Blog – Dani & The Laulings

Dani & The Laulings do Rocking Horse Ranch During COVID 19

With the COVID 19 situation we were of course unable to travel to Mexico for Spring Break 2020 and were then unable to go on our planned trip to the UK in June after school was done for the year but by then I was itching to get a little bit of a taste of ‘normality’. So, I looked for something local that we could drive to and had an outdoor focus. Rocking Horse Ranch seemed to fit the bill 2.5 hours’ drive away.

We checked in on Father’s Day, 2 days after they re-opened. On arrival at the security hut we had to answer some questions about potential COVID exposure, and we all had our temperature taken. We then drove over to check in and then parked our car back in the lot. All the staff wore masks and there were social distancing stickers to guide where to stand in reception and in the dining areas. Masks were supposedly required inside the lodge (e.g. in the dining room when not at your table, in the hallways, reception and games room) but sadly was not always adhered to. We did not wear masks outside unless there were enough people around that we felt it was sensible to.

It’s worth noting that the resort was supposedly operating at 50% capacity. I’m not sure it would have been as relaxing or we’d got as much done if they were running at full capacity.

Rooms

Most of the rooms are in the main lodge, with different options, the largest sleeping 6 people in two Queen beds and 2 bunks. I opted for the Oklahoma lodge, steps away from the main lodge but much smaller with corridors exposed to the outside air. I selected a junior suite which consisted of an adult sleeping area with a Queen bed and a kid’s area with a bunk bed. The two areas had an archway between them but no door, which didn’t allow for much privacy or for the adults to watch TV while the kids were sleeping as it was too noisy. It did have 2 bathrooms however which was awesome for getting everyone showered each day. The furnishings were well reflected in the pictures on the website. During COVID, housekeeping was on request only. We had no-one over our room so it was quiet other than anyone walking past and talking outside.

Food

For the first two days of our trip all meals were served outside with picnic tables with umbrellas and tables under a large tent available for seating. This was the only time that I felt a bit uncomfortable about the close proximity with others as many did not wear masks in the queue or when being served by the staff. The food was plentiful and pretty good quality for buffet style. Lunch and dinner options included hamburgers, hot dogs, mac and cheese, cornbread, corn on the cob and then a fish and meat option. For lunch there was always wraps (tuna and turkey) and at dinner bread baskets and salads. There were various desserts; apple pie, key lime pie, brownies, cookies and ice cream tubs. Breakfast included French toast, pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and then oatmeal, cereals, pastries and fruit. There was a drink stand (still staff served) and at lunch and dinner a separate small bar area serving wine and beer.

On our last two days food was served in the dining room. Options were the same for breakfast and lunch, but dinner was staff served from a menu accessed from your phone via QR code. The dinner was excellent with much more sophisticated options like shrimp scampi and the soft serve ice cream was a big hit. That said, I felt a bit less comfortable eating inside as despite the socially distanced tables, it was a lot of people in one place.

Activities

The activities for kids is really what was the draw for me. You pick a horse-riding slot when you check-in and that remains your slot for each day of your stay. We had a 10.30 slot (other options were 9 am, 1 pm and 2.30 pm). Kids had to wear provided helmets. You stood in the line that reflected your ability and then were assigned a horse. My littlest Lauling was slightly under 48 inches (the minimum height requirement) but the staff asked if he could follow directions and would be OK on the horse for an hour and when we said we thought he would be, they let him on, so it’s worth a try even if your child is on the smaller side. Luckily he loved it and was fine but I did see some older children crying and asking to come off. The beginner ride is a bit of a slow process, especially because they stop every time a horse needs to poop or pee, but riding through the shady trails in the fresh air was still wonderful, especially given the COVID situation. You can also try to ride standby at other times of the day, although we didn’t attempt that.

One of our favorite activities was the mountain tubing. Similar to snow tubing, you take a tube up a carpet lift and then go down a giant slide. The slide is kept wet with sprinklers but doesn’t get you super wet. It can be super fast and you can go down with two tied together or as a single.

