Over Christmas break I ended up going on a 4 night cruise to Cozumel Mexico with JT.
It was sort of a last minute decision but resulted in us getting a BOGO deal with Royal Caribbean.
It was my first trip to a country that the first language is not English although lots of the locals seemed to have basic understanding. I had to try to remember every bit of Espanol I learned in Junior High School.
Day 1
Independence of the Seas
We had to drive down to Ft. Lauderdale, FL and park our car in the covered parking garage. Then a shuttle bus came and took us to the Royal Caribbean Check In station.
Good thing we printed our luggage tags at home before we left because it allowed the porter to collect it from us quickly and start taking it out to our ship.
We each kept an overnight bag with us with the basics in case our luggage was delivered to our room late.
- Change of clothes
- Pajamas
- Sunscreen
- Jacket
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Binoculars
- Swimsuit
- Camera
- Sunglasses
After we dropped off our suitcase we went through security. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the TSA airport security. We were able to take 2 sealed bottles of champagne with us 🙂
Then we checked-in with Royal Caribbean and collected our Seapass cards. It’s pretty much the card you need for your room key, port departure and boarding, drink package, and if you link your credit card to it you can use it for onboard purchases. I’d recommend linking a credit card to it so you don’t have to pay a bill at the desk at the end of the cruise. Once the card is linked the purchases are done but be careful not to lose the Seapass card. I got a glittery lanyard and cardholder at the port for mine which was easy to keep with me.