Bowlers A. C. (after cruise)

STEURER FAMILY REUNION - DISNEY CRUISE - MAY 3rd to 15th, 2010

Everyone that went on the cruise...except for Calvin. He was too busy in the Teen club and forgot to come down at the assigned time!

Just so you know...I started this a week after we got back! So, it starts out with what we were feeling and ends with what I remember!...It's long (remember this is almost two weeks of our life!), but it's my journal of the experience and so I had to get in as much as I could...hope you enjoy! If you don't have time to read, there is a "Smilebox" below that summarizes the trip, too!

We have almost decided that the cruise was evil because coming back to reality really stinks! We have been wondering around the house chanting "there's nothing to eat", which really means "what? I have to make my own food?". Even today, Calvin said, "What's there to eat?". So, I spatted off the normal things and to the end of each one, he said "that takes effort". On the cruise we were in a state of "no worries", and being on a Disney cruise, everything is "magical" and "all your dreams will come true" is almost the worst kind to go on because then you have to come home and...the vacuum is broken, Sunwest is on the verge of closing it's doors, kids had to go back to school and we had to fit in homework again, there was no food at our fingertips and we felt like the rug had been pulled out from under our feet! So, let's just talk about the cruise and not about reality!!!

We loaded up in three vans. There were 28 of us all headed to Vegas...not to stay and play....My sister, Debbie and her family live in Germany and were meeting us in Barcelona.

My parents did an AMAZING job of organizing everything. They made this almost all so effortless and seriously the whole trip went without any major problems. We headed out around 9:00 at night from Vegas and flew through the night until 2:00 London time. This was the kids first plane ride (not counting their small advendures with Grandpa!). It was my first time across the sea in a plane I could watch movies. We kind of sat all together. We got to Barcelona and checked into our hotel rooms. I think there were like 10 rooms that my dad reserved. They looked like mini apartments and I seriously felt like I was staying at a display for IKEA. We all laughed about that! It was in the middle of town. The boys were sent off to fine Pizza and there was a small market with fresh fruit and drinks. We got to spend our first Euros! It was so exciting. We kept trying to see if Dallen could speak to anyone, but they don't speak Spanish there (help Kent or Paul...what's it called?), so we couldn't understand them! We worked it out in English, though. It was cool to go to breakfast the next morning. I was worried that the kids wouldn't eat, but they had pastries there, so we were good! They had meats, cheeses, and bread/toast. Some juice (it was like an apricot nectar), and pastries. The kids were good and tried things they weren't sure about and most of it they ate. There were people there from all different countries, but we were definitely a site...all 28 of us. We kind of took over the place!

We went to check into the boat and saw Debbie, Mike and Davney there. It was almost like we see them all the time. We took pictures with Mickey Mouse while waiting to get on the boat. Then we were off...or on, I should say. We couldn't go to our rooms for a couple of hours, so what did we do first?!? EAT!!! They had an amazing buffet and we stuffed ourselves! We checked out the kid's clubs and then to our rooms...It was awesome. Then we were off to sea with a big party on deck 9! The kids clubs were amazing. They had activities from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm (2:00 pm for the teens!). How can they function for 10 days like that? The kids would sometimes come into bed after Scott and I had gone to bed. We couldn't keep up!

Then we went to eat dinner...met our servers, Rexson (from India) and Miki (from Japan). They were really nice. They were really good about letting us sit anywhere we wanted because we mixed with the other servers (I don't remember their names), but he would do magic tricks and puzzles for us to figure out almost every night. We took up five tables or so and by the second or third nights they started combining all our tables so that we could sit more of us together. Then after dinner we would go to a show in the Disney Theatre. Most of them I liked. There was a Villian one that I could have done without, but it was something to do!

We had a day at sea, first, which was good because we were trying to shift from jet lag. I think Scott slept most of the day and I did a little laundry and ironed because it was Formal night and I knew that if I didn't do a little laundry, I would have to take a whole day and do it, and I was on vacation!!! Then we stopped at Malta. It's an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, kind of a stopping station for everyone who passes through there. It was so picturesque and we got to watch as the boat did a 180 degree turn in the bay and parallel park! We walked around the town before I went on a little shopping tour with my mom and some other family. I am not sure what Scott and the boys did, but I went into M'dina where the city is literally all Palaces. It was beautiful. They took us to a couple cathedrals and churches. We tasted some "Kinnie" (a local drink) that tasted like fizzy prune juice! Luckily I like prune juice! Then we went shopping where they did glass blowing and also worked with silver. I bought a glass bowl and a ring (three rings intertwined as one). Rod's video camera went missing and Mary just knew the bus driver had stolen it and so she would not get off the bus when they took us back until she got it. Sure enough, it was behind a speaker above in the racks. It was an adventure. I really liked Malta. I would visit there again.

