Into port, out the door

Sunday, January 6, 2008. It’s finally here – our last day. Wow. Once again, we deal with the emotional contradiction: Yes, we’re sad to be going home, but we’re also ready to be there. In that respect, these vacations are the perfect length – short enough to leave us wanting more, but long enough to have us really missing home.

My alarm sounds at 5:55 a.m., and I’m fully awake after only hitting the snooze once. I turn on the TV to the “View from the Bridge” channel. It’s dark outside, but there are stationary lights in plain view ahead. We’re at Port Canaveral and docked already.

I’m not too surprised. Christiaan, our cruise director, told us we’d probably be back at around 5:30. I hope Captain Henry forgives me for not getting up to help him dock.

As we rouse the boys up, I flip the TV over to the movie channels and find Nemo playing. I then step out onto the veranda and find Bob already there. He and I watch as a Royal Caribbean cruise ship backs into its dock just ahead of the Disney Wonder. We’re both hoping the ship doesn’t hit us, but intellectually I know it’s not as close as it looks.

Back inside, everyone’s dressed pretty quickly. It’s easier to do when your clothes have been laid out the night before and everything else is packed and gone. We spend some time stuffing everything that’s left – including the stuffed friends Benjamin and Brandon have – into backpacks and carry-ons.

It’s time for our final inventory before we leave the Suite for the last time. It goes like this:

Linda: “I have our passports.”

Me: “I have ours.”

Bob: “I have my driver’s license and Key to the World card.”

Me: “I have rhythm, I have music.”

Bob & Me, singing: “Who could ask for anything more?”

Sad to say, the time has now come to leave this blessed luxury in which we’ve been privileged to stay. The family files down the central hallway and out the door, with me trailing behind.

I pause to half-close the entry door and examine its back side, the one with all the paperwork and evacuation routes posted. There’s nothing really remarkable about it – I just figure that it may be my very last time to see that side of that particular door.

The door shuts behind me as I step out into the hallway. Goodbye, Walter E. Disney Suite.