You may recall the adorable Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Rolf Griffin Service Experts sent the winners on a Disney Cruise and paid for airfare for four. Mom and Dad (Rebecca and Bradley) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise earlier this summer. This was the first cruise for Korbin and Brooke and the first in about 10 years for Rebecca and Bradley.
“I can’t even begin to describe all the fun we had and how absolutely amazing the whole thing was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a getaway 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 want to find out what it’s all about, keeping reading for the highlights from the Hall’s trip.
Monday
We were on the water for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then ported in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We scheduled 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 saw turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the best experience of the whole cruise!
Tuesday
We went from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to do more snorkeling, got to swim, and laid out on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that you see in movies – truly incredible.
Thursday
We traveled all day Wednesday and then ported at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was incredibly blue and had clear visibility underneath, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which was nice because there weren’t as many fish. They also include an 18 and older beach which we lounged around on while Korbin and Brooke played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. Castaway Cay had staff everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) relaxed and enjoyed a daiquiri. It was just like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
We get goosebumps thinking about everything on the boat – it was all so fun and unforgettable! Disney Cruise Line has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select 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 alive – it speaks to you, tells you about the mystery you are solving, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were running all over the cruise ship.
They are continually running 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 ride the Aqua Duct, which is a big slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out across the boat!
We went Goofy Golfing and they also have other games and a Tween Club called Edge with activities like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more.
It’s so easy to find characters on the ship – you only have to wait three or four minutes versus 30 minutes or more at Disneyland. We met about two a 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 incredible! We had an ocean view room with a large porthole and window seat. The room was a really good size and all four of us were cozy and never felt smushed.
Dining
You go between three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has neat flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the ceiling changes colors while you eat and Royal Court was very elegant and reminded me of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have an awesome medley. My son tried everything, including escargot at the Royal Court. (He told us it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they give you markers on your table so you can sketch a figure. They give you a tutorial on how to draw a figure, then they take 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 arrange them to music and place them in Disney movies. My daughter is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was so excited – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished
“Our family can’t thank Service Experts enough for this unbelievable experience,” Rebecca told us after they returned from the trip. “I get emotional 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 nail-biting voting stage, the big reveal, reading about and picking which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing an unbelievable trip. It was such an amazing time living it all. Thank you, thank you!”
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