Thursday April 16. 2015 Phoenix, AZ

 I had an alarm set for 6:30 so that we have time to get ready and be at the Vista Theater in time for our disembarkation at 8:15.   At about 5:20 there was a medical alert broadcast over the ship's PA system.  We had barely fallen asleep again when the alert was rebroadcast.  At that point we were awake for the morning.  We were in port and alongside the pier.  We got dressed and ready to travel. We went to the Vista Theater and had coffee and rolls.  At a little after 8 they called our disembarkation group and we headed for the ramp down to the pier where our luggage was located .

We went through the lines back and forth toward the Customs and Immigration check point.  we saw Ron, Bill and Elaine behind us in line.  There had been some SNAFU and they left the ship later than we did and should have been 30 minutes ahead of us according to the schedule.  The customs check point was just a table, no booths or computers.  We went through very quickly.

We got out luggage and went outside to the pick up area.  I stayed with the bags while Gerri got the car.  After loading the car we were out and on the road by 9 AM.  There were several turns and other roads but we eventually got on I-10 going east.  While still on CA-91 we called our friend Tim in Scottsdale and set up a meeting for dinner.  We made a stop for fuel just after crossing in to Arizona. We checked into our motel at 3:30.

At 4:30 we met Tim and Beth Burton at a PF Chang's in Scottsdale.  We had met Tim and Beth on our cruise to Sidney several years ago.  We have kept in touch but this was the first time we had seen them in almost two years.  We  visited for quite a while and had a delicious meal.

We got back to the motel at 9:30.  After getting ready for bed we read for a while and called it a night.  It had been a long day.  Tomorrow we have reservations in El Paso.  We will meet some other cruising and caching friends there before heading to San Antonio.

This was a great trip and it was fun being on the ship with Bill and Elaine.  But, like our last cruise we learned a few things. On the last cruise we learned never to travel to the port on the same day the cruise starts, that we don't every want an inside cabin again and not to sign up for anytime dining. This cruise we learned that eating at the early seating disrupts the day.  If it is a shore day dinner is right after you return to the ship.  Early dining also interferes with other things we like to do, and causes us to miss some of them while rushing around.