Coming down the mountain tubing

The newly built pool area was fabulous with 2 slides and a big pool which was lovely and warm. We had a bit of a tough time finding a sun lounger on the Monday but not on the Tuesday. The new hot springs pool is small and the area that you swim into inside is tiny. The indoor pool was freezing but very quiet and the boys enjoyed the obstacle course. Each afternoon free drinks and nibbles are served by the pool. The line took a while but the free beer, wine and cocktails had no wait 😉

Other outdoor options are the bungee bouncers which were also a hit. There was often a line however. In the same area was a rock climbing wall. There are peddle boats and kayaks to take out on the lake. The best time to do this is after dinner as you can go all the way to the end of the lake when the banana boat isn’t running (we didn’t try this out). They also had a simple 9 hole mini golf course and they had bamboo fishing rods available. The fish are plentiful and we were able to hook one almost immediately. If you don’t fancy fishing you can ask for some bread at the sports shack to just throw to the fish by the dock. Look out for Jack the black cat who hangs around the fishing area in hope of a fish (he snagged a few!)

Behind the pool is corn hole and ping pong and large checker boards are dotted throughout the facility.

The children’s playground is a decent size and right next to the Oklahoma building. Next to this is the shooting range and archery. Only two families can be in there at a time, but the wait wasn’t long.

There are also a number of animals on site including a camel, zebra, donkeys, goats and cows.

Inside the lodge in the basement there is an arcade with free bowling and a number of video games. There is also a games room with ping pong, Foosball and air hockey (fee for air hockey).

The hotel also put on some kind of show each night, but that started at 8.30 which was a bit late for us. There was also daily activities including games, tours of the stables etc. but we didn’t take part in any of those either.

All in all Rocking Horse Ranch was the perfect outdoor escape for a long week-end or mid-week stay and gave us a little sense of normality in a crazy time.

Dani & The Laulings do Lapland (December 2019)

Spending a day or longer meeting the ‘real’ Santa is a popular package holiday from the UK, and given there’s nothing equivalent from the states, I decided this had to be on the bucket list. At the time my eldest was 9 and on the cusp of believing in Santa, so I felt this was our last chance, although having experienced it I wouldn’t worry about whether your children still believe or not- they will find it magical regardless.

There are several companies in the UK offering packages to Lapland. I originally booked through Santa’s Lapland, a broker for Inghams, on a trip to Saariselka. I picked the resort as it is supposed to have an epic toboggan run and there is a ski resort there too, plus they did a trip straight after Christmas that coincided with when we would be in the UK. Unfortunately for us, Ingham’s cancelled the date in July, leaving me scrambling to find an alternative. The only other option was to go with Transun (booked via Santa Claus trips) as the only other provider that had a trip straight after Christmas.

I was a little apprehensive based on other’s reviews, but the experience far exceeded my expectations, and while it’s pricey for a short break, I would encourage everyone with kids to go at least once in their lifetime.

Pre-planning

If your dates are more flexible, there are several Lapland resorts to pick from. Levi is one of the more commercialized and has a ski resort. As well as Saariselka and Rovaniemi there is Yllas, which also has a ski resort and the opportunity to go to the ice hotel. Where we went was a tiny town called Karesendu in Finland. There’s nothing there except a gas station with a small restaurant and a souvenir shop, but it definitely offered an authentic experience. All the companies provide snow suits (which are basically racing car suits) and boots, but I would recommend taking snow pants for before and after getting the clothing and plenty of thermal layers, fleeces, warm hat and gloves etc. plus hand and foot warmers.

Make sure you remember to go to the Transun website and input the info requested for the Santa visit (kids interests, what you’re proud of, what they want/ got for Christmas, pets in the household).

Flight

The Lapland companies fly from various airports across different dates. The after Christmas trip we took left on Dec 30^th out of Birmingham at 10 am, which was quite reasonable for a charter flight. We got to the check-in line around 7.30 and it was already open (even though the paperwork said it would open at 8). We had to wait around 20 minutes to get to the desk and were all seated together. The airplane was at a remote gate that required us to take a bus. We were loaded on the first bus, only to then be told the plane wasn’t ready and we stood on the packed bus for 15+ minutes before we finally made our way over to the plane.

Other Santa trip reviews talked about elves on the plane singing Christmas carols, but there was none of that on the Polish Enter air flight. On the plus side, we were greeted by some very catchy music, pretty decent leg room and even a hot meal, although the quality wasn’t great. The attendants were grumpy and hard to understand, and you’d better not have any kind of medical emergency on the plane as they will likely leave you to your death! We were on our descent but had been circling for a while, which seemed off given we were flying into Enentekio and would be their only flight of the day. My little guy needed the potty, so we pushed the attendant light to see if it would be possible for him to go given we didn’t seem to be descending. No-one came (thus my comment that if it was a medical emergency you’d be dead), so we got up anyway, and only then were told the potty was locked and we had to go back to our seats. We then got an announcement that there was ‘too much snow to land’ and we would be diverting to Kittala. By some form of miracle, my little guy was able to hold it until we landed 30 minutes later.

