Is "The Key" even offered of Anthem?

[JAMESCC]

I never thought I'd look into this but why not check it out. Some of the perks are cool. I just want to look into it, and make a decision, but I don't even know if The Key is offered on Anthem? Does anyone know? 

[MaryCS62]

I was on Anthem in January and saw signs in the Theater "For Key Members Only" outside 1 seating area, so I would say that it is.

[reallyitsmema]

15 minutes ago, JAMESCC said:

I never thought I'd look into this but why not check it out. Some of the perks are cool. I just want to look into it, and make a decision, but I don't even know if The Key is offered on Anthem? Does anyone know? 

 

It was on our sailing in January.  We didn't buy it, but friends did.

[JAMESCC]

9 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

It was on our sailing in January.  We didn't buy it, but friends did.

Thank you so much, and where would I find this being offered if I want to purchase it? Did your friends like the program? Thanks again, I appreciate it.

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, JAMESCC said:

Thank you so much, and where would I find this being offered if I want to purchase it? Did your friends like the program? Thanks again, I appreciate it.

 

It was available to purchase in our cruise planner.  Our friends had some issues with it, but they were also first time cruisers who didn't understand how things work on a ship.  They showed up at port after boarding had already started, so they missed out on the priority boarding.  They showed up to shows almost at show time and seats had been released to standbys.  They enjoyed Chops for embarkation, but got there late and felt rushed.  Mostly newbie issues.  They are getting the Key on their next cruise too, so must not have been that bad.  😄 

[mrb1963]

5 minutes ago, JAMESCC said:

Thank you so much, and where would I find this being offered if I want to purchase it? Did your friends like the program? Thanks again, I appreciate it.

It is in your cruise planner under internet and more.

[JAMESCC]

Thank you so much, appreciate it. I see it now in my cruise planner, now just have to decide. I kinda want to try it just to see. Its 374.85 for 5 days. I don't know maybe.

[Iamcruzin]

42 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

It was available to purchase in our cruise planner.  Our friends had some issues with it, but they were also first time cruisers who didn't understand how things work on a ship.  They showed up at port after boarding had already started, so they missed out on the priority boarding.  They showed up to shows almost at show time and seats had been released to standbys.  They enjoyed Chops for embarkation, but got there late and felt rushed.  Mostly newbie issues.  They are getting the Key on their next cruise too, so must not have been that bad.  😄 

Too bad your friends didn't run it by you so you could drill them on the in's and out's. There is a video on the Key thread of a couple who also purchased the key without full knowledge of it's benefits. They seemed to do alright but they weren't first time cruisers.

[reallyitsmema]

31 minutes ago, JAMESCC said:

Thank you so much, appreciate it. I see it now in my cruise planner, now just have to decide. I kinda want to try it just to see. Its 374.85 for 5 days. I don't know maybe.

 

It really depends on your C&A status, the cost of The Key on your sailing, cost of Voom on your sailing and seat preference.  The Key was $19.99/day and I had purchased Voom for $11.99/day for one of us, we didn't need two simultaneous logins.  So, it was going to be an additional $8/day for one of us and $19.99/day for the other, total additional cost of $223.92 (8 day cruise).  Chops for lunch was around $24 pp, if I remember correctly, so I still needed to justify the additional $176.  The reserved seating, for shows we had already seen three times wasn't worth it to us.  Early boarding, we had with our suite, which boarded at the same time as The Key on our Anthem sailing because everyone basically stormed the doors in the reserved seating area.  Breakfast last day, didn't want it as we stop on the drive home.  We decided to pass on The Key.  We considered it again for our upcoming Harmony sailing, but still not worth it as I never saw The Key cheap on that sailing.

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, Iamcruzin said:

Too bad your friends didn't run it by you so you could drill them on the in's and out's. There is a video on the Key thread of a couple who also purchased the key without full knowledge of it's benefits. They seemed to do alright but they weren't first time cruisers.

 

They were on our rollcall on a different site and many of us tried to tell them to get to the port earlier, timing of shows, etc. but he didn't want to listen.  They had a specific time they wanted to leave in the morning of the cruise for their 3+ hour drive and that was their plan.  Live and learn.  We had the same type of discussion about parking at the port in NJ vs offsite parking, he liked saving the few dollars and waiting to shuttle back and forth.  To each their own, I like to control my own destiny and avoid shuttles if I can.  The extra few dollars a day is worth parking at the port in our mind.

[ptod]

33 minutes ago, JAMESCC said:

Thank you so much, appreciate it. I see it now in my cruise planner, now just have to decide. I kinda want to try it just to see. Its 374.85 for 5 days. I don't know maybe.

 

The Key sold out on my Anthem cruise.  If you have an inkling you may want it and can afford tying up the money, I would buy it.  You can cancel/rebook if you see better pricing, monitor threads for reports on how the program is working on the Anthem and then make a final decision before your cruise.

[JAMESCC]

6 minutes ago, ptod said:

 

The Key sold out on my Anthem cruise.  If you have an inkling you may want it and can afford tying up the money, I would buy it.  You can cancel/rebook if you see better pricing, monitor threads for reports on how the program is working on the Anthem and then make a final decision before your cruise.

