house in the entertainment industry (heck they own almost everything). High quality products, shows etc. The Disney brand does not come cheap, so I agree that they should never have sailed an unfinished product and for that matter no cruise line should.

 

I was afraid there would be problems after seeing what the Carnival Sunshine went through after her major refit. The Sunshine's dry dock was 8 weeks and she had similar problems as the Magic. I hope DCL learned from this and has the Wonder in dry dock for at least two and half to three months. Better to lose some money keeping a ship out of service and then deliver a great product to the public then relaunching a ship unfinished and getting bad press which hurts their reputation.

 

I'm confident that everything will get done but I hope the passengers that had bad staterooms get compensated.

[Ex techie]

Disney is extremely strict with their cast members to be as perfect as possible (my daughter is one). [sNIP]

 

I bet she tells you all the corner's they cut as well when upholding the Disney standards! lol!

Do as we say, not as we do!

 

ex techie

[Irene7]

I bet she tells you all the corner's they cut as well when upholding the Disney standards! lol!

Do as we say, not as we do!

 

ex techie

 

She never mentioned any corners cut. Just long long hours, never be caught without a smile, never be rude to a guest, be knowledgeable about anything Disney so you can answer any guest's questions, etc. She loves her job though.

[Ex techie]

She never mentioned any corners cut. Just long long hours, never be caught without a smile, never be rude to a guest, be knowledgeable about anything Disney so you can answer any guest's questions, etc. She loves her job though.

 

Good for her! I hope she spends many more years with the company doing what she loves.

 

ex techie

[ducklite]

She never mentioned any corners cut. Just long long hours, never be caught without a smile, never be rude to a guest, be knowledgeable about anything Disney so you can answer any guest's questions, etc. She loves her job though.

 

How long has she been with the company? If she hasn't seen corners cut, I'm guessing not very long. I was there long enough to get my Donald pin, although I left before it was given to me. (I didn't get my Mickey until almost a year after I should have)

 

During my time I saw a lot if change and cost cutting. While it might not have been apparent to the average guest, those who were the Disney-philes sure noticed.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

[Irene7]

How long has she been with the company? If she hasn't seen corners cut, I'm guessing not very long. I was there long enough to get my Donald pin, although I left before it was given to me. (I didn't get my Mickey until almost a year after I should have)

 

During my time I saw a lot if change and cost cutting. While it might not have been apparent to the average guest, those who were the Disney-philes sure noticed.

 

 

Autocorrect responsible for most typos...

 

She has been with the company since 2009. It all started with the Disney College Internship Program (she had the time of her life). She received her mickey ears for graduating, and then she stayed with the company. I do now remember her mentioning that the monorail broke down a lot.

[hencoll]

Given that I will be boarding the ship in 4 days, I have been anxiously reading the reports from the Magic. My impression is that the renovations to the public areas are awesome, and the crew is fantastic. Those who had cabins that were fully functioning had a great time. Even those whose cabins were not ready for primetime seemed to have had a reasonably good time for the most part. However, it really disturbs me that Disney was willing to send paying customers on this ship when there were so many rooms that were in seriously problematic shape, and clearly this happened - even in the Walt Suite. This wasn't one or two whiners, or people with unrealistic expectations, inexperienced passengers, or people looking for problems. These were seriously flawed rooms, and not what one would expect from the Disney product. People reporting these things are doing all of us a service, and their concerns should not be be dismissed. Why did some people have no problems and others did? Because some people had seriously problematic cabins, and others did not. Frankly, I found most of the people who had problematic rooms were not expressing nearly the amount of outrage or disgust that I would have under those circumstances. The fact that certain people are referring to them as "inexperienced" or "not level headed" or "having unrealistic expectations" is quite insulting, in my opinion. I am keeping my fingers crossed that things will be fixed by the time I board, but at least I am going in with low expectations so that I will be better able to manage if the cabin has issues, and will be thrilled if our cabin is fine.

 

Excellent post!

[Ex techie]

She never mentioned any corners cut. Just long long hours, never be caught without a smile, never be rude to a guest, be knowledgeable about anything Disney so you can answer any guest's questions, etc. She loves her job though.

 

Would you consider installing speakers instead of tuned air horns cutting corners?

 

Surely the Dream and Fantasy using compressed air horns would sound better than an MP3 on a sound system?

Yes probably less maintenance, but a better sound, but with the extra pipes and horns it's an extra cost?

 

ex techie

[Irene7]

Would you consider installing speakers instead of tuned air horns cutting corners?

 

Surely the Dream and Fantasy using compressed air horns would sound better than an MP3 on a sound system?

Yes probably less maintenance, but a better sound, but with the extra pipes and horns it's an extra cost?

 

ex techie

 

I personally like the sound of the Dream and Fantasy sound system, so cutting corners there never crossed my mind. The new Royal Princess also uses the same system, for the love boat theme song. Not a big deal to me.

[Irene7]

I personally like the sound of the Dream and Fantasy sound system, so cutting corners there never crossed my mind. The new Royal Princess also uses the same system, for the love boat theme song. Not a big deal to me.

 

Actually the Royal Princess has 7 pipes. I listened to their song on Youtube and I do not like the way it sounds.

[Ex techie]

Actually the Royal Princess has 7 pipes. I listened to their song on Youtube and I do not like the way it sounds.

 

Each to their own I guess!

 

ex techie