You may recall the charming Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year by submitting a picture of their creative snowman. Check it out!
Jack Nelson Service Experts sent the family on a Disney Cruise and paid for airfare for four. Bradley and Rebecca took their two oldest kids, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise earlier this 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 tell you the amount of fun we had and how truly unbelievable the whole thing was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a trip we could have never taken on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Hall parents were nice enough to give us their itinerary and some photos from their incredible trip. If you’re thinking about going on a Disney Cruise, or just curious what it’s all about, keeping reading for the highlights from the Hall’s trip.
Monday
We were on the water for two days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We booked a Catamaran and went out with four different families all day. It was my son and daughter’s first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We got to see turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the best experience of the entire cruise!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we were able to snorkel some more, went swimming, and laid out on the beach. The water was really that turquoise blue that you see in movies – truly perfect.
Thursday
We were on the ship all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was so blue and had perfect visibility below, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They had hidden Mickey Mouses you could hunt for underwater, which made up for not having as many fish. They also have an adults-only beach which we took advantage of while our children played with other kids. Castaway Cay had people everywhere to keep an eye on the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) hung out and drank a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
I (Rebecca) get goosebumps thinking about everything on the cruise ship – it 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 record all your clues. When you place the card up to a painting, it comes alive – it talks to you, tells you about the mystery you are trying to solve, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery took us two hours because we were chasing clues all over the cruise ship.
They are continually playing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to watch Alice Through the Looking Glass, Jungle Book, and Big Friendly Giant. We also got to experience the Aqua Duct, which is a large slide that shoots you up and down and swings you out above the boat!
The whole group went Goofy Golfing and they also have games like foosball, basketball, and a Tween Club called Edge with events like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more.
It’s so easy to meet characters on the ship – you only have to wait a couple minutes versus 30 or 40 at Disneyland. We got to see about two a day, and one day we hit five in a row! They also have several versions of the characters, including Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The actual room was incredible! Ours included an ocean view room with a large porthole and window seat. Our room was a perfect size and all four of us were comfy and never felt squished.
Dining
You alternate three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has neat flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors change on the ceiling during your meal and Royal Court was extremely elegant and put me in mind of Cinderella. The menu is very gourmet and they have an awesome variety. My son tried everything, including escargot at the Royal Court. (He said it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they put markers on your table so you can illustrate a figure. They offer instructions on how to draw a figure, then they take the drawings and at the very end of dinner, they animate your drawings on the wall. You have no idea it’s coming! They put them to music and position them in Disney movies. Brooke is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was elated – the rest of us weren’t quite as accomplished
“Our family cannot thank Service Experts enough for this unbelievable experience,” Rebecca told us after they returned from their cruise. “I get teary-eyed when I think about the experience as a whole. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, hearing we were a finalist, the stressful voting stage, the big announcement, reading about and picking which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing an amazing vacation. It was such an amazing time living it all. We are so grateful!”
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