Unfrozen Winter Winners Enjoy Their Disney Cruise

You may remember the charming Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year by submitting a picture of their creative snowman. Check it out! 

Roland J. Down Service Experts sent the winners on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Mom and Dad (Rebecca and Bradley) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise in July this year. This was the first cruise for Korbin and Brooke and the first in about 10 years for Rebecca and Bradley. 

“I can’t begin to tell you all the fun we had and how seriously unbelievable everything was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a vacation we could have never done on our own. Disney does cruising right!” 

The Halls were kind enough to send over their itinerary and some pictures from their awesome 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 experience. 

Monday

We were on the ship for two days (Saturday and Sunday) and then ported in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We booked a Catamaran and went out with 4 other families all day. It was Korbin and Brooke’s first time snorkeling and they had a blast. We spotted turtles and stingrays – it may have been the most fun experience of the entire trip! 

Tuesday

We traveled from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to do more snorkeling, went swimming, and bummed around on the beach. The water was really that turquoise blue that you see in movies – truly picture perfect. 

 

Thursday

We sailed all day Wednesday and then ported at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was very blue and had clear visibility below, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could look 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 basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. The island had employees everywhere to watch the kids so we (Bradley and Rebecca) relaxed and enjoyed a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland! 

Aboard

I (Rebecca) get goosebumps thinking about everything on the ship – it was all so fun and extraordinary! They have a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select the mystery you want to solve and they give you a card so you can record all your clues. When you hold the card up to a painting, it comes to life – it talks to you, tells you about the mystery you are solving, and gives you clues and directions. One mystery took us two hours because we were running all over the cruise ship. 

They are always playing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to see 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 huge slide that shoots you up and down and swings you out over the boat! 

The whole group went Goofy Golfing and they also have other games and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger hunts, ice breakers, and more. 

It’s really easy to see characters on the ship – you only have to wait three or four minutes versus a half-hour or more at Disneyland. We got to see about two each day, and one day we hit five in a row! They also have several versions of the characters, like Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc. 

The room was amazing! We had an ocean view room with a really big porthole and window seat. The room was a really good size and all four of us were comfortable and never felt squished. 

Dining

You alternate three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors change on the ceiling during your meal and Royal Court was very elegant and made me think of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have a good variety. Korbin tried everything, including escargot at the Royal Court. (He thought it tasted like dirt!) 

Animators Palette is animation-themed and they leave 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 dinner, they animate your drawings on these screens on the wall. You have no warning! They put them to music and put 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 polished 

“We can’t thank Service Experts enough for this once in a lifetime vacation,” Rebecca wrote after they returned from their cruise. “I tear up when I think about the experience as a whole. Submitting an entry I never thought would go anywhere, finding out we were a finalist, the anxious voting stage, the big reveal, planning and selecting which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing an amazing vacation. It was such a fun time living it all. We are forever grateful!” 

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