You may remember the cute Hall family who were the winners of our Unfrozen Winter contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission!
Komfort Air sent the winners on a Disney Cruise and paid for airfare for four. Mom and Dad (Rebecca and Bradley) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise during mid-summer. Korbin and Brooke had never been on a cruise before and Rebecca and Bradley hadn’t been in about 10 years.
“I can’t even begin to explain the amount of fun we had and how seriously incredible 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 sweet enough to give us their itinerary and some snapshots from their awesome trip. If you want to a Disney Cruise, or just want to find out what it’s all about, read on to see the highlights from the Hall’s experience.
Monday
We sailed for two 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 for several hours. It was my kids’ first time snorkeling and they were in heaven. We got to see turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the most fun experience of the whole cruise!
Tuesday
We went from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we were able to snorkel some more, swam, and bummed around on the beach. The water was truly that turquoise blue that they show on TV – truly picture perfect.
Thursday
We were on the ship all day Wednesday and then docked at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Exclusive Island. The water was incredibly blue and had amazing visibility below, so of course we had to do more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could look for 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 with other kids. Castaway Cay had employees everywhere to keep an eye on the kids so we (Bradley and Rebecca) hung out and had a daiquiri. It was basically a floating Disneyland!
Aboard
We get goosebumps thinking about everything on the ship – everything was all so fun and amazing! 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 hold the card up to a painting, the painting springs to life – it talks to the group, tells you about the mystery you are solving, and gives you hints and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were going all over the cruise ship.
They are always showing first-run movies out near 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 huge slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out across the boat!
The whole group went Goofy Golfing and the cruise also has other games and a Tween Club called Edge with activities like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more.
It’s really easy to meet characters on the ship – you only have to wait a few minutes versus 30 or 40 at Disneyland. We met about two each day, and one day we got five in a row! They also have multiple versions of the characters, including Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc.
The actual room was amazing! Ours came with an ocean view room with a HUGE porthole and window seat. The room was a really good size and all four of us were cozy 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 ceiling changes colors while you eat and Royal Court was very elegant and reminded me of Cinderella. The meals are very gourmet and they have an awesome variety. My oldest tried everything, including 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 draw a figure. They offer directions 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. You have no warning! They choreograph them to music and position them in Disney movies. Brooke is our artist so she worked really hard on hers and was ecstatic – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished
“We can't thank Service Experts enough for this once in a lifetime experience,” Rebecca wrote after they returned from their cruise. “I get emotional when I think about the whole experience. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the stressful voting stage, the big win, researching and choosing which cruise, the elation of going and finally experiencing an incredible vacation. It was such a fun time living it all. We are forever grateful!”
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