The last day was the craziest.   The night before I was packing well into the night and we’re leaving the boat at 6:30AM the next day.  Thankfully my cousin Susan came over to help.  We were going to bring our luggage off the boat ourselves so we didn’t have to wait with the masses.  So, forget breakfast.  Thankfully my parents went and grabbed a couple of fruits and buns for the kids before our tour of Rome and plane ride home.

For those who haven’t been on a cruise before, they give each person a card with your picture associated with it.  We use these cards each time we get off and on the boat.  This helps ensure the right person is getting on the boat, but also to keep track of the people each time we pull into a port.  They’ll know if someone has not gotten back on.  They will still leave Port without you, but at least they’ll know.

I leave the room to congregate in the hall with the rest of the family.  Everyone have their cards?  Nope.  And I can’t get back into the room to check either.  No room steward to help get us back in this early in the morning.  Ugh!  Check here.  Check there.  Susan, where did you pack it into yesterday?!?  Room steward to the rescue!!  We’re let in, but I still can’t find it.  Double Ugh!!  It’s helpful when people help you pack, but not so helpful when neither one of us can remember where.

We can still get off the boat right??  It’s the last day.  The steward said we could, but we may have some trouble.   Great.  There are thousands of people who are to get off today.  We have our private car waiting for us at 7am.  We have all our luggage.  The kids are tired and whiney.  I am tired and whiney.  And in true parental form, my parents ask “how can you not know where it is?!?”

Check every fracking orifice one last time.  FOUND IT!!  We put it with the cash.  We are on our way to face the elevators that house the hundred whom also thought an early start before the masses also trying to leave.   Seven million elevators later we are on our way!