Today I thought id write down a few things to expect from the last week of your contract. As it can be a really hard week so understanding that we all go through similar things may make it easier on you. 

All good things must come to an end.
When approaching the last few weeks of your contract it is a mixture of emotions. You are excited to go home, sad to leave your friends you have made onboard, nervous about and relieved to have a break from work.
For most people, I find that the last month drags but when they come to their last week, it flies by because there is so much to do. Suddenly, everyone wants to go to dinner with you and spend time with you so, all your free time gets filled up and before you know, its time to leave.

It’s ok to be sad
Your family and friends at home won’t really get this, because they just assume you will be happy to be coming home but, they have to realise this ship has been your home for the last 6/9 or 10 months so, leaving the ship can often be harder than leaving home because unlike home, the ship will not always be there.
Also, it can actually be quite nerve-racking to go home. I tried to explain this to my mom once and she couldn’t grasp my feeling anxious about going home to all my loved ones. I had to explain that for the last 6 months I have been living and gotten used to a completely different environment. I will have to go from constantly having something to do and see, to having no time restrictions or structure to my day.
So yes, its ok to be sad, scared, nervous along with all the excitement, and although people at home may not understand, as long as you know its normal, that’s all that matters.

I promise we will meet up
I’m sure you will make amazing friends during your time on board and when leaving, there’s always the promises that you will see each other again soon and you will go on a night out and maybe go on holiday together. This happened a lot on my first contract and being new to it all I believed everyone when they said we would see each other again. However very few of those promises actually stuck. I’m sure they meant it at the time but life gets in the way, your contracts may cross over so you are not at home at the same time, or you realise you haven’t saved enough money to go and visit that person who lives the other side of Europe.
All I’m saying is it’s great if you do see people again, but after you have done a few contracts you will realise that it’s not realistic to promise everyone you will go and visit them. Just hope for the best but if it doesn’t happen, it not the end of the world. life gets in the way. 

Packing to go home
This all depends on you and how much stuff you think you have. Remember when your things are hanging neatly in the wardrobe it doesn’t look like much but, when the time comes to shove it all in a case, you suddenly realise all the stuff you accumulated throughout your contract.
I am a little anal so I start thinking about in approx a week before flying. I organise all my nick-nack’s and put them all in one place so I can really see how much I have.
Try and arrange to pack when your roommate will be out of the cabin so it docent matter how much mess you get in to. Its a nightmare trying to pack when there are two of you in the cabin.
I would say of the majority of your stuff packed away 2 days before leaving because then you are leaving yourself enough time to sort things out if you realise you need a new case, or you need to get rid of some things. 

I hope this post helps some of you anticipate what to expect in your last week.