We are assigned a room on the 7th floor with a view of the mountains and the gates with planes arriving and leaving.
We head downstairs to the main terminal for dinner at the White Spot.
Back in the room I take advantage of the amazing tub and soak the day's stresses away.
The room is so comfortable and this bed is divine.
Our flight is at 6:35 am. But with no checked bags we can just head to the security and then customs.
The line for security is very long. I believe this is because the security just recently opened up. Thankfully we have Nexus and we are able to bypass the long line and head to a dedicated line. Two people ahead of us is much better than 100 ahead of us. Best $50 we ever spent on Nexus (Global Entry).
Flight was easy and smooth. Seemed like everyone around us was getting on the ship with us. I sat next to two nice men who were sailing for the first time. It was great to chat with them and enjoy their excitement.
We arrived in LA and I used Uber for the first time ever. My friend Monika said it was easy, cost effective and so we decided to try it. She was so right.
We requested a car and we met our driver at the Ride Share pick up spot on the Arrival's area. The final cost came in at $29 US. Much cheaper than Primetime shuttle ($17 per person) and not having to deal with waiting for a van to fill and deal with others. A taxi is usually around $70 US! We will definately use Uber again.
If you are interested in Uber click here to get a $15 credit on your first ride.
We had the driver drop us off in San Pedro at the drug store to pick up some essentials and then we walked to the pier (about 20 min.).
We arrived at the pier around 11:30. Probably one of the worst times to arrive but we knew we just had to go with the flow and enjoy the experience.
Of course we arrived and filled out the necessary health forms. Up the escalator and a short queue for priority boarding (maybe 20 people). This time the regular queue for non priority boarders was very very long (at least a 100).
After getting our cruise cards we went thru security -- no issues with us. But if you do have liqour in your bag they will confuscate it, unless it is wine. To learn more about bringing wine on board click here.
They had already started boarding and we were directed to board the ship right away.
In all it was about 20 minutes from sidewalk to ship. Not bad considering we arrived at a very busy time.
After dropping our suitcase (we just brought carry on bags) in the cabin we headed to the dining room for lunch. Boy it has been a long time since we have had lunch in the dining room on embarkation day but boy how nice it is too.
We confirmed a table for Daniel's section for 7:45 in Da Vinci Dining room. He is the whole reason we booked this voyage -- to surprise him.
We had be discussing getting the drink package for a while and we decided to go with it. On a shorter voyage like this we can justify it, but on a more port intensive longer voyage we just can't manage to continually drink that much.
After Muster Drill we head up for the sailaway. Great weather, excellent music by the and Nexus and a chance to see Anna again.
At 5 pm we head to the elite lounge in Skywalkers. We meet a lovely couple -- Arlene and Tim and we chat over a few drinks.
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