March 18 - Headed Home

Wednesday, March 18, 2026

This blog post is being written much later than what the date indicates (nearly two months later in fact.) I had been very disciplined and all of the other days of the cruise I had composed the posts at the end of each day so even though the daily entries didn't get published right away, the thoughts and memories contained in each were current. Now I am left to try and remember how this day played out so that I can finish up this chapter of My Souvenir Memories.

Setting an alarm probably wasn't necessary as I was awake much earlier and kept checking the time every couple of minutes. I did get out of bed before the alarm went off in hopes of letting Bob sleep a little longer...but he was also awake. A long travel day ranks just above having a root canal on my favorites list, so to say I was dreading the coming hours was an understatement.

The Ruby Princess was already docked at Pier 27 and when I pulled back the curtains, my view was exactly the same as it had been eleven days ago...just a little darker due to the early hour.

When we got to the buffet for breakfast we were surprised to see Jon and Michelle sitting at a table near the entrance. They were sharing a table with another gentleman and we were able to join them. The place was so crowded we wouldn't have been able to find another table even if we had wanted. J & M were just finishing up and with some quick good-byes and hugs, they were off. Their travel day was going to be just about as long as ours, but instead of waiting hours to get on a non-stop flight (as we were) they had multiple...and very short...connections that they needed to deal with. 

Before leaving, the man sharing our table got up and returned with a plate heaped high with all sorts of breakfast pastries and other foods. He commented that he didn't want to pay the high prices to get something to eat at the airport so he was going to pack a lunch! 

Back at our room, we checked all of the drawers, cabinets and safe one last time and then walked out and closed the door. It was 8:00 am and our luggage number wasn't scheduled to be called until approximately 9:20 so we had a lot of time to kill. The gangway to disembark was located on Deck 7, and we headed there to try and find some place to wait. The Explorer's Lounge was full, but I found a ledge to sit on and as group numbers were called, eventually a couple of seats opened up. I dozed a little as we were waiting and finally it was our turn to leave the ship.

Our luggage was at the far end of the terminal, but it WAS there which is the most important part. Once we had it in our possession, the process to leave went very quickly. Outside, the weather was absolutely beautiful. There was quite a large group waiting in the ride share area but knowing that our flight wasn't schedule to leave until 4 pm, we weren't in any hurry. As we were waiting on our Uber driver to arrive, I overheard a phone conversation from a couple standing nearby. They had their daughter on speaker phone and she was telling them she would be there in 10 minutes to pick them up. Oh how nice it would be to walk off the ship and immediately be at home!

At the airport, we used one of the self-tag kiosks and when we dropped off the checked bags, they weren't even weighed. I was anticipating being slightly over 50 pounds, but no worries! From that point, it was just a waiting game at Gate C6...a long wait. The time actually passed quicker than I anticipated. 

The flight home was uneventful. Bob spent every minute watching movies, but I took advantage of the free Wi-Fi and alternated between playing on my iPad and sleeping. I was able to take advantage of the offer for Delta credit card holders and got a free large bag of Dot's pretzels again (usually $5). Made a wonderful supper. 😏

Once we landed, it was quite a long walk to get to the baggage claim. I must have looked like I needed assistance, because right away a guy in an electric cart pulled over and asked if we needed a ride! Yes, please! Having the lift made our timing perfect. Our son texted that he had just gotten into the pick up lane at MSP as we were retrieving our luggage from the carousel. He was pulling up to the curb as we walked out the door!

Even though our bodies were still on the Pacific time zone, it was late enough that by the time we drove an hour to our son's house we didn't want to make another three hour trip to get home. We each made an egg sandwich (with freshly layed eggs!) and crashed in the guest room. The next morning we hit the road right after breakfast and were home by lunch time.

And so ends our longest cruise to date. Not sure exactly what our future travel plans will look like. This was the first time that I didn't leave a cruise wishing I could have stayed on the ship longer. After 27 days I was just ready to be home...partly because of so many sea days and also because we both had gotten sick. 

We do have a short...very short...cruise booked for 2027. With airfares so expensive right now, the cruise is actually cheaper than what I am expecting to pay for our flights. And a short cruise really doesn't help shorten the winter much so maybe we will be looking at some other type of get away! 

Thanks to all who have taken the time to read these blog posts!