Unfrozen Winter Winners Enjoy Their Disney Cruise

You may recall the adorable Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission! 

Bryant Heating & Cooling Service Experts sent the family on a Disney Cruise and covered airfare for four. Mom and Dad (Rebecca and Bradley) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise in July this year. This was the first cruise for Korbin and Brooke and the first in about 10 years for Rebecca and Bradley. 

“I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of fun we had and how absolutely wonderful the whole thing was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a getaway we could have never taken on our own. Disney does cruising right!” 

The Hall parents were sweet enough to send over their itinerary and some snapshots from their incredible trip. If you’re thinking about going on a Disney Cruise, or just curious what it’s all about, check out the highlights from the Hall’s cruise. 

Monday

We were on the water for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We scheduled a Catamaran and went out with 4 other families for the day. It was my children’s first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We saw turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the coolest experience of the whole cruise! 

Tuesday

We traveled from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we were able to snorkel some more, got to swim, and bummed around on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue you always see in pictures – truly beautiful. 

 

Thursday

We traveled all day Wednesday and then got off at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was so blue and had clear visibility beneath, so of course – more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could hunt for underwater, which made up for not having as many fish. They also had an adults-only beach which we lounged around on while our children played games. They had people everywhere to watch the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) hung out and drank a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland! 

Aboard

It gives me goosebumps remembering everything on the cruise ship – everything was so much fun and extraordinary! Disney Cruise Line has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you choose the mystery you want to solve and the cruise gives you a card so you can write down all your clues. When you hold the card up to a painting, it actually comes to life – it talks to the group, tells you about the mystery you are trying to solve, and gives you clues and directions. One mystery took us two hours because we were going all over the cruise ship. 

They are always playing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to see Jungle Book. We also got to experience the Aqua Duct, which is a large slide that takes you up and down and swings you out across the boat! 

The whole group went Goofy Golfing and the cruise also has other games and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger hunts, ice breakers, and more. 

It’s very easy to meet characters on the ship – you only have to wait a couple minutes versus 30 minutes or more at Disneyland. We saw about two per day, and one day we met five in a row! They also have different versions of the characters, such as Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc. 

The actual room was awesome! We had an ocean view room with a HUGE porthole and window seat. The provinceroom was a really good size and all four of us were comfy and never felt smothered. 

Dining

You go between three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the ceiling changes colors while you eat and Royal Court was very elegant and reminded me of Cinderella. The menu is very gourmet and they have a great medley. My son tried everything, including escargot at the Royal Court. (He told us it tasted like dirt!) 

Animators Palette is animation-themed and they leave markers on your table so you can draw a figure. They give you directions on how to draw a figure, then they pick up the drawings and at the end of your dinner, they animate your drawings on the wall. It’s completely unexpected! They put them to music and place them in Disney films. Our daughter is our artist so she put a lot of effort into hers and was so excited – the rest of us weren’t quite as accomplished 

“We can’t thank Service Experts enough for this incredible vacation,” Rebecca told us after they returned from their cruise. “I get emotional when I think about the whole experience. Submitting an entry I never thought would go anywhere, hearing we were a finalist, the anxious voting round, the big win, reading about and choosing which cruise, the excitement of going and finally experiencing an unbelievable trip. It was such a wonderful time living it all. We are so grateful!” 

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