New Program called "The Key"

[tinkr2]

On 4/6/2019 at 3:09 PM, Roose said:

I was interested in the key but as our whole party are vegetarian I contacted Royal Caribbean about the Chop’s grille lunch as nothing vegetarian was listed on the menu. Sadly I was told our dietary requirements could not be met and we should eat somewhere else! 

Jamies has vegetarian options on their key menu.But I would email the special needs department. They are very good about dietary restrictions. I would not believe anything the customer service people say. They never have a clue.

[tinkr2]

10 hours ago, kdeason912 said:

Yea, we specifically asked and were told our rooms would be ready at 12... others aren't ready until 130... we also saw some people with larger bags in chops which I'm sure they would have preferred to get rid of so IDK why thisbwasnt available today. We didn't mind bc we don't carry much on anyway but I would have been frustrated had we carried on larger bags banking on the check bags option...

I would rather have my cabin at 1200 but thats not really the point.We only carry our medication and valuables on, so I was not planning on dropping bags. They just seem to do what they want with The Key benefits. I agree that some people were probably counting on dropping off luggage right away.

[alexpfsu]

20 hours ago, kdeason912 said:

Boarded Harmony this am with the key. We arrived at Port Everglades about 1015 and literally walked straight through security and check in. Waited about 10 minutes to board because they weren't boarding anyone when we arrived. Back to back cruisers were scanned through first, of course, followed by suite guests then key guests. We were easily in the first 50 people on board. There was a designated waiting area for key holders. Once on board we got our wrist bands, wifi access codes, and waited around for lunch at Chops. We arrived at 1135 and were seated immediately, place was never full while we were there. No place to check carry on luggage on this cruise but rooms were ready at 12. Daily times for most activities, with 2 times on flowrider some days. Ice skating only has one time for the whole week. Just from the boarding process alone they key purchase has totally been worth it to this point! 

Are you able to "cut" the line if you choose to for Flowrider and such? I know others have posted that during normal operations that you are given priority on all activities. Or does the Key now only help for 1 Flowrider/Zipline (ect) during the only posted Key time? 

 

This was one of the main reasons for booking the Key.  Otherwise with the new Terminal A in Miami its not really worth it for my family in upgrading the Key.  Getting on and off the ship now is extremely fast for everyone with the way it was built (from what I have read online.)  Buying internet and lunch at chops will be a lot cheaper than getting the Key.

[alexpfsu]

On 4/7/2019 at 8:32 AM, TennisCruiser62 said:

Hi All,

onboard Anthem heading to Bahamas right now. Yesterday at embarkation with the key...

There WAS a special “The Key” line for security. Bypassed the much longer line of security for regular passengers. Just tell them you purchased the Key since we didn’t have the key marked on our Set Sail Pass. After security we were directed to the shorter line for checkin, behind one person only。after checkin, they sent us to the entrance for “Suite” members. We walked straight onto the ship, while we saw a ton of passengers in a Non-Key area sitting and waiting. Very crowded there! We were onboard before 10:20am! 

Dropped off a bag in theater where they issued a wristlet to wear the first day so staff knew you were a Key member. 180 Keys sold this cruise. I asked. 

Too early for lunch at Jaimies so we went to ride the bumper cars while we waited. Very fun!

11:30- showed up at Jaimie’s. Not crowded st first so service started out well. As more and more passengers came we saw less and less of our waiter. Pasta was really good and burgers others were eating looked delicious!

No Key program used in any shows tonight. Good seats in both Royal Theater and Two70 for tonight. 

Not many special hours for Key members this week. Think it’s still school break. Almost 100 junior passengers aboard.

 

 

Are you able to "cut" the line if you choose to for Flowrider and such? I know others have posted that during normal operations that you are given priority on all activities. Or does the Key now only help for 1 Flowrider/Zipline (ect) during the only posted Key time? 

 

Can you post the front of the Key letter that you have (i think it is the other-side of the activists sheet).

[TheRisleyFamily2021]

14 hours ago, MissLittle1959 said:

Where exactly do we go to get a reservation for iFly?

iFly showed up in our cruise planner for both if our Anthem Cruises;  it was booked solid and removed from the planner pretty fast. It would occasionally reappear, I assume as people canceled their reservations.  I am not sure where to book on the ship, can anyone with experience post where to book iFly once on the ship? 

[ShillyShally]

1 hour ago, alexpfsu said:

 

Are you able to "cut" the line if you choose to for Flowrider and such? I know others have posted that during normal operations that you are given priority on all activities. Or does the Key now only help for 1 Flowrider/Zipline (ect) during the only posted Key time? 

