A vent about our recent Disney Magic sailing experience.

[CampbellzSoup]

We JUST came off the C was there I had to double check

 

[KGmomoftwins]

Sad to see this as we picked our summer cruise specifically to experience the magic. The egg issue is across WDW and DCL and has been something my family has noticed starting in 2016. My advice order an omelette or eggs Benedict. Just got fun one morning dh ordered scrambled vs. omelette

 

[Kwami]

Sad to see this as we picked our summer cruise specifically to experience the magic.

If you mean next summer, then your cruise will be after the April-May drydock and everything should be fresh.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sad to see this as we picked our summer cruise specifically to experience the magic. The egg issue is across WDW and DCL and has been something my family has noticed starting in 2016. My advice order an omelette or eggs Benedict. Just got fun one morning dh ordered scrambled vs. omelette

That reminds me a lot of when we were on our honeymoon in St Lucia at a Sandals property. You could tell they were trying to appeal to Americans with the food choices but weren't quite sure how the get all cooked. Most people do not find runny scrambled eggs appealing, I know I don't. My step-father-in-law just orders them "scrambled hard you can burn them" and while I don't like them quite as well done as him he does that so there's no chance of runniness (which isn't too too common for most places).

All that said I'm surprised that Disney would be cooking their eggs like that across the board on the cruise ship. I will say my scrambled eggs at All-Star Sports back in September 2017 during Hurricane Irma was a tad more liquid/yolk than I would personally like it was nowhere near your picture

 

[KGmomoftwins]

That reminds me a lot of when we were on our honeymoon in St Lucia at a Sandals property. You could tell they were trying to appeal to Americans with the food choices but weren't quite sure how the get all cooked. Most people do not find runny scrambled eggs appealing, I know I don't. My step-father-in-law just orders them "scrambled hard you can burn them" and while I don't like them quite as well done as him he does that so there's no chance of runniness (which isn't too too common for most places).

All that said I'm surprised that Disney would be cooking their eggs like that across the board on the cruise ship. I will say my scrambled eggs at All-Star Sports back in September 2017 during Hurricane Irma was a tad more liquid/yolk than I would personally like it was nowhere near your picture
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At least they do a great job with bacon! Good idea with the hard scramble reminds me as a kid my dad would order our fried eggs at a local diner over hard.

 

[KGmomoftwins]

If you mean next summer, then your cruise will be after the April-May drydock and everything should be fresh.

We are doing the August 2023 double dip looks like it might go in as they have a gap April 14 to May 4 2023 but I don’t think it’s been announced. Would be good for the summer sailings!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

In good news Palo was perfection I had the best time eating brunch there

 

[DisneyConvert]

So getting ready to do a b2b October 31 - November 14. This will number 14 & 15 on the Magic. Will do my best to give a good report when I get back. By the way, I hate watered eggs. I will try to get my omelets and crispy bacon.

DW and I will be getting on at NYC on the same date, and wow. This thread is coming at a good/bad time for us as Platinum cruisers re-viewing our continued patronage of DCL.

 

[Nabas]

I have no objection to paying a “disney premium”. What worries me, is that the premium is quickly becoming no longer worth it…. Rides breaking down in WDW, Dirty Ships, why not just be on a carnival or go to the county fair for a fraction of the price….

Some of those images are downright unacceptable. Disney should be embarrassed, but I worry they may not be.

Disney Cruise Line charges more than just about everyone else.

For many years, Disney Cruise Line consistently delivered outstanding quality and service.

It’s only under “squeeze every penny out of them” Chapek that quality and service has gone downhill at DCL.

He’s doing to DCL what we’ve already seen happen at the parks.

It used to be that DCL was one place where you could experience that old Disney quality. Now, the only place you can experience that is at Tokyo Disneyland.

 

[ArielRae]

DW and I will be getting on at NYC on the same date, and wow. This thread is coming at a good/bad time for us as Platinum cruisers re-viewing our continued patronage of DCL.

Be sure to come back here and post or link your review of your experience on the Magic. Let’s see if any of maintenance issues and up keep have been taken care of. Also give us feedback on what you thought of the food around the ship. Try and get some photos to share with us too.

 

[DisneyConvert]

Disney Cruise Line charges more than just about everyone else.

