You may remember the sweet Hall family who were the winners of our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Wesley Wood Service Experts sent the winners on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Rebecca and Bradley (Mom and Dad) took their two oldest kids, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise during mid-summer. This was Korbin and Brooke’s first cruise and Rebecca and Bradley had not been on a cruise in nearly 10 years.
“I cannot begin to tell you how much fun we had and how absolutely wonderful the whole experience 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 show us 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, read on to see the highlights from the Hall’s trip.
Monday
We were on the water for a couple days (Saturday and Sunday) and then ported in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We had reservations for a Catamaran and went out with 4 other families all day. It was my children’s first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We saw turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the best experience of the entire trip!
Tuesday
We traveled from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we were able to snorkel some more, swam, and bummed around on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that you see in movies – truly picture perfect.
Thursday
We were on the ship all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was very blue and had perfect visibility underneath, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could hunt for underwater, which made up for not having as many fish. They also had an 18+ beach which we took advantage of while the kids played with other kids. Castaway Cay had staff everywhere to watch the kids so we (Mom and Dad) laid out and enjoyed a daiquiri. It was just like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
It gives me goosebumps thinking about everything on the ship – everything was so much fun and unforgettable! 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 write down all your clues. When you put the card up to a painting, the painting comes to life – it talks to you, tells you about the mystery you are solving, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery took us two hours because we were running all over the ship.
They are always running first-run movies out near 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 big slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out above the boat!
The whole group went Goofy Golfing and Disney Cruises also have games like foosball, basketball, and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more.
It’s very easy to find characters on the cruise – you only have to wait a couple minutes versus 30 minutes or more at Disneyland. We met about two a day, and one day we got five in a row! They also have different 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. The room was a really great size and all four of us were comfy and never felt squished.
Dining
You go between three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the ceiling changes colors during your meal and Royal Court was very elegant and reminded me of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have a great variety. Korbin tried everything, including escargot at the Royal Court. (He said it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they give you markers on your table so you can draw 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 these screens on the wall. You have no idea it’s coming! They choreograph them to music and place them in Disney films. Our daughter is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was elated – the rest of us weren’t quite as talented
“We can't thank Service Experts enough for this once in a lifetime trip,” Rebecca wrote after they returned from the trip. “I tear up when I think about it all. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, finding out we were a finalist, the stressful voting stage, the big announcement, reading about and choosing which cruise, the excitement of going and finally experiencing an unbelievable vacation. It was such a wonderful time living it all. We are so grateful!”
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