We had to wait about an hour for buses to come, and then had a 2 hour drive to the hotel. As soon as we got off the bus, Transun reps had our room numbers, and we could go straight to our rooms where the key was in the door.

Accommodation

There are various options at the Davvi arctic lodge; rooms in the hotel which have the advantage of not needing to go outside to get to the restaurant, cabins in the woods, and the fell house which is apartments for larger groups. We were in a cabin. It’s basic, but homely with a double bed and a sofa bed. The bathroom is one large wet room; not beautiful but functional, and had its own sauna. I had to go online to get instructions as to how to make the sauna work, but figured it out. You can hear noise from the cabin attached, but fortunately our neighbors were early to bed and not early risers, so it wasn’t an issue. I’m sure we were more annoying to them as we were all somewhat still on US time and not going to bed until after midnight.

First night

We were each assigned a dining time; for us it was the first sitting at 8.30 pm (we got to the hotel at 8 pm). We had no issues getting a table (nor at any subsequent meal), and the buffet consisted of soup and rolls, some cold meats/ cheeses and then 3 hot dishes; typically something vegetarian, a pasta dish and a meat or/and fish dish. There was always chicken fingers or pizza for the kids. The biggest let down was the lack of fresh vegetables; it was all frozen peas and mixed veg. The desserts were impressive however. You could order from the bar for soft and alcoholic drinks. Then at 9.30 we had our welcome meeting where they told us what to expect and the optional extra excursions we could take. I had already booked a night time snow mobile trip before we left and then decided to also do the dog sled night time trip (the latter you should absolutely not miss). At 10 we went to get our snow suits and boots from the clothing shed. I felt it was well organized and everyone was put in to one of 4 groups and there were postings in the lobby of what activities each group was doing each day.

We walked to the top of the hill above the hotel to see if we could see the Northern lights before we went to bed; but no activity that night.

First full day

We had the morning free the first day, so after breakfast, we trekked down the hotel driveway with our littlest one in a sled (which can be picked up from the hotel lobby; they were all brand new and plentiful when we were there). It was a beautiful crisp morning with a temp around 17F, which was warmer than it typically is this time of year. We walked to the store/ gas station and then took the next right which takes you over the bridge to Sweden. Sweden is an hour behind Finland so technically we could have celebrated New Year’s eve twice. On the left hand side as you go over the bridge is the oldest church in Sweden. Make sure you take some Euros with you to buy some postcards. You can’t take pictures inside. It was picture perfect scenery. There is a café opposite as well which we did not go into. We walked back over the frozen river to the hotel and the boys spent some time tobogganing on the sledding hills until it was time for lunch.

As we exited the restaurant we noticed some strange ‘rainbow’ clouds which turned out to be iridescent clouds; pretty rare apparently.

Our afternoon was our ‘search for Santa’ day. As we pulled up to the Santa place, candles lit the pathway to the warming house. Inside was a café and restrooms. Outside was a fire pit with marshmallows to roast, along with some sledding slopes and a kid’s ice hockey pitch. Each family was called one at a time to do the two activities; snow mobiling and having their private meeting with Santa. We were one of the later families to be called, but the boys could have spent hours on the sleds, and I was glad we got to go when it was dark rather than when it was still light (day light is only from about 11-2). We were called for snowmobiling first. The kids get pulled in a larger sled by one of the staff. My husband and I shared a snowmobile, swapping half-way to drive. They are pretty heavy and I felt the driving time was just long enough. It was beautiful going through the snow filled forests.

Then we were called for our Santa meeting. You start in a snowmobile pulled sled for a short journey to where a reindeer pulled sled is waiting for you. It was so still and quiet as we transferred into the reindeer pulled sled after a chance to pet the reindeer. We then pulled up to Santa’s cottage where we were met by two rather large ‘elves’ who knew the boy’s names. The boys knocked on the door and were welcomed by Santa. The Santa knew everything we had put into the webpage off by heart- the dog’s name, where we were from and how far we’d come and what activities the boys enjoyed. My eldest even showed Santa what a parkour B kick is! The elves took ‘selfies’ with our phone and were hilarious. It far exceeded my expectations and I’m sure will be a top memory for a long time.

