New Program called "The Key"

[happymanitee]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

It’s only a three day so I didn’t expect much but I had hoped for at least 1 flow rider hour on our Cococay day. 

 

The current description of The Key still says

 

"Private hours at onboard activities including Rock Climbing, FlowRider and more. The private hours schedule will be provided on the welcome letter you will receive with your SeaPass card"

 

It specifically says that the private hours include the flow rider. I would definitely go complain about that.

 

Edited to add- Oops- I read that wrong.  I didn't see any Flowrider times.  But, now I see that one on day 3.  My mistake

Edited April 26, 2019 by happymanitee

[Ashland]

Am I still the only one that thinks the "Key" is actually a rip off and completely unnecessary  

[dacsmom]

13 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Am I still the only one that thinks the "Key" is actually a rip off and completely unnecessary  

I got it at $19 and thought that was a great deal. Between the Internet and lunch at Chops, it really did not cost me much more. I would not get it at $37 since I have most of the other perks. For some first time cruisers it may be worth it to them. I do not think it is a rip off and unnecessary at all, I think it gives people options just like the drink packages. For some they think it is a rip off, while others will not sail without it. It is a personal preference.

[Tree_skier]

Ok so a day 1 review of the Key on Mariner of the Seas

 

In terminal A in Miami through security...  if you’re not going to get there at before 1030 and get in ahead of the crowd the key is no advantage.  

 

Getting on on the ship is no advantage. 

 

Bag drop in theatre FAIL

 

Key lunch was fine for us. There was a pretty good line waiting to get in when we left so if you’re not there right at 12 it’s might not be as great. 

 

Ice show tonight we got great seats in the Key section which on the side first four rows four wide of either side of the middle aisle. We arrived 10 minutes to show time.  At 1 minute to show time there was plenty of good seats still available so it was a bit of a saw off. 

 

I didnt get to the skating between 1 and 230. So no comment . 

[37645]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

Am I still the only one that thinks the "Key" is actually a rip off and completely unnecessary  

 

I totally agree. Even when it was 19.99 that is per person per day. So for two people on a 7 night would be around $280. I think that it would be worth it possibly if you would use those activities such as if you had kids but for me personally 19.99 per person per day was still too much money. We don’t do any of those activities, we can’t eat in chops, we have already got internet which we could get for half the price of the Key and we personally don’t see a need for a special breakfast in debarkation, but that’s just us. Based upon what we would actually use, it would just be internet, earlier boarding, and special seating at shows. And I just done personally see how it’s worth an extra $280. But again, that’s just our opinion on it and it wholly depends on if you would actually enjoy the benefits that it offers to make the price worth it. Now if it was per cabin per day then it would be worth it in my opinion. Happy Cruising everyone 🙂

[JasonMason]

So I was all set to actually do The Key for our upcoming Anthem cruise in a few weeks. Jumped on to the Cruise Planner yesterday to find the price had jumped to $37.99/pp/pd (would shake out to $380 total). 

 

...Hard pass, especially after reading the last few posts!

Edited April 27, 2019 by JasonMason

[skiiergirl]

Thank to all for the replies. 

[Ashland]

On 4/5/2019 at 5:21 PM, poohbear95 said:

Please share your experiences with the Key program. I’ve just read a review of the Key program on Allure of the Seas and it sounded like a ripped off:  no priority embarkation or debarkation, no bags dropped off, seats only hold for 5 min., etc. 

+1...Agree....this is just another scheme to up sell.

[Ashland]

35 minutes ago, 37645 said:

 

I totally agree. Even when it was 19.99 that is per person per day. So for two people on a 7 night would be around $280. I think that it would be worth it possibly if you would use those activities such as if you had kids but for me personally 19.99 per person per day was still too much money. We don’t do any of those activities, we can’t eat in chops, we have already got internet which we could get for half the price of the Key and we personally don’t see a need for a special breakfast in debarkation, but that’s just us. Based upon what we would actually use, it would just be internet, earlier boarding, and special seating at shows. And I just done personally see how it’s worth an extra $280. But again, that’s just our opinion on it and it wholly depends on if you would actually enjoy the benefits that it offers to make the price worth it. Now if it was per cabin per day then it would be worth it in my opinion. Happy Cruising everyone 🙂

Hmmm...What up sell scheme will RCI come up with next ?

