Embarkation Day!

This morning we were both awake very early, 4:30 for Debbie and 5:30 for me.  It's always hard to sleep-in before we leave on a long trip.  It's difficult to shut down your mind when thinking about the upcoming experience and going through our mental checklist.  Even though we pack off an extensive travel checklist, we always worry we forgot to pack something.

We were picked up at 11:00.  When boarding a ship in San Pedro, we usually leave home at 12:00/12:30 but the ship is leaving early today, at 3 pm.

There was minimal traffic and we made it to the port in record time, 45 minutes!  And then we got a huge surprise.  The line of cars waiting to enter the terminal area was backed up all the way to the off-ramp and was not moving.  It took 35 minutes just to enter the terminal parking lot.

And then, wham another long line of passengers waiting to enter the Terminal.  Apparently, CBP was very slow disembarking the arriving passengers.  The last passengers were not off until 10:30.  They did not start embarking new passengers until 11:30.

This was further complicated by Princess collecting Passports at check-in.  We waited outside for 90 minutes before making it into the building.  Once inside, we were onboard in 10 minutes.

                               Click on Photos to Enlarge

Nice to have friends working onboard.  This was waiting for us and we needed it!

After a tuna sandwich at the International Cafe, we returned to our cabin to start unpacking.

                             These were also waiting for us...