 

Can you post the front of the Key letter that you have (i think it is the other-side of the activists sheet).

Unfortunately this seems to be changing weekly even on the same ship - it is almost guaranteed to get you one or the other but likely not both priority and exclusive times.

[TanaQ]

22 hours ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

About 10:20 am. There were so many more people there before us waiting in seats for regular boarding. We never had to sit. 

 

Maybe I got super lucky. I was on Anthem in February during school break and we got onboard quickly without the Key. We got to port around 10:30 and had lunch and in our cabin by 1 sharp.

No long lines for embarking or itinerary ports either. I'm probably now completely jinxing us for our Saturday departure for Bermuda. I'll report after!

[kdeason912]

1 hour ago, alexpfsu said:

Are you able to "cut" the line if you choose to for Flowrider and such? I know others have posted that during normal operations that you are given priority on all activities. Or does the Key now only help for 1 Flowrider/Zipline (ect) during the only posted Key time? 

 

This was one of the main reasons for booking the Key.  Otherwise with the new Terminal A in Miami its not really worth it for my family in upgrading the Key.  Getting on and off the ship now is extremely fast for everyone with the way it was built (from what I have read online.)  Buying internet and lunch at chops will be a lot cheaper than getting the Key.

 I haven't been to any activities yet so I can't report on cutting lines, etc. The way the in room letter reads they arent doing it that way this week. There are flowrider hours everyday for key holders. 

[kdeason912]

Used the key for Grease in the Royal Theatre n Harmony last night and seating was the top 5 rows of the bottom level of the theatre. Great seats, same area was for Suites, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle guests. Our brochure in room says reservations are required and we had them but no one scanned our cards, they only looked for our key symbol. We arrived about 15 minutes before the show started and there were plenty of seats. They removed the barriers about 5 minutes before the show. So far, for the 2 of us, the cost of the key has been totally worth what we paid. Oh, and obviously the internet is working well. I'm in my interior room sending this on a sea day and have had zero problems with connections. 

[alexpfsu]

1 hour ago, kdeason912 said:

 I haven't been to any activities yet so I can't report on cutting lines, etc. The way the in room letter reads they arent doing it that way this week. There are flowrider hours everyday for key holders. 

I am going on SOTS on June 1st, another Oasis class like Harmony.  Can you post your activities sheet that they gave you with the times of the activities for the week.  I know that it will more than likely change in the next 54 days. Just trying to get a better picture of where it started and where it is going. 

 

Thanks for helping with posting how the Key is working and not what they should be doing or not doing.

[tinkr2]

1 hour ago, kdeason912 said:

Used the key for Grease in the Royal Theatre n Harmony last night and seating was the top 5 rows of the bottom level of the theatre. Great seats, same area was for Suites, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle guests. Our brochure in room says reservations are required and we had them but no one scanned our cards, they only looked for our key symbol. We arrived about 15 minutes before the show started and there were plenty of seats. They removed the barriers about 5 minutes before the show. So far, for the 2 of us, the cost of the key has been totally worth what we paid. Oh, and obviously the internet is working well. I'm in my interior room sending this on a sea day and have had zero problems with connections. 

Will you post a picture of your key letter and the activities schedule? That seems to be where the most discrepancy is between the ships and the weeks.

[TennisCruiser62]

3 hours ago, alexpfsu said:

 

Are you able to "cut" the line if you choose to for Flowrider and such? I know others have posted that during normal operations that you are given priority on all activities. Or does the Key now only help for 1 Flowrider/Zipline (ect) during the only posted Key time? 

 

Can you post the front of the Key letter that you have (i think it is the other-side of the activists sheet).

Hi All,

Day 3 & 6 are Key only Flowrider at 9-10am. There were at least 12 of us, so I only got to take two turns. Two times in line and two tries each. A lot of young kids trying it as it’s spring break for some schools. Staff did a good job asking if people were Key members and needed to check the seapass cards for the Key. 

Yesterday at Key hour for Rock climbing they didn’t do as good a job looking at everyone’s Seapass. Pretty sure there were 3 people without the Key. But it went okay. 

We saw people in a standby line and reservations only line for the Northstar. If you don’t have reservations, forget it! People in the standby line waited and didn’t get on.

