Tales of the South Pacific - Debarkation Day and the Trip Home

San Diego

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

We were already docked when we got up at 7:30 and some people were already getting off the ship.  We weren’t in any rush as our train to San Luis Obispo doesn’t leave until 1:00.  We got cleaned up, had our last breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, said goodbye to Kyle and then went back to our room to wait until it was time to get off the ship.

We arrived early in San Diego.

We had to be off the ship by 9:15, so we decided to leave at about 8:45.  The big rush was over, so it was pretty easy to get off, go through customs and locate our luggage.  We found a porter to handle our luggage and then searched for the Luggage Forward truck that would pick up the two big bags we were shipping.  The porter then helped us with the rest of our luggage to find a cab, and we were soon on our way to the Sante Fe Station where we could catch the Amtrak Surfliner back home.

The station is quite close to the cruise port, but they are doing a lot of construction in the area, so it was a bit complicated for the cab driver to find a spot to drop us off.  We got to the station a little after 9:30 and settled in for our three and a half hour wait for our train.  After being in the tropics for the last 51 days, the weather seemed pretty cool to us, and we wished we had brought our jackets.  We decided to go outside the station where there were benches in the sun and felt a lot more comfortable.

The old Santa Fe Station in San Diego.

As it was near noon, I was getting hungry, so I went across the street to a place called Grab and Go Subs and got myself a sandwich.  Val wasn’t as hungry and decided to get a snack from the café in the station.  My sandwich tasted pretty good except for some reason, it was very salty and that spoiled the taste.

At 12:40 it was finally time to board the train, so we got in the boarding line and waited for the gate to open.  Luckily, we had business-class seats and were able to board first, so we were quickly on board and in our seats.  We had a nine hour trip ahead of us, so we settled in and got comfortable.  The seats are pretty nice, but I had a feeling that by the time we get to SLO, we’d be ready to get off the train.

We were finally on the train and headed for home as we pull out of the Santa Fe Station.

We won't be getting into San Luis Obispo until around ten so getting from SLO to our home in Atascadero was a bit of a problem.  We didn’t want to impose on our friends that late particularly since the train sometimes runs late.  It’s about 25 miles from the station to our home and it is almost impossible to find any kind of car service to get us there.  It’s a pretty small town and you can’t even find an Uber driver at night to do it. 

I did find a cab company that worked 24 hours a day, but they actually only had one taxi, so it seemed a bit iffy.  I had called them in September before we left, and they assured me that they could handle it.  When I asked them what if someone else books them, they said don’t worry, we can handle that.  It was a pretty expensive cab ride, but it was our only option, so I wanted to make a reservation on the spot, but they said no, just call us the day you need us.  Famous last words.

Anyway, we got on the train, and I texted the cab company and told them what I wanted, and I also told them the train was already running late so our arrival might be delayed.  They texted back that they had another pickup schedule for 11:00 at a location quite a way to the south and if the train came in after 10:30, we would have to ride with them to pick up the other fare, drop them off and then they would take us home.  That would mean we would get in very late, and they also said they would have to charge us more for the extra time.  We were a little uncomfortable with that as after the last train arrives, the SLO train station is deserted and there is no one around.

We called our friends Doug and Ev, and they immediately said they would come and pick us up; they are true friends.  It turns out the train arrived right on time at 10:00 which surprised us as they must have made up the time during the last part of the trip.  We had told Doug and Ev we wouldn’t be there until 10:20 so we had to wait a bit until they got there.  It was a pretty eerie and uncomfortable feeling standing there in the dark at an empty and closed train station; it was us and another lady waiting for a ride.  Finally, about the time the other lady’s ride got there, up drove Doug and Ev, and were we happy to see them.  We were home by 11:00 and in bed a short time later; it felt so good to be in our own bed again, this had been a long day and we were very tired.  Thanks so much to Doug and Ev for coming to our rescue, we owe you big time for this.  We are lucky to have such great friends.

So that's it, the end of our cruise.  We had a wonderful time, but both of us being sick for the last few weeks of the cruise put a damper on things, but despite that we did have a good time and we love being in the South Pacific or should I say, paradise.