Set it up at the destination.
You would not save time by opening the box, putting it on the network, re-packing it and shipping it.
The access point at the destination would follow the normal discovery process upgrade itself and put itself in the default ap group.
If you pre-stage an AP to a cluster, it will stick to that cluster, which will cost you time trying to figure things out.
Ship the access point to the destination and configure your discovery method there (dns, dhcp option or deploy the AP on the same vlan as the controller), and everything will be fine.
On a different note: If this is a multi-site deployment, please solicit the help of a Value Added Reseller or your local Aruba Sales Engineer to supplement the advice you are given here. Even though we try to give the best of advice here on the forum, there are plenty of ways to go wrong that could hobble your deployment structurally if not designed properly. There are many details that a VAR or your Aruba Sales Engineer can help with that we cannot see or comment on in this forum.