You may recall the sweet Hall family who were the winners of our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. They won by submitting this precious snowman photo:
Falso Service Experts sent the family on a Disney Cruise and paid for airfare for four. Bradley and Rebecca took their two oldest youngsters, 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 describe how much fun we had and how absolutely amazing the whole thing was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a vacation we could have never taken on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Hall parents were sweet enough to show us their itinerary and some snapshots from their awesome trip. If you’re thinking about going on a Disney Cruise, or just want to find out what it’s all about, keeping reading for the highlights from the Hall’s trip.
Monday
We were on the ship for two days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We reserved a Catamaran and went out with a few 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 probably the coolest experience of the entire trip!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to do more snorkeling, got to swim, and bummed around on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue you always see in pictures – truly perfect.
Thursday
We sailed all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Exclusive Island. The water was so blue and had perfect visibility underneath, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They placed a bunch of Mickey Mouses you could look for underwater, which helped make up for the fact there weren’t as many fish. They also had an adults-only beach which we enjoyed while Korbin and Brooke played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. Castaway Cay had staff everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Bradley and Rebecca) laid out and had a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
We get goosebumps thinking about everything on the ship – it was all so fun and unforgettable! The cruise has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select the mystery you want to solve and Disney gives you a card so you can write down 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 trying to solve, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were running all over the boat.
They are continually showing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to enjoy Big Friendly Giant, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Jungle Book, and Finding Dory. 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!
All of us went Goofy Golfing and they also have games like foosball, basketball, and a Tween Club called Edge with events like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more.
It’s so easy to see characters on the ship – you only have to wait a couple minutes versus a half-hour or more at Disneyland. We saw about two per day, and one day we hit five in a row! They also have multiple versions of the characters, like Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The actual room was incredible! 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 cozy and never felt smothered.
Dining
You rotate through three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors change on the ceiling while you eat and Royal Court was extremely elegant and made me think of Cinderella. The meals are very gourmet and they have a great medley. My oldest tried everything, even escargot at the Royal Court. (He thought it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they give you markers on your table so you can sketch a figure. They give you a tutorial on how to draw a figure, then they take the drawings and at the end of your meal, they animate your drawings on big screens. You have no idea it’s coming! They put them to music and put them in Disney movies. My daughter is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was ecstatic – the rest of us weren’t quite as proud
“We cannot thank Service Experts enough for this once in a lifetime experience,” Rebecca said after they returned from the trip. “I get teary-eyed when I think about the experience as a whole. Entering a contest I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the stressful voting phase, the big reveal, planning and choosing which cruise, the excitement of going and finally experiencing an amazing adventure. It was such a wonderful time living it all. We are forever grateful!”
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