After dinner we had our dog sled trip. Only 16 people were on this excursion and you actually get to mush the dogs (which you don’t get to do on the included trip). We were first shown how to drive the sled and again the kids were loaded in a larger sled with an instructor and my husband and I took it in turns to drive. It was one of the most fun and exhilarating experiences ever. As we crossed over a frozen lake, the Northern lights made an appearance for us. Unfortunately we didn’t stop so we don’t have very good pictures, but to have experienced it, and on New Year’s eve, no less, made it an even more magical trip.

When we got back to the hotel we walked up the hill again hoping to get some pictures of the Northern lights, but they weren’t visible from our position and then the boys joined other kids sledding at the front of the hotel and at midnight the hotel had a small fireworks display. The most perfect new Year’s eve ever!

fireworks at the hotel for New Year’s eve

Day 2

We were fortunate enough to be in the 10 am dog sled group so we didn’t have a super early start. Breakfast was scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, yoghurt and oatmeal and one type of muffin. More fresh fruit would have been a nice addition.

Because we’d got to drive the dogs the night before, the daytime trip wasn’t as impressive. It was nice that all four of us could sit in the same sled though. We also got more time to pet the dogs after.

Back at the hotel, the kids were out sledding again and after dinner we had our snowmobile tour. It was a snowy night so no chance of seeing the Northern lights. The snowmobile experience was pretty much identical to the one we had done the day before, except if the Northern lights had been out, we would have had some time to watch them from the frozen lake. We also got to take the snowmobiles out for a free spin on the lake rather than just following the paths which was fun too.

Day 3

Day 3 was our last day, and we walked down to the bottom of the hill again and had a snack and drink at the café and then visited the souvenir store next door. They had some nice things, including Christmas ornaments, picture frames and stuffed toy reindeer and husky dogs. Armed with a bag of stuff, we headed back up the hill for one last sledding session before heading to the airport.

We were told that only a handful of times have planes not landed at Enentekio- and it’s always the pilot’s decision. It was just as snowy the day we left as when we arrived so I wasn’t holding out much hope that the plane would be able to land. It circled for a bit but decided to go for it, and safely managed to get on the ground. There is only one metal detector so going through security was slow going, but there’s no rush as the plane can’t leave without everyone. There are some snacks, drinks and a small souvenir shop at the airport but definitely not somewhere you’d want to be stuck for a long time!

Inghams does longer 7 day trips which are technically skiing holidays but you can add on all the same activities that we did in each of the resorts. If you’re looking for 5 star ritzy accommodation, this trip is not for you, but if you want to disconnect from the world and be fully connected to your family and the magic of Christmas, then you should book asap!

Dani and the Laulings do the Disney Fantasy

I have always heard amazing things about the service on Disney cruises, so I was excited to see how it compares to Royal Carribbean, the only cruise line we’ve previously experienced. I have a separate review on how the two compare if you’re interested in my perspective on that. This was a joint cruise with my sister in law, her husband and 2 daughters and the mother-in-law. We opted for an Eastern Caribbean itinerary stopping at Tortola, St Thomas and Castaway Cay. We had done St Thomas before but not the other two ports.

I booked through Crown Cruise who gave us great on-board credit amounts ($750 for the deluxe ocean view room with 4 people).

Pre-planning

I have to say this was a real turn off for me. Disney requires if you are a first time cruiser you to logon to your cruise manager at midnight Eastern time 45 days before the cruise departs. If you are concierge level or have cruised before you can access on earlier dates than this, meaning there’s slim picking for us first timers. I knew getting a cabana at castaway Cay was going to be a long shot, and sure enough there was no availability when I logged on. I did manage to snag a Disney Jr breakfast for the 9 of us but no character meets, even just trying to get it for my own 2 kids, and neither of the excursions I wanted (Baths at Tortola and semi-submarine at St Thomas) were available. You also have to book a port arrival time. We ended up with noon and my sister-in law with a 12.15.

I ended up booking a private charter with Partouche in order to do the baths. They also have some group tours that avoid the crowds so might not be a bad alternative to doing the Disney one. For St Thomas we just picked a beach break.

I had originally been on the fence about doing an adult only brunch. I would have been able to book something but don’t worry if you can’t snag one as those are easily booked on the day of departure.

Make sure you load the Disney cruise boat app before you board as it allows you to text others in your party for free and you can book internet packages through it too, although as always they were very expensive and you had to buy them in blocks of data- you can’t do an unlimited package. The app also serves as the navigator for activities that are happening each day.

