We cruised on 2/13-2/21/16 on the Anthem of the Seas! Our cruise was the one after the ship had been caught in the storm and suffered some damage notably to the azipods. We were not sure if the ship would be cleared to sail by the USCG until the day before we left. The only information we received from RCI was the message banner on the website stating that we were sailing.

There were eight of us booked to sail. Our two daughters, our son-in-law, and three teenage grandchildren. Since we live about 45 minutes from the port, we drove and parked in the parking garage. We arrived at the port around 11am and had a check-in time of 11:30am. We were greeted by a RCI employee with an IPad who checked our set sail passes and took photos, went through Security and waited until 11:30 to board. At 11:30 there was an announcement that the USCG had cleared the ship and boarding commenced.

We were greeted by waiters handing out champagne to the boarding guests. That was a welcome treat and it made it feel special. Because there were no passengers disembarking (the ship had been in Port for two days doing repairs), there was an Announcement that the Staterooms were open. We were able to drop off our luggage and headed to Windjammer for lunch. Read more