Unfrozen Winter Winners Enjoy Their Disney Cruise

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

Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning sent the Halls on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Rebecca and Bradley (Mom and Dad) took their two oldest youngsters, 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 cannot begin to tell you how much fun we had and how seriously amazing the whole experience was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a vacation we could have never done on our own. Disney does cruising right!” 

The Hall parents were nice enough to send us their itinerary and some pictures from their awesome 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 experience. 

Monday

We were on the ship for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then docked in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We had reservations for a Catamaran and went out with four different families all day. It was Korbin and Brooke’s first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We spotted turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the coolest experience of the entire cruise! 

Tuesday

We sailed from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to do more snorkeling, swam, and hung out on the beach. The water was actually that turquoise blue you always see in pictures – truly picture perfect. 

 

Thursday

We sailed all day Wednesday and then ported at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Exclusive Island. The water was so blue and had amazing visibility below, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They placed a bunch of Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which was nice because there weren’t as many fish. They also have an 18+ beach which we took advantage of while Korbin and Brooke played with other kids. They had employees everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) laid out and had a daiquiri. It was basically a floating Disneyland! 

Aboard

I (Rebecca) get goosebumps remembering everything on the cruise ship – it was all so fun and amazing! 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 keep track of all your clues. When you hold the card up to a painting, the painting comes to life – it talks to you, tells you about the mystery you are working to solve, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery went on for two hours because we were running all over the boat. 

They are always playing first-run movies out near the pool so we got to enjoy Jungle Book. We also got to ride the Aqua Duct, which is a huge slide that takes you up and down and swings you out across the boat! 

We went Goofy Golfing and Disney Cruises also have games like basketball, fooseball, and a Tween Club called Edge with events like scavenger hunts, ice breakers, and more. 

It’s so easy to find characters on the boat – you only have to wait a few minutes versus 30 or 40 at Disneyland. We met about two a day, and one day we hit five in a row! They also have different 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. Our provinceroom was a perfect size and all four of us were comfortable and never felt smothered. 

Dining

You rotate through three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors change on the ceiling throughout your meal and Royal Court was extremely elegant and put me in mind of Cinderella. The meals are very gourmet and they have a great medley. Korbin tried everything, even the escargot at the Royal Court. (He said 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 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 idea it’s coming! They choreograph them to music and put them in Disney clips. My daughter is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was ecstatic – the rest of us weren’t quite as proud 

“We cannot thank Service Experts enough for this incredible vacation,” Rebecca said after they returned from their cruise. “I tear up when I think about it all. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, hearing we were a finalist, the stressful voting phase, the big announcement, reading about and picking which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing an incredible 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!