You might recall the charming Hall family who were the winners of our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. They won by submitting this precious snowman photo:
Bryant sent the Halls on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Rebecca and Bradley (Mom and Dad) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise earlier this summer. This was the first cruise for Korbin and Brooke and the first in about 10 years for Rebecca and Bradley.
“I cannot begin to tell you the amount of fun we had and how absolutely unbelievable the whole thing was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a trip we could have never done on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Halls were sweet enough to give us their itinerary and some pictures from their incredible trip. If you’re thinking about going on a Disney Cruise, or just want to find out what it’s all about, check out the highlights from the Hall’s experience.
Monday
We were on the water for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then docked in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We scheduled a Catamaran and went out with a few other families for the day. It was my kids’ first time snorkeling and they loved it. We saw turtles and stingrays – it may have been the most fun experience of the entire cruise!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to snorkel even more, swam, and hung out on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that they show on TV – truly beautiful.
Thursday
We were on the ship all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Exclusive Island. The water was incredibly blue and had amazing visibility underneath, so of course that meant more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which helped make up for the fact there weren’t as many fish. They also include an 18 and older beach which we lounged around on while the kids played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. They had people everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Bradley and Rebecca) relaxed and drank a daiquiri. It was basically a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
We get goosebumps thinking about everything on the boat – it was so much fun and unforgettable! The cruise has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select the mystery you want to solve and they give you a card so you can keep track of all your clues. When you place the card up to a painting, the painting comes to life – it speaks to you, tells you about the mystery you are working to solve, and gives you signals and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were chasing clues all over the cruise ship.
They are continually running first-run movies out around the pool so we got to watch Alice Through the Looking Glass, Jungle Book, and Big Friendly Giant. We also got to go on the Aqua Duct, which is a huge slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out over the boat!
The whole group went Goofy Golfing and they also have games like basketball, fooseball, and a Tween Club called Edge with activities like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more.
It’s really easy to meet characters on the cruise – you only have to wait a few minutes versus a half-hour or more at Disneyland. We met about two each day, and one day we hit five in a row! They also have several versions of the characters, like Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The actual room was awesome! Ours included an ocean view room with a large porthole and window seat. The room was a perfect size and all four of us were comfy and never felt smushed.
Dining
You rotate through three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the ceiling changes colors during your meal and Royal Court was extremely elegant and put me in mind of Cinderella. The menu is very gourmet and they have an awesome medley. My son tried everything, including escargot at the Royal Court. (He said it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they give you markers on your table so you can sketch a figure. They offer directions on how to draw a figure, then they collect the drawings and at the end of your meal, they animate your drawings on these screens on the wall. You have no idea it’s coming! They put them to music and position them in Disney movies. Our daughter is our artist so she did really well with hers and was so excited – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished
“Our family can’t thank Service Experts enough for this incredible experience,” Rebecca wrote after they returned from their cruise. “I tear up when I think about it all. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the stressful voting stage, the big win, researching and selecting which cruise, the elation of going and finally experiencing an unbelievable trip. It was such a fun time living it all. Thank you, thank you!”
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