New Program called "The Key"

[Orsino]

1 hour ago, firemanswife2 said:

Do you have "key" time today, on a port day, as well?

Today is Nassau day. There are two Key times. 1pm for Flowrider and 5pm for the rock wall. We plan to do both. 

[Orsino]

The key times for the 10 feb 2019 oasis cruise: eastern Caribbean out of port canaveral. 

[Orsino]

Key Flowrider hour 11February 2019 on Oasis. Port day in Nassau. 1-2pm

 

there were a total of 7 unique individuals at the key Flowrider hour. At the beginning there were 6 but two disappeared after one run each. I don’t know why they left. We were then 4 for a while then number seven joined and we were 5 for the rest of the hour. 

 

At the end of the key hour the line for boogie boarding was about 8 people not counting us. Stand up was 5 or 6. With two of those being key people. I have a suspicion that the two keys that disappeared went to the stand up line, but I don’t know that for sure. 

 

We had a great time, but I’m not yet convinced that the key makes sense from a value perspective regarding Flowrider, but I did appreciate being able to try it multiple times with short waits. I think that helps quite a bit for learning.

 

In truth it will be a bit random. You could be on a cruise with few key Flowrider and tons of non key riders or not. It seems like this cruise doesn’t have many non key riders. Maybe it is because today was a port day. We shall see what happens later in the week. I’m not expecting the key line to be less than 4 people at all this cruise. There are the two of us and two others were there today that had their own boards. I expect to see them at all the key times. 

[Thorben-Hendrik]

2 minutes ago, Orsino said:

At the end of the key hour the line for boogie boarding was about 8 people not counting us. 

Is the "key hour" for boogie boarding or stand-up🤔

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

Is the "key hour" for boogie boarding or stand-up🤔

You can do either.

[Orsino]

The key hour takes over the boogie boarding side, but the key guest have their choice to do either. The stand up side operates normally. 

[aespo4]

1 minute ago, Orsino said:

The key hour takes over the boogie boarding side, but the key guest have their choice to do either. The stand up side operates normally. 

That is good to know that there is a choice. Thanks for the update!!

[duderino]

We had the Key on Adventure of the Seas.   In my opinion, if you want flowrider time, it is worth it.   Otherwise it would have been harder to justify.

 

  We arrived at the terminal alittle after 11:00, and there was no one there waiting.  Everyone had boarded already so although we were able to go to the suite check in line, it wouldn’t have mattered.

 

The lunch on embarkation was very nice.   Starting off vacation with the chaos of the buffet is not my favorite.

 

No reservations for shows, so they had saved a section of the theater and  studio B.   The ice show was pretty crowded, so that worked well.   But the shows were not crowded, so the key wasn’t much of a benefit.

 

I had originally booked a group lesson for my 2 boys on the flowrider.   It was $70 each for a group lesson.   It was a Christmas present to them, so after I purchased the Key, I still kept the lesson.   It turned out the didn’t have enough people signed up so it got cancelled, but the staff told us we were getting pretty much the same attention with the Key sessions. 

    The sessions were 1 hour every day.    It was my family of 4 and 2 other people most days.  One day, we couldn’t make it so they had it all to themselves for 1 hour.   The 2^nd to last day,  probably 10 key people showed up to try it.

 

So, to me, it was worth $70 per person per day for flowrider time.    The Advanced session were often right after our time, and I think that group saw the value, so I would hazard a guess that more flowrider  aficionados are going to opt for the Key, and the lines may be a bit longer, but I am just guessing.

 

Also,  the service on the ship was great to begin with, but when they saw you had the Key they did seem extra nice.  

Edited February 11, 2019 by duderino

[Orsino]

11 Feb 2019 Oasis of the seas. Main theater

 

Did not need to scan my card to get into Cats tonight. Key seats are in the back. Plus is they are in the center and have a generous rake so sight lines should be good. Downside is they are in the back. 

 

We opted to sit in regular seats because we like to be close. We ended up going in super early because we finished with dinner and didn’t have anything else to do. 

 

I’ll call this a push for The Key. 

[revjamesl]

So I just heard about this program today and heard it was limited to the first 100 folks that sign-up; this apparently came from a RC employee. I live in Galveston County so those do exist in my area.

 

It is available on the Symphony. Is it worth it? Thoughts? Is it really that limited?

[smeck]

if Royal isn’t doing this they should.  With so many ship classes the key program may be great with the Oasis class ships but not so great 

on a Radiance class ship.  Royal should have tiered pricing according to class of ships, one size does not fit all.