Embarkation

We took an Ultimate Towncar Mercedes van from the hotel to the cruise port. As was the experience at Ft Lauderdale, the queues getting to Port Canaveral were also quite long. We were picked up at 10.15 and got to the port at 11.30, a little earlier than our scheduled arrival times. We were funneled to one of several check in desk queues and seemed to luck out as the one we were directed to was quite short. We checked in and were given a boarding number of 16 and it had already been called so we headed straight to the boarding line. It moved fairly quickly. One nice touch with Disney is your family name gets announced as you board the ship in to the 3^rd floor atrium.

My husband and sister-in-law wanted to run the Castaway Cay 5K so they headed straight to guest services to sign up. There was no line at that time. I headed down to the 2^nd floor to try and get a Palo brunch. They had sign up tables outside the Enchanted Garden restaurant. I had no trouble getting a noon slot on the 2^nd sea day.

We then headed to the sit down restaurant for lunch, which happened to be Animator’s Palette on that day. I had been told by our Disney travel agent that this would be less stressful than trying to the buffet and it worked out well as I got a glimpse of the very efficient service I was going to experience the rest of the cruise. The wait staff are super attentive with nice touches such as ketchup being served in a Mickey mouse shape.

After lunch we changed in to our swim wear and went up to ride the duck as we had been advised this would be one of the quietest times to ride it. The duck is a water coaster for 1 or 2 people at a time. The queue was down to the bottom of the second stair case and probably took about 15 minutes for us to get to the top. The quietest time to ride is actually after dinner (wait times of 5 minutes or less) but it was certainly quieter than it was on sea days where the line was all the way to the bottom of the staircase. After riding the duck, it was time for the safety drill, which for us was in the movie theater. Once that was over with, we started exploring the boat. There’s no nice open promenade like Royal Caribbean has, it has some shops on the 3^rd floor where the shops are but it feels kind of dark down there as there are no windows. We checked out the gym, which was tiny with not many pieces of equipment and virtually no floor work area. That said, the number of people using the gym over the course of the cruise was considerably less than those on the Harmony of the seas.

Rooms were ready at 1.30 and luggage had been delivered after our boat exploration, giving us time to unpack before dinner. As regular state rooms go, the Deluxe family balcony was pretty nice. It has 2 bathrooms; one with a tub/shower and sink, and the other with a toilet and sink, which is nice with a family of 4. There was adequate space around the bed to manoeuver and the couch converted in to bunk beds, which again didn’t take up too much space. The suitcases store conveniently under the bed and there were 2 closets so plenty of space for everyone’s clothes.

Another nice touch is there is self-service laundry on most floors with ironing boards.

The doors on the Disney boats are metal (unless you are concierge level where they are wood). I found out in advance that it is tradition to decorate your door with magnets. You can have them custom made from sites such as Etsy. Another tradition is fish extenders. The premise is you join via a Facebook group dedicated to your sailing and are assigned a certain number of cabins to buy gifts for. You exchange the ages and genders of your party and some people go all out with creating customized gifts. These gifts are left in fish extenders that are hung outside people’s cabins throughout the week. It’s a cute idea but we didn’t participate because we would have needed to pack a whole other suitcase.

Dinner for us the first night was in the Enchanted garden. You have the same wait staff even though you rotate between the 3 different restaurants over the course of the cruise. Overall, the food on the Disney boat was superb, with only a couple of misses (soups that were too salty). Soda is included in the price too, which is also not the case on other cruise lines.

We chose not to do the show that night as I’d heard it’s more of a preview of the week, and instead the Laulings opted to go on the Duck, which was pretty cool to do at night. Note there is a 42 inch height requirement without shoes. Those 48 to 54 inches without shoes can go on with another kid in the same height range, those smaller than 48 inches have to ride with an adult.

We had a great room attendant who adorned us with a variety of towel animals that often were complemented by one of our own stuffed animals! The nightly chocolate was also appreciated.

Day 2 and 3

Day 2 and 3 were sea days for us. We did the Olaf meet and greet (very long lines but did keep moving), mini golf on the top deck and then the scavenger clue hunts, which were really cool with interactive pictures all around the boat and 3 different mysteries to solve. The kids club was also really cool; with an Andy’s room, star wars flight simulators and super hero room where you could build hammers with Thor and open portals with Dr Strange. Those special activities are in the navigator so you can just take your kids down for those even if they’re not going to spend long hours there.

My husband and I got a couples ticket for the senses spa, which was a nice experience with different showers, steam rooms, sauna, hot loungers and hot tubs. You can do port days at $29 a day or all access for $249 a couple.