For many years, Disney Cruise Line consistently delivered outstanding quality and service. . . . . and given what we've begun to see at the Parks (my interpretation of the comment)

This is what I am afraid of.

Concurrently, I have begun researching an answer to our situation:
a) Given what we spend on DCL, and
b) And we are interested in some more/interesting itineraries . . . and
c) Our son is now 21+ years old so the fantabulous Kid's Clubs no longer provide me with much value . . . and incidentally,
d) I couldn't care less about Marvel, and oh, I am no longer such a voracious consumer of StarWars or Pixar entertainment, YET
e) there are key attributes of DCL that I really love (care wrto food allergies, "wholesome" non-drunk atmosphere, no casino, great entertainment, excellent cast-member interactions, classic decor, and others that I may not even realize)

"Which of the other 'premium' cruise ship lines offer alternative cruise experiences that I should investigate?
Holland America? Celebrity "Edge"? Princess?

"Tips for Travelers" is a wonderful u tube channel that I've joined . . . and the proprietor seems to value the same things that my wife and I do. But we're giving the DCL Magic another shot next week, so we'll see.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

This is what I am afraid of.

Concurrently, I have begun researching an answer to our situation:
a) Given what we spend on DCL, and
b) And we are interested in some more/interesting itineraries . . . and
c) Our son is now 21+ years old so the fantabulous Kid's Clubs no longer provide me with much value . . . and incidentally,
d) I couldn't care less about Marvel, and oh, I am no longer such a voracious consumer of StarWars or Pixar entertainment, YET
e) there are key attributes of DCL that I really love (care wrto food allergies, "wholesome" non-drunk atmosphere, no casino, great entertainment, excellent cast-member interactions, classic decor, and others that I may not even realize)

"Which of the other 'premium' cruise ship lines offer alternative cruise experiences that I should investigate?
Holland America? Celebrity "Edge"? Princess?

"Tips for Travelers" is a wonderful u tube channel that I've joined . . . and the proprietor seems to value the same things that my wife and I do. But we're giving the DCL Magic another shot next week, so we'll see.

I HIGHLY recommend Viking. I am platinum on DCL but took a few Viking cruises, both river and ocean. No drunk passengers, great service, specialty restaurants like Palo and Remy are free, wine and beer free at mealtime, 1 included excursion per day. Ocean ships only hold around 900 passengers. All rooms have balconies. Just got home from a DCL cruise, the first since going with Viking, and still loved DCL except for their concierge concept. All decks and ship spaces are open to all guests on Viking. None of that Titanic feeling on Viking.

 

[auntlynne]

I am less shocked about the condition of the chandelier but just more shocked that to start with DCL would be so cheap to buy a chandelier that wasn’t made out of true colored glass? How cheap is that. Most colored chandeliers or lamps I have seen glass itself is actually colored glass not clear with some plastic color film.

And this chandelier replaced a beautiful Dale Chihuly piece that was originally on the ship. That was real colored glass!

 

[o&smom]

And this chandelier replaced a beautiful Dale Chihuly piece that was originally on the ship. That was real colored glass!

It was actually made out of acrylic for weight issues of glass. Still beautiful though!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

It was actually made out of acrylic for weight issues of glass. Still beautiful though!

Yep

 

[o&smom]

Yep
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Ooh, the original double staircase. That carpet looks so crazy now!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Ooh, the original double staircase. That carpet looks so crazy now!

And, of course, there was a companion piece on the Wonder

 

[brentm77]

Wow. We sailed her in June and noticed a little wear and tear, but really liked the ship overall. Food was also the best we had on DCL. But the ship wasn't very full either. I wonder if they pulled too many employees to the Wish. It's disappointing to hear things changed for the worst so quickly. We have two Disney cruises booked, but I won't hesitate to "jump ship" and use another line if DCL starts thinking they can pull the same crap they are pulling on the parks. We won't pay the Disney premium for brandings and nostalgia alone.

 

[dreamer17555]

Can someone clarify when the next dry dock is for the magic? I’m a little confused. It clearly needs work.

 

[scoobysgirl]

I have a long rant on our recent experience. We sailed on the Disney Magic out of NYC on Oct 16th. I have sailed with Disney 8 times including this sailing and have been on all the ships lack there of the newest Wish. We have always had wonderful trips and I have to say this was my worst experience I have had on Disney.

