Unfrozen Winter Winners Enjoy Their Disney Cruise

You might recall the precious Hall family who were the winners of our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. They won by submitting this precious snowman photo: 

A1 Chesney Service Experts sent the family on a Disney Cruise and paid for airfare for four. Mom and Dad (Rebecca and Bradley) took their two oldest youngsters, 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 all the fun we had and how seriously magnificent the whole experience was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a trip we could have never made happen on our own. Disney does cruising right!” 

The Halls were sweet enough to send over their itinerary and some photos from their incredible trip. If you want to a Disney Cruise, or just curious what it’s all about, check out the highlights from the Hall’s cruise. 

Monday

We sailed for two days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We reserved a Catamaran and went out with four different families all day. It was my kids’ first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We saw turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the most fun experience of the entire trip! 

Tuesday

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

 

Thursday

We were on the ship all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Cruise Line Guest-Only Island. The water was incredibly blue and had clear visibility below, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They had hidden Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which was nice because there weren’t as many fish. They also had an 18 and older beach which we enjoyed while the kids played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. The island had employees everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Bradley and Rebecca) laid out and drank a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland! 

Aboard

It gives me goosebumps remembering everything on the boat – everything was all so fun and amazing! They have a “Midship Detective Agency” where you select the mystery you want to solve and Disney gives you a card so you can keep track of all your clues. When you hold the card up to a painting, it comes to life – it speaks to the group, tells you about the mystery you are solving, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery took us two hours because we were running all over the cruise ship. 

They are always 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 large slide that shoots you up and down and swings you out above the boat! 

We went Goofy Golfing and Disney Cruises also have other games and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more. 

It’s very easy to see characters on the boat – you only have to wait a few minutes versus a half-hour or more at Disneyland. We saw about two each day, and one day we met five in a row! They also have multiple versions of the characters, such as Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc. 

The actual room was incredible! Ours included an ocean view room with a large porthole and window seat. Our provinceroom 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 cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the colors change on the ceiling during your meal and Royal Court was extremely elegant and reminded me of Cinderella. The meals are very gourmet and they have a good variety. Korbin tried everything, even the 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 sketch a figure. They give you a tutorial on how to draw a figure, then they pick up the drawings and at the very end of dinner, they animate your drawings on these screens on the wall. You have no idea it’s coming! They choreograph them to music and position them in Disney films. Our daughter is our artist so she did really well with hers and was ecstatic – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished 

“Our family cannot thank Service Experts enough for this incredible trip,” 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, learning we were a finalist, the nail-biting voting round, the big win, 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. We are so grateful!” 

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