Unfrozen Winter Winners Enjoy Their Disney Cruise

You may remember the cute Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year by submitting a picture of their creative snowman. Check it out! 

Falso Service Experts sent the Halls on a Disney Cruise and provided 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. Korbin and Brooke had never been on a cruise before and Rebecca and Bradley hadn’t been in about 10 years. 

“I can’t begin to tell you the amount of fun we had and how truly unbelievable everything was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a vacation we could have never taken on our own. Disney does cruising right!” 

The Hall parents were kind enough to send over their itinerary and some pictures from their awesome trip. If you’re interested in taking a Disney Cruise, or just want to find out what it’s all about, keeping reading for the highlights from the Hall’s experience. 

Monday

We were on the ship for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then ported in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We booked a Catamaran and went out with four different families all day. It was Korbin and Brooke’s first time snorkeling and they had a blast. We spotted turtles and stingrays – it may have been the most fun experience of the entire trip! 

Tuesday

We went from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to do more snorkeling, went swimming, and hung out on the beach. The water was actually that turquoise blue you always see in pictures – truly picture perfect. 

 

Thursday

We sailed all day Wednesday and then got off at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was very blue and had clear visibility underneath, so of course - more snorkeling! They had hidden Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which was nice because there weren’t as many fish. They also include an adults-only beach which we lounged around on while the kids played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. Castaway Cay had staff everywhere to watch the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) relaxed and had a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland! 

Aboard

It gives me goosebumps remembering everything on the ship – it was all so fun and amazing! 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 record all your clues. When you hold the card up to a painting, it comes to life – it talks to you, 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 running all over the boat. 

They are always playing first-run movies out around the pool so we got to see 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 shoots you up and down and swings you out over the boat! 

The whole group went Goofy Golfing and they also have games like foosball, basketball, and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger huntsand more. 

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

The room was incredible! We had an ocean view room with a HUGE porthole and window seat. The room was a really good size and all four of us were comfortable 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 colors change on the ceiling during your meal and Royal Court was really elegant and made me think of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have a good selection. Korbin tried everything, including 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 draw a figure. They offer directions on how to draw a figure, then they collect the drawings and at the very end of dinner, they animate your drawings on the wall. You have no idea it’s coming! They choreograph them to music and put them in Disney movies. Brooke is our artist so she put a lot of effort into hers and was thrilled – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished 

“We can’t thank Service Experts enough for this once in a lifetime vacation,” Rebecca told us after they returned from their cruise. “I tear up when I think about the experience as a whole. Submitting an entry I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the stressful voting stage, the big win, planning and choosing which cruise, the excitement of going and finally experiencing an amazing vacation. It was such a fun time living it all. Thank you, thank you!” 

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