First the Magic is really showing her age. Her exterior areas are all rusted in many areas and the flooring on deck 4 and deck 9 all have areas where the rubber is peeling out and don’t even have a coating on them anymore, very faded. They do try and keep the areas around the pool nice but leave the immediate pool area and they look very bad. Quite a few areas had various missing or broken pieces to them. Plenty of lights around the ship were out and not replaced. The carpet around the ship was shredded and showing the flooring underneath. Many areas of carpeting also could have used a good shampooing cause of the noticeable dirt and stains. The really sad thing I saw was that the main lobby chandelier has large sections peeling off of it. We didn’t go looking for things just everywhere you looked something just stuck out. There were plenty of things around this is just some of the things and happen to photograph.
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The dining experience wasn’t good. This was something we were really looking forward to. We sailed on the Dream just last year and we thought everything was great with the food. This sailing we had so many issues with the food. To start it off at the breakfast buffet the scrambled eggs which was boxed eggs which we are fine with was undercooked. They were egg soups, very watery in the dish pans you served yourself from and this was for all the egg dishes that had scrambled eggs in them even ones with toppings added in. Not even firm at all. Even the MDR had this egg issue. The bacon was flavorless and limp and we love bacon. The Mickey waffles were soggy also from them steaming each other in the serving pan. They had the churro Mickey waffles one day and those were good but they didn’t come back. I did find a dish called Chicken Congee at breakfast I tried which turned out to be good tho it looked terrible like a yellow mush. It became my go to item at the breakfast buffet. Sadly the last morning they over salted it so it was inedible. The lunch buffet also had issues with food being over cooked or bland lacking flavor. I found if you kept to the premade foods that they only had to heat up to serve they were fine. Room service was some of the better food we had but they served us a side of chips with our grilled cheese that was the crumbs from the bottom of the bag and didn’t give us our coleslaw. They also gave us honey mustard to go with our hot wings which was strange we asked for blue cheese and they gave us Honey Mustard and Ranch. The Duck in Diner was where I had my biggest issue happen. I ordered the impossible burger and they told me it would take a while to make to make sure it was cooked correctly. Told them it was fine I was in no rush. When they finally gave me the burger I sat down with it but it looked off. So I cut it in half and it was raw inside. Poked my finger in it and it was cold and mushy. So I had stood there waiting for my food cause they said they wanted to make it cooked correctly and they still served me a raw meal. The Pinocchio pizza window was passable but the more specialty pizzas went quick and they hardly made them. They only usually had cheese, pepperoni or sausage. My DH big issue was the roast beef sandwich from Daisy’s Delights. He got the sandwich shortly after they opened so the food should have been it’s freshest. Well when he bit into it he immediately spit out. It was all mush like it had sat out all night. I went and got one to see if it was just one bad sandwich. It wasn’t it also was mush.
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The main dining was ok. I am disappointed that dishes I have ordered many times have changed and not for the better. Our server kept asking me and my DH if our meal was ok and if we wanted anything else but had to keep telling him that we didn’t care for something and no thank you to picking something else. They seem to have changed the recipes or the new crew are not making them the same anymore. I miss them having Cabanas open for table service. That was one place you could get a good and hot meal every time cause they made it fresh just for you not a whole dining room.

I am so happy that the Dream will be the ship we get out of NYC next year cause this sailing made me really sad about how Disney has slipped so far from trying to make sure you have a a good vacation. I did see plenty of Earning my Ears name tags on this sailing but I don’t believe this should have affected the sailing as much as it probably did. I did fill out the questionnaire at the end of the sailing and made sure we noted all the problems. I am sure there will be many here ready to argue in defense of Disney but seeing and experiencing the decline at WDW and now Cruise Line I find it hard to give Disney a pass anymore. I hope Disney redeems itself when we sail on the Dream next year but if we experience what we did this sailing we will sadly have to give Disney time to get their act together.

Makes me so happy that I am sailing on the Wish in a few weeks...from what I've seen on posted videos, everything looks really good. I can't wait to eat at Marceline Market...I've seen rave reviews about that place. And I like it that you are served, and not self serve.