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I've been reading Aleece's comments with great interest - we were on the same
cruise and it's fun to see other perspectives (see Aleece's review under the
Member Trip Reports link to the left).
Instead of reporting daily, I'll just summarize our experience by comparing our
ratings.
Cruise: Disney Magic October 2, 2004
Ports: St Thomas, Antigua, Castaway Cay
Passengers: Dave 43, Heather 41, Dave's parents, Bob & Joan 70+, Dave's Aunt
Ginny, 70+. Cruise history: Five previous for Dave & Heather, second for Bob &
Joan, first for Ginny. Other cruises: 2 Carnival, 2 HAL, 1 DCL
This was a 45th wedding anniversary present for my parents, and was preceded by
a week at Pop Century. Heather and I live in Florida, so we met the party at MCO,
and after WDW, we drove down to Port Canaveral.
Deck Chair availability:
Not a problem, since we could use the Quiet Cove (the few times we used the
pool).
Disney Transportation to the ship:
We had the directions and had little difficulty driving. One wrong turn because
of a hurricane flattened sign, but pretty straight forward. Back to the airport
afterwards was even faster because of additional signage.
Quality/size of room and furnishings:
Because this was an anniversary trip, we opted for adjacent verandah rooms on
deck 8. Larger than the Pop Century rooms. If we had been going by ourselves, I
would not have bothered since it was too hot to really utilize the verandah and
you really don't spend that much time in the room.
Cabin attendant:
We had Sampop, and I can't say enough about him. He introduced himself, asked
when we'd like ice delivered each day and was on his way. He was easy to find
when needed since he was constantly cleaning. We had a couple of requests during
the week, and they were followed through quickly. And amazingly fast at the
turndown - pillows, blankets, towel animal and mints. I swear I left the room,
came back in 10 minutes and he had come and gone already.
Kids programs:
Not nearly enough of them, since screaming children were constantly underfoot.
We picked this time period to minimize the number of children we'd have to deal
with. I hate to see that ship during school vacation if this is during the
school year.
Ship appearance:
As Aleece noted - constant painting and maintenance. I think there might have
been a/c problems as the hallways were constantly warm and occasionally stuffy.
Most other crew (not mentioned above or below):
I had the opposite experience. In fact, I was notorious for losing the rest of
the group because I had gotten sidetracked chatting with a crew member. I was
wearing a lanyard with Millionaire pins from the MGM show and a visit to the hot
seat, and crew were coming up to look at the pins because they didn't recognize
them. Therese, a server from breakfast first morning and I were constantly
chatting when we ran into each other at lunches.
Main Server/Assistant Server/Head Server:
Gabor Vigh, Dougal Toney and Nadege Thiava. Possibly the finest team I have ever
had the pleasure of dining with. Gabor knew dining preferences by Day 3 and
adjusted his suggestions accordingly. Charming, efficient and fast. Toney had
the drinks down before I even knew he was there. Both were chatty, performed
magic tricks to amuse the children, loved to talk about cultural differences and
went out of the way to make sure dinner was *exactly* what you wanted. When the
6-year old fell asleep at the table (late seating), Nadege fashioned a blanket
from spare tablecloths, a pillow from spare napkins and put two chairs together.
Parents finished dinner while daughter slept blissfully.
Photographers:
As Aleece noted, very unobtrusive. I thought they shut down a little quick at
night, before Second Seating had completely cleared the dining rooms and could
decide to have pictures taken. There was once particular photographer who's name
I didn't catch, a tall almost gaunt Slavic fellow, who, if he took our picture,
had a guaranteed sale - he was that good.
Ports:
Antigua - I thought was a little run down, and not because of hurricane damage.
I don't think DCL will be making in a regular stop. It was fun to see the HMS
Cardiff moored next to us. St Thomas - Very unhappy that the US is the only
Caribbean port disrupting vacations with unnecessary customs red tape. I have
written to DCL suggesting they drop USVI stops until this nonsense is stopped.
Castaway Cay - I remain amazed at the amount of damage repaired so quickly. Were
it not for the foliage damage and the sand being dredged, I would not have known
the difference. Kudos to that team of cast members!
Weather:
Absolutely typical for the region at this time of year - hot, humid and chance
of rain.
Shows:
Of all the shows, I though the Farewell was the weakest and would have been
better without the puppeteer and guitar comedian. We skipped Who Wants to Be a
Mousketeer due to lack of interest. Disney Dreams never fails to entertain. I
think Golden Mickeys needs to cut back on the pre-show interviews. Watching 7-8
camera-shy children get interviewed got old *very* fast. Hercules the Muse-ical
remains my favorite. A show that funny with that much adlibbing is a rare
treasure and I simply adore it.
Overall ship/trip:
Would we go again? Probably not - Even though the service was excellent, the
stateroom ample, the ship beautiful and the food far above expectations, there
are simply too many screaming infants, unsupervised tots and parents who think a
stroller is for clearing a path through a crowd. I would have liked to dance
between the show and dinner, but the dance floor at the Promenade Lounge was
constantly filled with hyperactive children bouncing off of each other. I find
that a pity, because the band, Cocco Bella was very good, with a mix designed
for adults.
All in all, I think we'll probably stick with the smaller Holland America ships,
such as the Veendam.
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