Next we went to Tunisia (North Africa). It totally looked like we had stepped into the Middle East. It was an interesting place, not in a good way. We decided to do a tour because the rules for this country were very strict. We could only wear certain clothing and we had to be back on the boat early and we didn't want to take our chances. I could just see us wondering around and the boys do something stupid and they are thrown in jail for something silly that they had done. I just didn't need that stress. The first thing that happened on the tour was the bus driver gave us all cards and said, if you get lost, give this to any taxi and he will take you back to port. That wasn't very reassurring! It was interesting because we all swore that he was trying to lose us during the tour...like he got payment if one of us had to use the card! We all made it ok and didn't have to use the cards, but we saved them just for the memory! The boys bought some knives (they were way more than I would pay...$212 in our currancy for 5 of them!). But the boys love them. We got to security on the boat and they are looking at the scanner and I thought they were going to have a heart attack. We said we knew we couldn't bring them on personally, but asked if they would hold them until the end of the cruise. They agreed and the boys were so happy! On our way back to the boat, we stopped and let the kids ride the camels (for $10 per ride, which was the camel getting up walking in a circle and kneeling back down!...we split the costs with cousins!)

The next day was Sunday. We got off the boat in Naples and the Branch President from the branch in town (there was one by the port, but he never answered our e-mails!) met us with a chartered bus and took us to church (pictured on the right and the "chapel" is the other picture!) and then he and his wife took us to tour Pompeii. They made us sandwiches and had the best oranges I had ever had. Church was awesome. There were only 20 members and so our group of 31 more than doubled their normal Sunday meetings. They only had two primary children and here we come with our 16!!! There were no Young Men or Young Women. They were combined with the adults and there were four missionaries there, too. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met. They went through all the trouble of even translating for us. The teacher or speaker would say something in Italian and then there was someone right next to him/her that would translate into English. I just expected to listen to everything in Italian, but they went the extra mile for us. They all hugged us as we left and we were so grateful that they put up with all of us. Pompeii was amazing. It is undescribable. It is way bigger than I had imagined. I have seen many ruins before, but to see this city that seriously, if it was fixed a little bit, we could all move into. The streets were one of my favorites. They had these three big rocks that would allow the chariots to drive down the road, but also were used as walkways for the pedestrians when the streets were flooded (to clean them). There were pipes in the walls for plumbing. They had granite countertops in their stores. We saw where the gladiators lived and the colusseum they fought in. I could have stayed there all day, but we had to get back to the boat. It was one of our favorite places. Ashton I think enjoyed it the most. That was the one place he cared about seeing.

The next day was Rome. We ported in Citiveccia (sp?). We hopped a train into Rome (about an hour and a half ride). Then it dumped us off at the Vatican. Then we did a three mile walk (it took about 7 hours total) to see tons of stuff. Scott had completely planned it and even made a "Steurers in Rome" booklet that led us perfectly around the city. He did an amazing job and really made the day so much fun. It seemed that we would see one thing and then walk down the street, turn the corner, and there was another amazing thing to see. It was a perfect day. We saw the Vatican (of course), and the Sistein Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Piazza de Novona (sp?), ate lunch at a pizza place (of course), shopped at Truvia Fountain area and had some gelato there (Mmmm!), made a wish there to return to Rome, and many other things. We ended at the Colusseum, but didn't have time to go in. It started raining then and so the subway station was right there and so we hopped on that to the train station and barely made it back to port to get on the boat. We had to stop at McDonald's for Derrek. He ordered a Mcflurry with fruit and nuts and chicken nuggets. He could have ordered fried shrimp instead, but chose the nuggets just to be safe! It was fun to see their menu and the differences between ours.

The next day we ported at La Spezia. It rained the whole day! I decided I had to do laundry. I did eight loads. I had to stay in the laundry room because people were taking my stuff out and putting it on the counter so that they could wash, but then we were all waiting for the dryers...it didn't make sense to me. Alec and Derrek went with half of the group to Cinqueterra but came back with Rod, Mary and Julianne because they were soaked up to their knees from the rain! Scott and I decided to at least get off the boat and try to find a gelato shop. We were on a quest every port to get as much gelato as we could before we had to go back to the states and have our yucky ice cream :). Calvin came with us. It was raining, but it was still amazing. We found a great shopping area, that I am sure would be busier if it wasn't raining, and we ate some gelato. We then found a candy shop and Calvin loaded up on about $30 worth of foreign candy to take back to his classes and friends. It was really fun. I am sure the lady was looking at us like we were crazy, but it's not like I'll ever see her again! It was Pirate Night and so we all dressed up like Pirates. That was fun. We were worried because Jenette, Geoff, Jody, Debbie, Mike, Davney, and my parents weren't back yet from Cinqueterra. I luckily had one of Debbie's phones and was able to get ahold of them. At dinner, the waiter suggested that I talk with customer service to see if we could hold the boat for them because they were supposed to be back in a half hour and they were going to take way longer than that. Then they would have to find a way to Nice, France to meet the boat again. Poor Andy (11, Geoff and Jody's oldest) was really worried about his parents getting back. I went to customer service and gave them my sister's phone number and they were able to work with the boat and the boat waited an extra hour for them. They literally made it within 5 minutes of the boat having to have no other choice but leave. The train track had gone out from all the rain (I think that was the story) and so the next train was like 3 hours late! They waited at the train station for at least that long, if not longer. It was weird, because I never had any doubts that they wouldn't make it. I really had to comfort Andy, though. He wasn't so sure. Maybe all our little prayers were heard :).

