You might remember the charming Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
San Antonio Air Service Experts sent the Halls on a Disney Cruise and covered airfare for four. Bradley and Rebecca took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise during mid-summer. This was the first cruise for Korbin and Brooke and the first in about 10 years for Rebecca and Bradley.
“I can’t even begin to describe how much fun we had and how absolutely magnificent everything was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a trip we could have never made happen on our own. Disney does cruising right!”
The Hall parents were kind enough to give us their itinerary and some pictures from their incredible trip. If you want to a Disney Cruise, or just looking to see what it’s all about, read on to see the highlights from the Hall’s trip.
Monday
We were on the ship for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday) and then ported in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We scheduled a Catamaran and went out with a few other families for several hours. It was my son and daughter’s first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We saw turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the best 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, got to swim, and hung out on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that they show on TV – truly incredible.
Thursday
We were on the ship all day Wednesday and then got off at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was so blue and had amazing visibility underneath, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They placed a bunch of Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which helped make up for the fact there weren’t as many fish. They also had an 18+ beach which we enjoyed while the kids played with other kids. The island had employees everywhere to watch the kids so we (Bradley and Rebecca) relaxed and had a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
It gives me goosebumps reminiscing about everything on the boat – it was all so fun and amazing! Disney Cruise Line has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you choose the mystery you want to solve and they give you a card so you can write down 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 solving, and gives you clues and directions. One mystery went on for two hours because we were running all over the boat.
They are continually running first-run movies out around the pool so we got to watch 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 over the boat!
All of us went Goofy Golfing and Disney Cruises also have games like basketball, fooseball, and a Tween Club called Edge with activities like scavenger hunts and more.
It’s so easy to find characters on the cruise – you only have to wait three or four minutes versus a half-hour or more at Disneyland. We met about two each day, and one day we got five in a row! They also have different versions of the characters, including Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The actual room was awesome! We had an ocean view room with a
really big porthole and window seat. The stateroom was a perfect size and all four of us were cozy and never felt squished.
Dining
You alternate three restaurants. Enchanted Garden has cool flower lights on the ceiling that open and close and the ceiling changes colors throughout your meal and Royal Court was extremely elegant and put me in mind of Cinderella. The menu is very gourmet and they have a great variety. My son tried everything, even escargot at the Royal Court. (He told us 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 collect the drawings and at the end of your meal, they animate your drawings on big screens. It’s completely unexpected! They put them to music and put them in Disney films. Our daughter is our artist so she did really well with hers and was so excited – the rest of us weren’t quite as talented
“Our family can’t thank Service Experts enough for this incredible experience,” Rebecca told us after they returned from the trip. “I get emotional when I think about the whole experience. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, finding out we were a finalist, the anxious voting round, the big announcement, planning and picking which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing an amazing trip. It was such a fun time living it all. Thank you, thank you!”
Like Service Experts on Facebook to watch for our next great contest!