Unfrozen Winter Winners Enjoy Their Disney Cruise

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

Fras-Air/General Service Experts sent the family on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Mom and Dad (Rebecca and Bradley) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise in July this year. Korbin and Brooke had never been on a cruise before and Rebecca and Bradley hadn’t been in about 10 years. 

“I cannot begin to tell you how much fun we had and how seriously amazing everything was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a getaway we could have never taken on our own. Disney does cruising right!” 

The Hall family was kind enough to send over their itinerary and some pictures from their awesome trip. If you want to a Disney Cruise, or just want to find out what it’s all about, keeping reading for the highlights from the Hall’s experience. 

Monday

We sailed for two days (Saturday and Sunday) and then ported in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We booked a Catamaran and went out with four different families all day. It was Korbin and Brooke’s first time snorkeling and they loved it. We got to see turtles and stingrays – it was probably 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 picture perfect. 

 

Thursday

We sailed all day Wednesday and then ported at Castaway Cay, Disney’s Private Island. The water was very blue and had clear visibility below, so of course - more snorkeling! They had hidden Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which made up for not having as many fish. They also include an adults-only beach which we took advantage of while the kids played basketball, pool, and shuffleboard. Castaway Cay had staff 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 thinking about everything on the ship – it was all so fun and amazing! The cruise has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you choose the mystery you want to solve and the cruise gives you a card so you can record all your clues. When you hold the card up to a painting, it springs to life – it talks to you, tells you about the mystery you are trying to solve, and gives you clues and directions. One mystery lasted two hours because we were running all over the boat. 

They are always playing first-run movies out around the pool so we got to see Big Friendly Giant, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Jungle Book, and Finding Dory. We also got to go on the Aqua Duct, which is a big slide that shoots you up and down and swings you out over the boat! 

All of us went Goofy Golfing and the cruise also has games like foosball, basketball, and a Tween Club called Edge with events like scavenger hunts, get to you know you games, and more. 

It’s so easy to find characters on the boat – you only have to wait three or four minutes versus 30 or 40 at Disneyland. We met 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 room was amazing! We had 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 comfortable and never felt squished. 

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 during your meal and Royal Court was very elegant and made me think of Cinderella. The food is very gourmet and they have an awesome variety. Korbin 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 give you 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 idea it’s coming! They put them to music and put them in Disney movies. My daughter is our artist so she did really well with hers and was thrilled – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished 

“We can’t thank Service Experts enough for this once in a lifetime vacation,” Rebecca wrote after they returned from their cruise. “I tear up when I think about the experience as a whole. Submitting an entry I never thought would go anywhere, learning we were a finalist, the nail-biting voting round, the big announcement, planning and picking which cruise, the elation of going and finally experiencing an amazing vacation. It was such a fun time living it all. Thank you, thank you!” 

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