 

In the main Royal Theater on Anthem, reserved seating were rows 3&4 from the stage. Top balcony had the platinum and Gold special people. Never asked if we could sit there. The Key rows were manned by staff until 5 min before hey opened up to everyone. 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

1 hour ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

 

 

1 hour ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

Hi All,

Day 3 & 6 are Key only Flowrider at 9-10am. There were at least 12 of us, so I only got to take two turns

Wow - does not seem like a good deal at all!😱

[TennisCruiser62]

40 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

 

Wow - does not seem like a good deal at all!😱

If you are buying the Key mainly for Flowrider I can see how people might complain. But it is spring break and pretty full ship. I suppose if you go off season when kids are back in school it would cut down the line. 

Oh, and we did receive a plate of fruit in our cabin but by the time we came back the fruit had a rancid smell. That seems useless as you can just to to Windjammers etc for the same fruit! 

I figured the Key is worth it cuz maybe non key times there will be an even longer crowd.

Do remember and iFly, Northstar and shows you can book ahead, do it cuz those reservations go fast

 

40 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

 

Wow - does not seem like a good deal at all!😱

 

[chadcf]

Does anyone know how far in advance they start selling this? My cruise is a good 18 months out and lots of things aren't available in the cruise planner, but I'm curious when I should start watching out for the key to be purchasable. 

[Clarea]

5 minutes ago, chadcf said:

Does anyone know how far in advance they start selling this? My cruise is a good 18 months out and lots of things aren't available in the cruise planner, but I'm curious when I should start watching out for the key to be purchasable. 

 

Hasn't been around long enough for anyone to notice a pattern.

[seanjulz]

6 hours ago, kdeason912 said:

 I haven't been to any activities yet so I can't report on cutting lines, etc. The way the in room letter reads they arent doing it that way this week. There are flowrider hours everyday for key holders. 

Are you able to post a picture of the flowrider hours pleeeeeeease

[sandebeach]

3 hours ago, chadcf said:

Does anyone know how far in advance they start selling this? My cruise is a good 18 months out and lots of things aren't available in the cruise planner, but I'm curious when I should start watching out for the key to be purchasable. 

I was able to buy the Key last month for my December cruise, so they do currently sell it at least 9 months out. 

[TennisCruiser62]

3 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Hasn't been around long enough for anyone to notice a pattern.

I know they will sell The Key until the very last possible day until the reach 200. The Key was still available two days before sailing because they only sold 180. The price goes up closer to sailing also. 

Make sure you reserve online iFly, Northstar and all possible big shoes. 

[Clarea]

21 minutes ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

I know they will sell The Key until the very last possible day until the reach 200. The Key was still available two days before sailing because they only sold 180. The price goes up closer to sailing also. 

Make sure you reserve online iFly, Northstar and all possible big shoes. 

 

Is the number of Key guests 200 now?  I thought it was limited to 100.

[kdeason912]

So HOS day 2, sea day, went to The Fine Line show in the Aqua Theatre tonight. Arrived about 15 minutes early. They were checking for reservations tonight and had reserved seating, center section top 4 or 5 rows, HOWEVER... arriving 15 minutes early the section was already full, sort of. There were people holding seats for other guests that had not yet arrived. I was slightly frustrated and did say something to the girl manning the rope but got little response from her. There were still decent seats available in other areas so no big loss just frustrating. Moral of this post is to arrive earlier than 15 minutes before the Aqua Theatre shows. I will post activity schedule at some point. 

[MissLittle1959]

41 minutes ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

I know they will sell The Key until the very last possible day until the reach 200. The Key was still available two days before sailing because they only sold 180. The price goes up closer to sailing also. 

Make sure you reserve online iFly, Northstar and all possible big shoes. 

For our cruise this saturday it is still 24.99 but unavailable online, so I'm guessing they reached the 200.  Out of 3000 passengers, that's quite a low number and I'm happy for that.

[MissLittle1959]

38 minutes ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Is the number of Key guests 200 now?  I thought it was limited to 100.

I have read they upped it to 200.  Still not a huge percentage of guests on the larger ships at least.

[chadcf]

1 hour ago, sandebeach said:

I was able to buy the Key last month for my December cruise, so they do currently sell it at least 9 months out. 

Awesome, I'll have to keep an eye out. What section in the cruise planner is it under? I'm guessing Internet & More? I'm so far out everything just says it's unavailable except excursions at ports. 

[sandebeach]

29 minutes ago, chadcf said:

Awesome, I'll have to keep an eye out. What section in the cruise planner is it under? I'm guessing Internet & More? I'm so far out everything just says it's unavailable except excursions at ports. 

Yes, it will show up under the Internet & More section.