Sunday, June 15, 2014

Beginning of My Panama Canal Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas


Cabo San Lucas Marina

Time to start posting some travel photos. This one was taken at the beginning of my Royal Caribbean Panama Canal cruise on April 3rd, 2014. The cruise would be an adventure from the beginning. It was the first ever cruise I would join late. What do I mean by late? I mean that the cruise had already started on April 1st. The cruise began in San Diego, California. However, to keep the folks where I work happy, I'd agreed to cut 2 days off the cruise by joining it in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. You can join Royal Caribbean cruises late or leave early as I've found out the last 2 months. However, there are conditions. In the case of joining a cruise late, the cruise must be open ended i.e. it starts in one port and finishes in another. Also, you must notify Royal Caribbean in advance if you plan to do this and get approval from their security. My travel agent Joel Mills did that though it was still a little scary as I did wonder if the ship would know I was coming. I'd never been to Cabo San Lucas before and, I didn't want a screw up and have to try to get back home from there.

The airport that serves Cabo San Lucas is at Los Cabos. From there, I took a shuttle that was supposed to drove me off at the Wyndham but, I got it to drop me off close to the pier. Then, I walked to the pier with my suitcase and introduced myself to the Mexican security there. To my relief, they had my name in one of their books. They checked my passport, verified that I was who I said I was and let me through. Then, I got to go through the routine again with Royal Caribbean.

Once they confirmed I was who I claimed to be, they gave me my SeaPass which I would use to get on board the ship with. As the port/marina is very small at Cabo San Lucas, you have to tender out to your cruise ship. Once on board my ship Legend of the Seas, I'd finish my in-processing with the ship and my cruise would begin. It was the beginning of a very fun 2 week adventure. Stay tuned for more posts.

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