Unfrozen Winter Winners Enjoy Their Disney Cruise

You may remember the cute Hall family who won our Unfrozen Winner contest earlier this year. Check out their adorable snowman submission! 

Rob's Albertan Service Experts sent the winners on a Disney Cruise and provided airfare for four. Rebecca and Bradley (Mom and Dad) took their two oldest children, Korbin and Brooke, on their Disney Cruise earlier this summer. This was Korbin and Brooke’s first cruise and Rebecca and Bradley had not been on a cruise in nearly 10 years. 

“I can’t even begin to tell you all the fun we had and how absolutely amazing the whole thing was,” wrote Rebecca. “It was a vacation we could have never taken on our own. Disney does cruising right!” 

The Hall parents were kind enough to give us their itinerary and some photos from their awesome trip. If you want to 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 water for a couple days (Saturday and Sunday) and then landed in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. We reserved a Catamaran and went out with four different families for several hours. It was my children’s first time snorkeling and they had a blast. We got to see turtles and stingrays – it was quite possibly the best experience of the whole trip! 

Tuesday

We traveled from Tortola to St. Thomas in the American Virgin Islands, where we got to snorkel even more, got to swim, and hung out on the beach. The water was actually 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 Private Island. The water was very blue and had perfect visibility below, so of course that meant more snorkeling! They hid Mickey Mouses you could find underwater, which helped make up for the fact there weren’t as many fish. They also had an 18 and older beach which we enjoyed while our children played with other kids. Castaway Cay had staff everywhere to help take care of the kids so we (Rebecca and Bradley) laid out and drank a daiquiri. It’s like a floating Disneyland! 

Aboard

We get goosebumps reminiscing about everything on the ship – everything was all so fun and unforgettable! The cruise has a “Midship Detective Agency” where you pick the mystery you want to solve and the cruise gives you a card so you can record all your clues. When you put the card up to a painting, it actually comes to life – it talks to the group, tells you about the mystery you are working to solve, and gives you signals and directions. One mystery went on for two hours because we were chasing clues all over the ship. 

They are constantly playing first-run movies out by the pool so we got to watch 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 large slide that zooms you up and down and swings you out across the boat! 

All of us went Goofy Golfing and the cruise also has other games and a Tween Club called Edge with things like scavenger hunts, ice breakers, and more. 

It’s very easy to find characters on the cruise – you only have to wait a few minutes versus 30 or 40 at Disneyland. We got to see about two per day, and one day we hit five in a row! They also have different versions of the characters, such as Captain Mickey, Traditional Mickey, etc. 

The actual room was incredible! 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 smothered. 

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 extremely elegant and made me think of Cinderella. The meals are very gourmet and they have a good selection. My oldest tried everything, including escargot at the Royal Court. (He said it tasted like dirt!) 

Animators Palette is animation-themed and they put markers on your table so you can sketch a figure. They give you directions on how to draw a figure, then they pick up the drawings and at the very end of dinner, they animate your drawings on the wall. It’s completely unexpected! They choreograph them to music and position them in Disney clips. Our daughter is our artist so she did really well with hers and was so excited – the rest of us weren’t quite as polished 

“Our family can’t thank Service Experts enough for this unbelievable vacation,” Rebecca wrote after they returned from their cruise. “I get teary-eyed when I think about the whole experience. Submitting our picture to a contest I never thought would go anywhere, hearing we were a finalist, the anxious voting round, the big reveal, researching and selecting which cruise, the anticipation of going and finally experiencing an incredible trip. It was such an amazing time living it all. Thank you, thank you!” 

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