There were lots of movies being shown on the boat throughout the day but also loads of choices on the TV itself, including all the Avengers franchise, Princess movies etc. so the boys cycled through several of those! Daddy Lauling and I both took it in turn to go to the gym, which never ended up being super busy at least later in the morning and beyond.

We were in the Royal Court for dinner on day 2 (probably my least favorite for ambiance) and then Animator’s palette on day 3 where there was a turtle talk with crush show (same concept as the one in Epcot). We did the buffet for breakfast and lunch on day 2. It had the range you would expect including Mickey waffles and finding a table was never an issue.

On the night of day 2 we went to the Aladdin show. You just turn up and there were definitely more people than seats, and some seats have obstructed views. It was very good quality, including some cool special effects, and only 1 hour long, which was the perfect length of time. It was before the show however that we were told Hurricane Dorian was scheduled to be at St Thomas the same day as us and we were being re-routed to a Western Caribbean itinerary and would have to re-book excursions starting at 8 am the next morning for Cozumel and Grand Cayman. We had never been to Grand Cayman but had been to Cozumel, so it was a wash in terms of itinerary novelty. Our excursion to St Thomas was refunded and I was able to cancel the Tortola reservation using the ship’s internet.

We had the Disney Jr breakfast booked for the next morning, so I got in line at 7.30 to book excursions. The line was already very long with people apparently in line from 6.30 am. I may have been better off queuing at guest services rather than at port adventures, but anyway I got to the desk at 8.20. I still could only get my 2^nd choice for Grand Cayman (wanted to do the full submarine but ended up with the semi-submarine). Cozumel I booked La Play Mia beach resort privately to have more time there than the Disney option would allow. I got to breakfast around 8.30, 15 minutes late, but my husband had ordered for me, so I didn’t starve. The breakfast was at Animator’s Palette. The characters weren’t very interactive, but signed books and took pictures (although you were not allowed to move so we put all the kids together on one side of the table for pictures). Vamparina, Doc McStuffins, Mickey and Minnie were there.

We had our mother in law take the kids for sit down lunch on day 3 as we felt that would be easier than her juggling buffet plates for them while we went for brunch at Palo. I have to say it was the most amazing meal, definitely on par with Micheline star restaurants. It comes with a Bellini cocktail and all you can eat buffet. The spread was incredible; from crab and lobster to amazing pastries and breads (the chocolate nut bread is to die for) and anti-pastas and cheese. You then select a main course from the menu; the lasagna and chicken parm that was recommended by the waiter again was fabulous. We then wrapped up with a selection of mini desserts. Definitely go hungry! And it was only $20 extra a head. Our waiter was also fabulous, telling us about the new Disney Wish boat and the history of the spaghetti chandelier that’s in the entrance to the restaurant.

Shows

There were 2 other Broadway like shows; Wishes and Believe. We went to Believe which was a cute story about a girl who wants her dad to believe in magic and then is visited by various Disney ‘magic’ characters such as Mary Poppins and Genie. We also checked out an America’s got talent juggler, who was very entertaining, but was more along the lines of what you would expect cruise boat entertainment to be like as he did have a few fumbles. The other nights included a comedian and a ventriloquist but those nights we spent on the sports deck at the duck, pool, mini golf and foosball, all of which were huge hits for my kids.

Dining

We rotated 3 nights in total at Royal Court, 2 at Enchanted Garden and 2 at Animator’s Palette. The ceiling lights and tree are a nice touch in the Enchanted Garden, but they are largely similar in look and feel to other cruise boat main dining rooms. The 2^nd night at Animator’s palette was amazing. You are each given a template to draw a character/ person. Everyone’s character is then turned in to a movie with Mickey and they become animated; literally dancing on the screen. The technology behind it must be incredible. Other than the adult restaurants Palo and Remy (French cuisine) there are no specialty options like other cruise lines have, which was fine given you move around the 3 restaurants for a change of scenery but would not be my preference. Our waiters got to know our likes; with a cucumber salad with ranch always waiting for our youngest, and chocolate milk not in a kid’s cup for our eldest Lauling.

Animator’s Palette show

Dining on Castaway Cay was probably the worst experience- they couldn’t keep up with making the burgers meaning it took a very long time for the lines to move, and where they cooked them did not have good ventilation, making it very smoky.

Also on the boat is an adult’s café with coffee and snacks, pizza and burgers kiosk near the pools along with 24 hour soft drinks, tea and coffee available, and soft serve ice-cream for much of the day. There is also a pay for sweet on you café with cakes and chocolates but I rarely saw anyone in there.