[Notcaptain4once]

We are going on Allure in July for our 10 year anniversary. We wanted a junior suite but figured we would be just fine with a boardwalk balcony and have some more coin for other things on and off the ship. So we purchased the key based on boarding, lunch, show seating and activities. If the last few reviews about “the key” are what we would experience it’s a waist of $350.00. 

Has anybody recently sailed allure and purchased the key and if so how was your experience with it?

[cre8tiv]

21 minutes ago, Notcaptain4once said:

We are going on Allure in July for our 10 year anniversary. We wanted a junior suite but figured we would be just fine with a boardwalk balcony and have some more coin for other things on and off the ship. So we purchased the key based on boarding, lunch, show seating and activities. If the last few reviews about “the key” are what we would experience it’s a waist of $350.00. 

Has anybody recently sailed allure and purchased the key and if so how was your experience with it?

Interested in the same info! 

[Notcaptain4once]

@cre8tiv when are you sailing allure?

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, GEORGIEGIRL said:

We used the "KEY" on our "Enchantment" cruise in March. Lunch in Chops was average, boarding the ship was easy and quick. Luggage carry-on drop-off was smooth and painless. Made it to our room before we did at 1:00 pm. We never used it for the shows or any other perks. Disembarkation breakfast was "FANTASTIC" (Crab Cake Benny was out of this world) got lead right to the front of the line and we were through customs and on the road in less than 30 mins.

 

Overall my experience was mixed. However my wife wanted to try it and she said it was worth the extra money. Me, I'm not so sure...

So an average lunch in Chop's....disembarkation breakfast great...but could you have gotten the same without the Key in the MDR?.....and front of the line....And this all cost an extra how much ?? 

Not sure I get how this could be worth it ??

[tinkr2]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

So an average lunch in Chop's....disembarkation breakfast great...but could you have gotten the same without the Key in the MDR?.....and front of the line....And this all cost an extra how much ?? 

Not sure I get how this could be worth it ??

I guess it depends on the person. Everyone values different things. They did not use it for the show or the activities, but they could have.The flowrider is a big deal for us, usually, but sudden hand surgery so he can not do it next week. It was only an extra 40 above internet and lunch, which we always do, not a big gamble. It seems worth it to me. I have it for 2 cruises. We will see how it is next week. maybe I will not value it bc of the lack of use of activities. Or maybe I will value the easy debarkation more since he can't haul our luggage like usual.

[mcdni]

9 hours ago, Notcaptain4once said:

We are going on Allure in July for our 10 year anniversary. We wanted a junior suite but figured we would be just fine with a boardwalk balcony and have some more coin for other things on and off the ship. So we purchased the key based on boarding, lunch, show seating and activities. If the last few reviews about “the key” are what we would experience it’s a waist of $350.00. 

Has anybody recently sailed allure and purchased the key and if so how was your experience with it?

I’m on the Allure at the moment with the key. I’ll post a full review once I’m in the airport with some time tomorrow. 

[blueridgemama]

Question for the hosts:

Can you please start a new thread for the Key and label it  "The Key: Actual reviews only and identify ship" or something to that affect.  It is so frustrating to continue to read through all the unhelpful posts in the current threads as so much of it is from people who have not actually used the program but feel necessary to vent how it is a waste of money etc. I am interested in reading actual reviews specific to which ship the reviewer was on.

T

On 4/22/2019 at 8:21 PM, cre8tiv said:

 

😞

 

 

[marci22]

18 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

Question for the hosts:

Can you please start a new thread for the Key and label it  "The Key: Actual reviews only and identify ship" or something to that affect.  It is so frustrating to continue to read through all the unhelpful posts in the current threads as so much of it is from people who have not actually used the program but feel necessary to vent how it is a waste of money etc. I am interested in reading actual reviews specific to which ship the reviewer was on.

