You might remember the adorable Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Broad Ripple Service Experts sent the family on a Disney Cruise and covered airfare for four. Rebecca and Bradley (Mom and Dad) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise in July this year. This was Korbin and Brooke’s first cruise and Rebecca and Bradley had not been on a cruise in nearly 10 years.
“I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of fun we had and how truly magnificent the whole experience was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a getaway we could have never done on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Halls were nice enough to give us their itinerary and some pictures from their amazing trip. If you’re thinking about going on a Disney Cruise, or just curious what it’s all about, check out the highlights from the Hall’s trip.
Monday
We sailed for two days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We booked a Catamaran and went out with a few other families for the day. It was my son and daughter’s first time snorkeling and they had a blast. We spotted turtles and stingrays – it was probably the coolest experience of the whole trip!
Tuesday
We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we were able to snorkel some more, swam, and laid out on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that you see in movies – truly perfect.
Thursday
We traveled all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Cruise Line Guest-Only Island. The water was incredibly blue and had perfect visibility underneath, 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 had an adults-only beach which we enjoyed while our children played games. They had staff everywhere to keep an eye on the kids so we (Mom and Dad) relaxed and enjoyed a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
We get goosebumps remembering everything on the cruise ship – everything was so much fun and extraordinary! The cruise has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select the mystery you want to solve and they give you a card so you can keep track of all your clues. When you place the card up to a painting, it actually springs to life – it talks to the group, tells you about the mystery you are trying to solve, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were chasing clues all over the cruise ship.
They are continually playing first-run movies out near the pool so we got to see Finding Dory, Big Friendly Giant, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Jungle Book. We also got to go on the Aqua Duct, which is a big slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out over the boat!
We went Goofy Golfing and Disney Cruises also have other games and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger hunts, ice breakers, and more.
It’s so easy to see characters on the cruise – you only have to wait a couple minutes versus 30 minutes or more at Disneyland. We saw about two a day, and one day we met five in a row! They also have multiple versions of the characters, like Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The actual room was incredible! Ours included 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 comfy and never felt squished.
Dining
You go between three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors on the ceiling change during your meal and Royal Court was really elegant and made me think of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have a good variety. My son tried everything, including 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 draw a figure. They provide directions 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 warning! They put them to music and put them in Disney films. Brooke is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was thrilled – the rest of us weren’t quite as accomplished
“We cannot thank Service Experts enough for this amazing vacation,” Rebecca told us after they returned home. “I get teary-eyed 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 stressful voting stage, the big reveal, planning and selecting which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing an amazing adventure. 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!