Back home

 Arcadia slipped silently into Southampton at 06:30. We were up by then to be ready for an early breakfast before we disembarked.

The little tug held us steady as we manoeuvred carefully to the correct birth and came alongside without the slightest bump. The slick machine that is the crew and the port workers clicked seamlessly into gear. We were oblivious as we enjoyed our last on-board breakfast.

We returned briefly to our suite to pick up our hand baggage, then made our way to the priority disembarkation point and waited for the gates to open. We exited the ship and found our way to the baggage hall. This considerable expanse was organised into marked-off areas, by deck. We found our way to the zone for deck 5 and then started to search the blocks of suitcases until we found ours. That was it. It was so much easier than I had expected. We left the building and stood at the pick-up point with Jane and Trevor while we waited for our respective taxis. I must say that I felt sorry for some of the passengers who were being loaded onto coaches to take them to Lancashire, Scotland, and Yorkshire. For them, it would be a very long day indeed.

We were home soon after 10:00. Over the next hour we drank tea, got the first loads of washing on, hung the washing out, and unpacked the suitcases. By lunch, we were ready to sit down for a quiet hour before going to collect Ellie. 

The classroom door was open and Ellie saw us approaching. She burst through the door and charged at me, hurling herself into my arms. When I was finally allowed to put her down, she went across to Nana for a much more gentle cuddle. We took her to the park for a while then she came home with us until Darren came to collect her.