T

 

 

Start your own thread. Title it: Actual Key Reviews

 

In the first post, describe what you want.

 

Realize that you can't fight the internet.

[Biker19]

22 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

  It is so frustrating to continue to read through all the unhelpful posts in the current threads as so much of it is from people who have not actually used the program but feel necessary to vent how it is a waste of money etc.

That'll happen in a new thread as well.

 

Biker, who wonders if the new CC has the last version's 5000 post/thread limit.

Edited April 27, 2019 by Biker19

[ZoeyVictoria]

14 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

It’s only a three day so I didn’t expect much but I had hoped for at least 1 flow rider hour on our Cococay day. 

 

 

So, if you had dropped off your luggage with the porters instead of carrying it on, you would need to have long pants and socks in your carryon to take advantage of ice skating.  How many people keep long pants in their carryon for a Caribbean cruise in April?  If you had your schedule in advance, you could have done just that.  But, am I correct in understanding that the letters are received in the cabin, after the starting time of the scheduled activity?  Is there one bit of common sense applied to this process?

[blueridgemama]

14 minutes ago, marci22 said:

Start your own thread. Title it: Actual Key Reviews

 

In the first post, describe what you want.

 

Realize that you can't fight the internet.

 

it seems that when new threads on the Key are started they get lumped into the original thread.

[MichiganMan4]

Just off the 4/20 Symphony and had The Key.   Was able to book it for $20 pp per day. 

 

My apologies on regurgitating the commentary from others here but the long and short of it is for Oasis Class out of Miami.  I wouldn’t bother.  For us that is.

 

The boarding and disembarkation process in

Miami is so good streamlined that we didn’t even use any perks.  We checked all our bags so we had nothing to checks at the Theater. 

 

We had a late breakfast so Chops lunch wasn’t of use. 

 

Priority hours were limited (1 hour per venue for the week) and late.  

 

Reserved theater seating was nice, but both times we wanted to use it, our dinner ran long and while we able to get in, didn’t use the seating.  (Yes, it was my issue for only scheduling 1.5 hours for dinner).

 

The only “new benefit” (at least that I knew of) is unlimited towel access.  You don’t have to check in/check out towels.   As someone who is a stickler to the towel process already, it’s not a huge perk.  But I was able to use it to diffuse a towel argument while on an excursion.  “Here, take mine” made a tense situation in foreign country disappear.   Good perk.

 

Departure breakfast was good, but nothing unlike the dining all week.   Although I may have been “foodied out” after 7 days. 

 

YMMV and I give Royal credit for trying to provide new and innovative services (even if it costs $).  But for our upcoming Oasis Class ships out Miami, we will pass on the Key.

 

I did not see any negative impact to other customer’s experiences as a result of our Key access. 

 

If you feel it may a value to you buy it, buy it.  If you don’t, don’t.  

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

 

So, if you had dropped off your luggage with the porters instead of carrying it on, you would need to have long pants and socks in your carryon to take advantage of ice skating.  How many people keep long pants in their carryon for a Caribbean cruise in April?  If you had your schedule in advance, you could have done just that.  But, am I correct in understanding that the letters are received in the cabin, after the starting time of the scheduled activity?  Is there one bit of common sense applied to this process?

You are correct. Letter was in cabin and we had access to our cabins at 130 and 3/4 bags arrived in about an hour. 

[Tree_skier]

Received the fruit plate that has been mentioned previously. It’s interesting that RC literature says nothing about that perk. 

[MichiganMan4]

31 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Received the fruit plate that has been mentioned previously. It’s interesting that RC literature says nothing about that perk. 

 

No fruit plate for us...  not that we needed it.  Vitality Spa and Park Cafe were each 1 floor away. 

 

Out of curiosity, did they deliver it daily? Or just once?

[marci22]

5 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

 

it seems that when new threads on the Key are started they get lumped into the original thread.

Try it and see. This thread is relatively old.