You might recall the adorable Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year by submitting a picture of their creative snowman. Check it out!
Pardee Service Experts sent the family on a Disney Cruise and covered airfare for four. Rebecca and Bradley (Mom and Dad) took their two oldest kids, 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 explain how much fun we had and how truly unbelievable everything was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a trip we could have never done on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Hall parents were kind enough to send over their itinerary and some pictures from their incredible trip. If you want to 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 sailed for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We had reservations for a Catamaran and went out with four different families for the day. It was my children’s first time snorkeling and they had a blast. We got to see turtles and stingrays – it was probably the best experience of the entire cruise!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to snorkel even more, swam, and hung 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 got off at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was incredibly blue and had clear visibility below, so of course - 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 lounged around on while Korbin and Brooke played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. They had staff everywhere to watch the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) laid out and had a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
We get goosebumps remembering everything on the cruise ship – it was all so fun and unforgettable! The cruise 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 put the card up to a painting, it actually springs to life – it speaks to you, tells you about the mystery you are trying to solve, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were going all over the ship.
They are continually running first-run movies out by the pool so we got to watch Finding Dory, Big Friendly Giant, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Jungle Book. We also got to experience the Aqua Duct, which is a huge slide that shoots you up and down and swings you out across the boat!
All of us 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 cruise – you only have to wait a few minutes versus 30 or 40 at Disneyland. We saw about two per 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. Our room was a perfect size and all four of us were comfortable and never felt smushed.
Dining
You alternate 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 extremely elegant and made me think of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have a good selection. Korbin tried everything, even escargot at the Royal Court. (He thought it tasted like dirt!)
Animators Palette is animation-themed and they put markers on your table so you can illustrate a figure. They provide directions on how to draw a figure, then they pick up the drawings and at the very end of dinner, they animate your drawings on the wall. You have no warning! They put them to music and position them in Disney clips. Brooke is our artist so she put a lot of effort into hers and was ecstatic – the rest of us weren’t quite as accomplished
“Our family can’t thank Service Experts enough for this incredible opportunity,” Rebecca said after they returned home. “I get emotional when I think about it all. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the nail-biting voting phase, the big reveal, reading about and selecting which cruise, the excitement of going and finally experiencing an unbelievable trip. It was such a wonderful time living it all. Thank you, thank you!”
Like Service Experts on Facebook to watch for our next great contest!