[marcg125]

Here is a video of regular cruisers Sean and Stef from their youtube channel where they recently sailed on Symphony of the Seas using The Key. This is a vlog of their embarkation day on Symphony but they do show you some features based off The Key in the video.

 

 

They also have a link in the description of the video which leads you to their blog where they fully discuss how The Key was used on their cruise.

https://seanandstefirl.blog/2019/02/11/the-key-unlock-exclusive-benefits-on-royal-caribbean/

 

[xpcdoojk]

Yeah, but enthusiasm knows no bounds.

 

jc

[SkaterJasp]

19 hours ago, Lv2sail_18 said:

 

Thank you for sharing your experience! Do you happen to recall the reserved Flowrider and iFly times? Was there reserved time for the North Star?

It was mostly before or after the regular flowrider time... mostly 9AM. It was different on both 8 night cruises. iFly time and North Star reservation were preassigned. 

[SkaterJasp]

16 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

If you are the same Jasper that was on the Symphony TA, this is JC from the flowrider.

 

jc

hi jc

[spookwife]

yes it is limited, as it should be as it is granting  what amounts to the perks of Pinnacle and Suites to  just anyone.  

 

most people on the boards  have decided that it really isn't worth it in the grand scheme of things.  there are other ways to  get nearly the same experience( without having to book a suite)  

 

think of it as Royal's version of faster to the Fun offered by Carnival.  

[blueridgemama]

9 hours ago, revjamesl said:

So I just heard about this program today and heard it was limited to the first 100 folks that sign-up; this apparently came from a RC employee. I live in Galveston County so those do exist in my area.

 

It is available on the Symphony. Is it worth it? Thoughts? Is it really that limited?

 

I would take issue with the last poster who said "most people  have decided that it isn't worth it" There are several reviews from people that have actually used the program who have been very pleased with the benefits and perks that it offers. Since it is a new program there have been some changes made to the original perks. You might want to go to the other thread on this subject and read some of the actual reviews (not the opinions of those that have not actually used the program) There is a review from someone who was on the Symphony of the Seas. After you read the description of the benefits  only you can decide if it is worth it.

[whyrlygig]

We have decided it is very much worth it.  Our party is looking forward to the added benefits!  

[Port72]

The "worth" of this program is strictly personal, as is the "worth" of the beverage package or the dinning package, these are all up sells that some people are willing to spend and believe it is worth it and others who do not see the value.

 

All personal preference, I enjoy hearing the reviews and comments (good and bad), will this sway my own opinion? Probably not but I do like getting the information.

 

In the end, you need to decide if spending the extra $$ is something you are comfortable with.  Personally I did it straight away for our JULY cruise, done and paid for and really not even thinking about it anymore. 

 

 

 

[SouthernAccent]

Wow, so we just decided to book this for our Symphony cruise in May. It went from 19.99 per person per day to 31.99 per day from just a day or so ago! What the heck?! This has put it out of range for us to get it now!?

[ShillyShally]

10 minutes ago, SouthernAccent said:

Wow, so we just decided to book this for our Symphony cruise in May. It went from 19.99 per person per day to 31.99 per day from just a day or so ago! What the heck?! This has put it out of range for us to get it now!?

Did they suddenly add a lot of perks?  That would put it out of range for a lot of us, me included.  We are trying it on Indy next month but wouldn't have at that price!

[Alzaman]

6 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Did they suddenly add a lot of perks?  That would put it out of range for a lot of us, me included.  We are trying it on Indy next month but wouldn't have at that price!

Wow I just checked for our cruise my wife and I are taking on the Anthem Oct 24.  We purchased the key at 19.99 and it has gone up to 31.99.  I am glad we acted early.

[ShillyShally]

2 minutes ago, Alzaman said:

Wow I just checked for our cruise my wife and I are taking on the Anthem Oct 24.  We purchased the key at 19.99 and it has gone up to 31.99.  I am glad we acted early.

Still $19.99 for Indy next month - I wonder if they've added additional features on the Oasis Class ships that drove up the price?  I don't see many people biting at that price - we splurged to try in on Indy even though just a couple features appealed to us and it's a shorter cruise but I never would have looked for $31.99/day!

[Dixie1337]

4 minutes ago, Alzaman said:

Wow I just checked for our cruise my wife and I are taking on the Anthem Oct 24.  We purchased the key at 19.99 and it has gone up to 31.99.  I am glad we acted early.

 

Same for my cruise, it's $41.91 CDN now 😮

 

 

[ZoeyVictoria]

$31.99 per day pp for the 3/9/19 sailing of the Symphony, and not available to book online.  I was not going to purchase it in any case, but...