Next day we went to Nice (said Niece), France. The port was cool because we had to be trolled (well we had to the day before, but we didn't enjoy it like today!) in by a boat and we were in our own little cove. It was pretty cool. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was out and we were all ready to go play. The kids bought some bracelets and Derrek and Calvin bought some "Chips" sunglasses. They love wearing them! Then we all went back to the boat for lunch and then Scott and I left and took a taxi into Old Nice where they had a huge open market. We spent about four hours walking around and shopping. I bought a shirt and some pants. The pants were "made in Italy", but I bought them in France. It makes me laugh! I love wearing them both. Then we found a place that made crepes. They were HUGE and I seriously made myself sick, but I had to eat it all. Scott had sugar and lemon juice on his and I had Nutella and bananas (Mmmm) on mine. We sat and watched people on the beach (no nudity, thank goodness!), along the French Riviera (now I can say I've been there!). The Canaans (sp?) film festival was going on that day, and we could have gone there, but didn't really care about the crowds and such and then we could have also gone to Monte Carlo, but I think the "less is more" holds true. It was a perfect day.

The next day was Corsica. It's an island owned by France. I wish we would have gone there the day before and finished with Nice, because the people there were grumpy and rude. They wouldn't even let my brother use the bathroom. This one lady finally did and then we bought snacks and stuff from her. It was pretty and it was okay. We did find their open market (seriously, I would love to be able to go down to the shops every morning, pick out my flowers, cheese, meat, and bread for the day!). The kids loved it because they had a huge candy section and they loaded up. I think Dallen spent $25 in candy, but he was in heaven and it was his money. I bought some bread. I couldn't get enough of the fresh bread. We bought some weird honey, too and haven't quite figured out what to do with it, yet. They had like one souvenier shop and so we all bought pens and braclets. It wasn't one of my favorite places, but it was nice.

Then we were back to Spain the next day and as soon as we got off the boat, we were on our way to the airport. The poor taxi driver had a hard time communicating because he didn't even speak our Spanish. So, we did the best we could. Poor Dallen was trying to help us out (he speaks Spanish) and he couldn't even understand the guy. But we drove past the biggest cemetary I have ever seen. It literally was the whole mountain. It was beautiful. The guy said it was full and they were starting on the next mountain. Spain is old and seeing that made me realize just how old it really is. It was beautiful. Barcelona is really a beautiful city. I would like to spend more time there. They were very nice and it was a great experience in the short time we had there. We were back on the plain to London (the Bowler family got a special call because we were eating McDonalds and they were boarding!). The McDonalds in Barcelona airport had some other crazy stuff on their menu. They had a thing of cherry tomatoes for your kids meal. I also think their fries tasted way better than ours, if that's possible! It was yummy (for McDonalds). I got a salad and all they offered was olive oil and vinegar as my dressing...no ranch in these countries! We got to London and got stopped where they scanned the bags. Alec had eye solution and the guy was kind of being a jerk and held us there. I thought Jenette was going to have a panic attack. Again, we were given a special call out for our family! But we made it and got on the plane back to America.

Most of the time we didn't see our kids unless they went off the boat with us or ate dinner with us. It was a weird vacation as a "family" because we weren't really together all that much. But, it was fun and the kids have great memories. We all want to go back and take more in. The boys all loved the kid's clubs. Dallen made friends with a boy from United Kingdom and Utah! The boy from Utah has a brother who Ashton made friends with. They were both telling us about their new friends and then put two and two together and realized that they were brothers from Alpine, UT! The were LDS and went to the other branch in Naples. I talked with their mom and she said there were about 150 people there. I am glad we had the experience we did. The jet lag back about killed us all. We kept getting up at 4 a. m. and would be wide awake. Finally about Wednesday (we got back Saturday night) we started to sleep normal. It was hard, especially because the boys had to go back to school and we had to check into work and church, but I would do it again!

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