May 12th, 2023 Day 128 of 128

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

It is the last “day” of our 2023 World Cruise. I can not believe it. We have felt like it was never going to end at times and we have felt like it was going way to0 fast at times. And here we are. WE have circumnavigated the globe, crossed the equator twice, crossed the international date line, and visited null island. We have visited 29 countries and visited about 56 different ports. We changed our itinerary a few times due to civil unrest and Hurricane Freddy. We struggled to get supplies and had no produce a few times. We wore masks, watched friends go in and out of quarantine and disembarked with the ship at a zero count for COVID cases. We battled food poisoning, a back injury and some nasty colds. We have made countless memories. And I have shared many of them with you along the way. It has been an absolute trip of a lifetime. I will never forget the things I have seen, done, experienced and taste. I will forever have this blog as a journal of my trip. I will look back on it fondly when I am missing somewhere we have gone and I will use it when I can’t remember the name of that “one place in the one country” we went to. Thank you all for following along with us. Thank you for your comments and for your likes. In 2020 while we were on the World Cruise the world declare a state of emergency as we entered into the COVID pandemic. And today the Federal Government, has declared the COVID is no longer a pandemic and that there is no longer a public health emergency. I was on a cruise both times and the significance of that is special to me. Let me tell you about our last full day on the ship. I woke up about 4:15 am and could not go back to sleep. I actually heard the Pilot boat pull up alongside the Zuiderdam around 4:30am to board the ship. I went outside and saw Fort Lauderdale coming into view. The lights of the USA in the distance and as we approached there was an American flag flying in the wind. There is just something truly comforting to returning to US soil after being abroad for so very long. I watched us pull into the pier and the port employees slowly come our as the sun was rising. Within 30 minutes they were boarding immigration officers, off loading luggage, and preparing to restock the ship. Megan woke up around 5:30am so we could be at the Pinnacle Grill when it opened at 6:30am. While we were at breakfast they announced the ship had clear immigration and passengers were allowed to start disembarking at 7:00am. We said our last goodbyes to the Pinnacle staff and headed home for one last time so we could prepare for our own disembarkation. We checked all the drawers one last time, looked under the bed, and as we finished they announced it was time for our group to get off the ship. We scanned our card one last time and I got weepy a we walked off the gangway one last time. The captain and several key employees were there today good bye and wish us safe travels home. Hard not to remember the last time we said our final goodbyes. We did not know what the future held for us in the COVID world we were entering then. And now we have fully completed our first world cruise and it is so much nicer to disembark today than then. We made quick work of grabbing our suitcases, going through passport inspection/immigration at the pier and then we boarded our bus for transportation to Miami airport for our flight home. We arrived at the airport in plenty of time relax and for me to write this blog to you all. I have cleaned out my emails, had real phone calls, not wifi calling, and taken care of some business. Welcome back to the real world. LOL. If I get it done now I can relax and enjoy my weekend reconnecting with my family. So I am going to bid you adieu. I am going to go get myself a glass of champagne and toast the conclusion of this trip of lifetime. I don’t know when I will be posting something again I reserve this hobby primarily for when I travel. But I will be back…I promise.