You may remember the precious Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning sent the family on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Bradley and Rebecca took their two oldest kids, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise during mid-summer. This was the first cruise for Korbin and Brooke and the first in about 10 years for Rebecca and Bradley.
“I can’t begin to tell you the amount of fun we had and how seriously amazing everything was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a vacation we could have never made happen on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Hall family was sweet enough to send over their itinerary and some photos from their amazing 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 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 all day. It was my kids’ first time snorkeling and they had a blast. We spotted turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the best experience of the whole trip!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we were able to snorkel some more, got to swim, and laid out on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that you see in movies – truly picture perfect.
Thursday
We sailed all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Exclusive Island. The water was incredibly blue and had perfect visibility underneath, so of course we had to do 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 our children played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. Castaway Cay had employees everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Bradley and Rebecca) hung out and drank a daiquiri. It was basically a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
We get goosebumps thinking about everything on the cruise ship – everything was so much fun and amazing! Disney Cruise Line has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select the mystery you want to solve and Disney gives you a card so you can keep track of all your clues. When you put the card up to a painting, it actually springs to life – it speaks to the group, tells you about the mystery you are solving, and gives you clues and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were running all over the ship.
They are continually showing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to enjoy Alice Through the Looking Glass, Jungle Book, and Big Friendly Giant. We also got to go on the Aqua Duct, which is a big slide that takes you up and down and swings you out over the boat!
The whole group went Goofy Golfing and Disney Cruises also have other games and a Tween Club called Edge with activities like scavenger hunts, ice breakers, and more.
It’s so easy to meet characters on the ship – you only have to wait a couple minutes versus 30 minutes or more at Disneyland. We met about two each day, and one day we got five in a row! They also have several versions of the characters, including Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The room was awesome! Ours included an ocean view room with a large porthole and window seat. Our room was a really great size and all four of us were comfortable and never felt squished.
Dining
You rotate through three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has neat 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 reminded me of Cinderella. The meals are very gourmet and they have a good medley. Korbin tried everything, even the 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 a tutorial on how to draw a figure, then they collect the drawings and at the end of your meal, they animate your drawings on big screens. You have no warning! They choreograph them to music and position them in Disney films. Our daughter is our artist so she put a lot of effort into hers and was ecstatic – the rest of us weren’t quite as talented
“We can't thank Service Experts enough for this amazing experience,” Rebecca told us after they returned home. “I tear up when I think about the whole experience. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the anxious voting phase, the big announcement, researching and choosing which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing a sensational adventure. It was such a wonderful time living it all. Thank you, thank you!”
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