You might recall the cute Hall family who were the winners of our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
A-PLUS Service Experts sent the winners on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Mom and Dad (Rebecca and Bradley) 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 can’t begin to explain how much fun we had and how absolutely incredible the whole thing was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a getaway we could have never taken on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Halls were kind enough to show us their itinerary and some pictures from their awesome trip. If you’re thinking about going on a Disney Cruise, or just looking to see what it’s all about, check out the highlights from the Hall’s cruise.
Monday
We were on the ship for a couple days (Saturday and Sunday) and then docked in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We reserved a Catamaran and went out with a few other families all day. It was my kids’ first time snorkeling and they loved it. We got to see turtles and stingrays – it was probably the best experience of the whole trip!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to do more snorkeling, swam, and laid out on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that they show on TV – truly incredible.
Thursday
We sailed all day Wednesday and then got off at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was so blue and had perfect visibility underneath, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They placed a bunch of Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which made up for not having as many fish. They also have an 18 and older beach which we took advantage of while Korbin and Brooke played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. They had people everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Mom and Dad) hung out and enjoyed a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
It gives me goosebumps thinking about everything on the ship – everything was so much fun and amazing! The cruise has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select the mystery you want to solve and Disney gives you a card so you can record all your clues. When you put the card up to a painting, the painting comes alive – it speaks to you, tells you about the mystery you are trying to solve, and gives you signals and directions. One mystery took us two hours because we were going all over the cruise ship.
They are always showing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to see 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 large slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out across the boat!
We went Goofy Golfing and the cruise also has games like basketball, fooseball, and a Tween Club called Edge with events like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more.
It’s very easy to meet characters on the boat – you only have to wait three or four minutes versus 30 minutes or more at Disneyland. We got to see about two per day, and one day we got five in a row! They also have different versions of the characters, like Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The room was incredible! Ours included 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 squished.
Dining
You rotate through 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 really elegant and reminded me of Cinderella. The meals are very gourmet and they have a good selection. My son tried everything, even escargot at the Royal Court. (He told us it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they leave markers on your table so you can draw a figure. They provide a tutorial on how to draw a figure, then they collect the drawings and at the end of your dinner, they animate your drawings on the wall. You have no idea it’s coming! They choreograph them to music and place them in Disney movies. Our daughter is our artist so she put a lot of effort into hers and was thrilled – the rest of us weren’t quite as accomplished
“Our family cannot thank Service Experts enough for this amazing opportunity,” Rebecca said after they returned from the trip. “I get emotional when I think about the experience as a whole. Entering a contest I never thought would go anywhere, finding out we were a finalist, the nail-biting voting round, the big reveal, reading about and picking which cruise, the elation of going and finally experiencing a sensational trip. It was such an amazing time living it all. We are forever grateful!”
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