DAY 8: GOING HOME

Well today's the day we all dread...getting off the ship and saying goodbye. This has got to be the most hated day of the trip.

I had gotten up multiple times during the night and looked outside to see us creeping along slowly toward port. I also had to double check that our luggage was not still sitting outside our door with a tag saying "Sorry about your luck. Since you can't follow instructions, we have left your luggage for you to carry off yourself. Better luck next time and hopefully you learned your lesson."

I finally woke up some time shortly after we had "parked" and there were other ships already there as well.

Since I hadn't had any luck getting onto the ships internet, I quickly switched my phone and logged on to Southwest to check us into our flights. Whew, relief.

It looked like it was going to be a busy day in port of people getting on and off the ships. Orlando airport is always busy, so I was having anxiety about the lines we've seen there in the past.

The kids were up and knocking on the door ready for breakfast. "Karl" had his carry-on stuff with him. "Boy, we're not carrying all that to breakfast. It's too much work." They brought all of their things over to our room to store, and we headed to breakfast.

Here are the places and times you can go. Yes, they have plenty of places to eat, but the hours are cut short (8:30am is the last you'll find food). Get your food and get off this ship!

I loaded up on my protein for the day and skipped the desserts since I don't think anyone would appreciate me taking up multiple seats at the airport trying to nap.

We headed back to our room to gather our belongings and say our goodbyes. The barge was pulling in to fuel up for the next cruise as I slowly closed the balcony door and headed out...tears rolling down my face, pouting and devising a plan to stowaway somewhere.

To my surprise, there wasn't a line to get off. You headed into the theater and around and back down the other side. Where are all the people? Did they clear them off, knowing I was coming, and didn't want anyone to witness my temper tantrum of not wanting to get off the ship?

I pulled up my big girl panties and placed my key card on the scanner and dinged myself out. We had a picture coming onto the ship and now one getting off.

Sakari has been building her muscles on this entire cruise.

We summoned our Lyft ride and they quickly arrived. This trip back to the airport was going to be $149.65. Dang! That was an additional $54.51 more than the trip to get here. At least this time the lady driver was not falling asleep and we arrived safely.

Our flight didn't leave until 1:20pm so that wasn't that bad. It was also a direct flight, and the kids were happy about that. I liked that we were getting home around 3:40pm and still have the rest of the day for unpacking and laundry and getting settled back in.

They changed our gate multiple times while we waited, but they were all in the same area. We just stayed put and snacked until it was almost time to get on the plane. Once it was our turn, we had our VIP traveler with us and headed onto the plane first.

Southwest has upgraded some of their planes since changing their policy. It was a nice upgrade with head rest that you could put how you wanted it, a charging port and also a pull-down area to put your phone or iPad to watch videos.

Almost home and I spotted Sakari's work down below and then our downtown, which looks so small from up here.

We arrived safely and "Karls" mom came to pick him up at the airport, so we didn't have to play Tetris with the luggage and the kids to get back home.

One last picture to share just because it reminds me of something Kendra would do. Like sister, like sister.

No clue where we will be heading next. It will probably be our yearly December vacation or possibly January. Sakari said she would like to do a land vacation next time. I've been trying to get to Bonaire for years now. Maybe it will happen? Who knows, but now that this cruise review is done, it's time to start planning again. Although some things have changed in our family dynamic, the one thing I thought would be a good change was being able to travel off season and save some money since Sakari graduated. However, she's starting college in August and guess what...we STILL have to travel during her breaks between schooling. That's ok, I'm up for the challenge as always.