You may remember the cute Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Stevenson Service Experts 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. Korbin and Brooke had never been on a cruise before and Rebecca and Bradley hadn’t been in about 10 years.
“I can’t even begin to explain all the fun we had and how truly magnificent everything 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 incredible 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 trip.
Monday
We were on the water for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We booked a Catamaran and went out with a few other families all day. It was my children’s first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We got to see turtles and stingrays – it was probably the coolest experience of the entire cruise!
Tuesday
We went from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to snorkel even more, swam, and bummed around on the beach. The water was really that turquoise blue you always see in pictures – truly beautiful.
Thursday
We sailed all day Wednesday and then ported at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Cruise Line Guest-Only Island. The water was very blue and had clear visibility underneath, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They had hidden Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which made up for not having as many fish. They also have an adults-only beach which we took advantage of while the kids played games. Castaway Cay had employees everywhere to watch the kids so we (Mom and Dad) hung 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 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, it comes alive – it speaks to the group, tells you about the mystery you are solving, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were going all over the cruise ship.
They are continually running 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 huge 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 basketball, fooseball, 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 ship – 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 hit five in a row! They also have several versions of the characters, such as Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The room was amazing! Ours included an ocean view room with a
really big porthole and window seat. The room was a perfect size and all four of us were comfy and never felt smushed.
Dining
You rotate through three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has awesome flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors on the ceiling change while you eat and Royal Court was extremely elegant and put me in mind of Cinderella. The menu is very gourmet and they have an awesome 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 sketch a figure. They give you instructions on how to draw a figure, then they pick up the drawings and at the end of your dinner, they animate your drawings on the wall. You have no warning! They put them to music and place them in Disney clips. Our daughter is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was so excited – the rest of us weren’t quite as talented
“Our family can’t thank Service Experts enough for this unbelievable trip,” Rebecca wrote after they returned from their cruise. “I get teary-eyed when I think about it all. Submitting an entry I never thought would go anywhere, hearing we were a finalist, the anxious voting phase, the big announcement, reading about and choosing which cruise, the excitement of going and finally experiencing an amazing vacation. It was such an amazing time living it all. We are forever grateful!”
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