You might recall the sweet Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning 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 in July this year. This was Korbin and Brooke’s first cruise and Rebecca and Bradley had not been on a cruise in nearly 10 years.
“I can’t begin to tell you how much fun we had and how truly wonderful the whole experience was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a getaway we could have never made happen on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Hall family was kind enough to send over their itinerary and some pictures from their awesome trip. If you want to a Disney Cruise, or just curious what it’s all about, check out the highlights from the Hall’s experience.
Monday
We sailed for a couple days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We had reservations for a Catamaran and went out with a few other families for the day. It was my kids’ first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We saw turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly 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 laid out on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that you see in movies – truly incredible.
Thursday
We traveled all day Wednesday and then got off at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Cruise Line Guest-Only Island. The water was incredibly blue and had clear visibility below, so of course that meant more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could hunt for underwater, which made up for not having as many fish. They also have an 18+ beach which we lounged around on while Korbin and Brooke played with other kids. Castaway Cay had employees everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) hung out and drank a daiquiri. It was just like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
It gives me goosebumps reminiscing about everything on the cruise ship – it 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 keep track of all your clues. When you put the card up to a painting, it comes alive – it talks to you, tells you about the mystery you are working 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 showing first-run movies out near the pool so we got to watch Big Friendly Giant, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Jungle Book, and Finding Dory. We also got to ride the Aqua Duct, which is a big slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out across the boat!
All of us went Goofy Golfing and they also have games like basketball, fooseball, and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger hunts and more.
It’s so easy to find characters on the boat – you only have to wait a few minutes versus a half-hour or more at Disneyland. We got to see about two per day, and one day we got five in a row! They also have multiple versions of the characters, including Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The room was amazing! Ours included an ocean view room with a
really big porthole and window seat. Our stateroom was a perfect size and all four of us were cozy and never felt squished.
Dining
You rotate through three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors on the ceiling change 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 medley. Korbin tried everything, even escargot at the Royal Court. (He said it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they leave markers on your table so you can illustrate a figure. They offer directions on how to draw a figure, then they take the drawings and at the end of your dinner, they animate your drawings on these screens on the wall. You have no warning! They put them to music and position them in Disney clips. My daughter is our artist so she did really well with hers and was thrilled – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished
“Our family cannot thank Service Experts enough for this unbelievable experience,” Rebecca said after they returned from the trip. “I tear up when I think about the experience as a whole. Entering a contest I never thought would go anywhere, hearing we were a finalist, the stressful voting round, the big win, planning and selecting which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing a sensational vacation. It was such a wonderful time living it all. We are forever grateful!”
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