You may remember the charming Hall family who were the winners of our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Finch Air Conditioning & Heating sent the winners on a Disney Cruise and paid for airfare for four. Bradley and Rebecca 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 all the fun we had and how seriously magnificent everything was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a getaway we could have never done on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Halls were nice enough to give us their itinerary and some snapshots from their incredible trip. If you want to a Disney Cruise, or just want to find out what it’s all about, keeping reading for the highlights from the Hall’s cruise.
Monday
We sailed for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then ported 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 loved it. We spotted turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the best experience of the whole cruise!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to snorkel even more, got to swim, and bummed around on the beach. The water was really that turquoise blue that they show on TV – truly picture perfect.
Thursday
We sailed all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Cruise Line Guest-Only Island. The water was incredibly blue and had amazing visibility beneath, 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 and older beach which we enjoyed while Korbin and Brooke played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. They had staff everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Mom and Dad) laid out and had a daiquiri. It was basically a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
It gives me goosebumps thinking about everything on the boat – it was so much fun and amazing! The cruise has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you pick the mystery you want to solve and they give you a card so you can keep track of all your clues. When you put 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 hints and directions. One mystery took us two hours because we were going all over the ship.
They are constantly playing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to enjoy Finding Dory, Big Friendly Giant, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Jungle Book. We also got to go on the Aqua Duct, which is a big slide that shoots you up and down and swings you out over the boat!
We went Goofy Golfing and they also have other games and a Tween Club called Edge with events like scavenger hunts, ice breakers, and more.
It’s really easy to meet characters on the boat – you only have to wait a couple minutes versus 30 or 40 at Disneyland. We got to see about two per day, and one day we met five in a row! They also have multiple versions of the characters, including Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The stateroom was awesome! Ours came with an ocean view room with a HUGE porthole and window seat. Our stateroom was a perfect size and all four of us were comfortable and never felt smothered.
Dining
You alternate 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 extremely elegant and put me in mind of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have a good selection. My oldest 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 sketch a figure. They provide directions on how to draw a figure, then they collect the drawings and at the end of your meal, they animate your drawings on the wall. You have no idea it’s coming! They choreograph them to music and position them in Disney clips. Our daughter is our artist so she did really well with hers and was ecstatic – the rest of us weren’t quite as proud
“We can't thank Service Experts enough for this amazing experience,” Rebecca said after they returned home. “I tear up when I think about the whole experience. Entering a contest I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the nail-biting voting stage, the big reveal, planning and selecting which cruise, the excitement of going and finally experiencing an amazing trip. It was such a wonderful time living it all. We are forever grateful!”
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