The 60th Anniversary Cruise

So, as many of you know, we went on a cruise with my siblings and their spouses to help my folks celebrate 60th anniversary. We left on Monday, May 31st and arrived back in Long Beach on June 4th. Take down of the trailer took longer than we thought, but we finally got our ducks in a row and got to the Long Beach cruise terminal where we parked. We got on board with no hitches and used the magic of cell phones to find my siblings. My sister, Penny had called ahead to have my parents room decorated. There were streamers and flowers and a banner. I will attempt to post photos later. We started the cruise by doing what one does a lot on cruises... we ate!
The cruise was interesting! It was certainly NOT Smith hours! Most all the activites ( even for the kids) started after our bedtime (9pm) The kids were in clubs for their ages. Derek's club seemed to start at about 9 and go until 1am. Colin's was a little more variable, though he had one night party that went until 3:30am!!!! That first night Marcus and I enjoyed playing pinnochle with Sandy and Steve like we used to when we lived in Chico and Sacramento! We made it all the way 'til 10:00pm.
During the day we went to Catalina where we wandered around with various family members, shopping, hiking and chatting. That evening after dinner the adult Smiths went to bed early. The nest day we went to Ensenada where we shopped some more. The kids enjoyed the bartering process and ended up with some cool hats, and sling shots. That evening we found a room to take over where we presented our parents with a DVD of photos of each of us and our families as we grew up. It was so fun to see the old photos that brought back so many memories! Sandy did an excellent job putting it all together! My dad then talked about each of his children and thier strengths and how mauch we each mean to him. Then he gave his sweetheart a lovely Tahitian pearl necklace and earrings that he had collect and bring on board. To top it off the 5 of us kids sang the anniversary song Sandy wrote for their 50th anniversary.
The rest of the cruise was spent visiting and catching up. Poor Penny ended up with the flu and was very sick, spending most of the rest of the time in her room. That was sad, since she lives in Germany, and we don't get to see her very often, let alone how misereable she was.
All in all it was great to see each other. We had a wonderful chance to visit with each other which is so rare since we all live so far apart!

Rating of the cruise:
Ann 9 I had a great time seeing my family, but I would have liked the activities to have started earlier.
Marcus 7 It was good to see Ann's family, but the cruise was not really my thing.
Derek 10 It was really really good!
Colin 9 It was great!