Thanks, I think you are right. I need to decide this week I think. I kinda do what to try it just to try it out and see. I do like the priority boarding. We could get there at 10 AM, we only live 30 minutes from Port Liberty. So if we get there at 10 AM we could be on the ship in like 5-10 minutes? How does that work?

[reallyitsmema]

6 minutes ago, JAMESCC said:

Thanks, I think you are right. I need to decide this week I think. I kinda do what to try it just to try it out and see. I do like the priority boarding. We could get there at 10 AM, we only live 30 minutes from Port Liberty. So if we get there at 10 AM we could be on the ship in like 5-10 minutes? How does that work?

 

Anthem boards early usually, but we have never boarded before 10:30am.  I would get there around 10 to 10:15, drop bags, park in the garage and then go in the terminal.  Show your set sail passes and they we direct you through security and to the left where the reserved seating is that is clearly marked The Key.  There is a boarding door directly beside those chairs, when they announce boarding, The Key people started and then all the suite people and pinnacles that were in the other reserved seating all started boarding too.  We were in the WJ before 10:45 😄 

[Iamcruzin]

48 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

They were on our rollcall on a different site and many of us tried to tell them to get to the port earlier, timing of shows, etc. but he didn't want to listen.  They had a specific time they wanted to leave in the morning of the cruise for their 3+ hour drive and that was their plan.  Live and learn.  We had the same type of discussion about parking at the port in NJ vs offsite parking, he liked saving the few dollars and waiting to shuttle back and forth.  To each their own, I like to control my own destiny and avoid shuttles if I can.  The extra few dollars a day is worth parking at the port in our mind.

Wow so they spent extra money to not take advantage of the benefits and were cheap about the parking.  You can't make that up.

Funny you mention the shuttle. It's being discussed on my FB group. The offsite recommends that you drop off luggage and passengers before your car. I read that and said, "No way". I have never driven to port but I know how crazy traffic can be just getting in.  I'll pay the extra few dollars. 

[reallyitsmema]

11 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Wow so they spent extra money to not take advantage of the benefits and were cheap about the parking.  You can't make that up.

Funny you mention the shuttle. It's being discussed on my FB group. The offsite recommends that you drop off luggage and passengers before your car. I read that and said, "No way". I have never driven to port but I know how crazy traffic can be just getting in.  I'll pay the extra few dollars. 

 

We have sailed Anthem four times now and have always driven to the port and parked at the port.  We get there no later than 10:30 and never really had a bad backup at the port.  We drop bags with porter and then go park.  Have always been able to park on the second floor of the garage, near the elevator (street level is handicap parking and pickup area).  We back into our spot to make it easier when we leave.  Bring your ticket as you have to pay at a kiosk outside the garage, after your cruise.  Whoever is driving, goes ahead after we clear customs, pays and takes stairs up to car to bring it down to pick up area,  Other stays with porter and the luggage, who will bring bags directly to garage.  Porter also gets their own line at customs, though last time, we skipped porter as none were available and went right to one of the facial recognition screens and out the door.  

[JAMESCC]

I think we are gonna try it. I can't for a week or two so if they sell out, they sell out. With the one device voom, and the other perks I think its worth it. We get 2 devices so we will only have to pay for 1. Priority boarding, the carry on bag deal, the lunch the first day all sounds great.

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

We have sailed Anthem four times now and have always driven to the port and parked at the port.  We get there no later than 10:30 and never really had a bad backup at the port.  We drop bags with porter and then go park.  Have always been able to park on the second floor of the garage, near the elevator (street level is handicap parking and pickup area).  We back into our spot to make it easier when we leave.  Bring your ticket as you have to pay at a kiosk outside the garage, after your cruise.  Whoever is driving, goes ahead after we clear customs, pays and takes stairs up to car to bring it down to pick up area,  Other stays with porter and the luggage, who will bring bags directly to garage.  Porter also gets their own line at customs, though last time, we skipped porter as none were available and went right to one of the facial recognition screens and out the door.  

Thank you for that information it was very helpful.

[zooma]

15 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

We have sailed Anthem four times now and have always driven to the port and parked at the port.  We get there no later than 10:30 and never really had a bad backup at the port.  We drop bags with porter and then go park.  Have always been able to park on the second floor of the garage, near the elevator (street level is handicap parking and pickup area).  We back into our spot to make it easier when we leave.  Bring your ticket as you have to pay at a kiosk outside the garage, after your cruise.  Whoever is driving, goes ahead after we clear customs, pays and takes stairs up to car to bring it down to pick up area,  Other stays with porter and the luggage, who will bring bags directly to garage.  Porter also gets their own line at customs, though last time, we skipped porter as none were available and went right to one of the facial recognition screens and out the door.  

 

Yes, thank you for this info. Quick question: do you usually self-disembark (and carry your own luggage) or leave when your group is called (and pick up luggage separately)? And around what time do you leave? Wondering how long lines will be with regular disembarkation for my parents and whether we should just carry their luggage off for them ourselves (if we can...).

[reallyitsmema]

1 minute ago, zooma said:

 

Yes, thank you for this info. Quick question: do you usually self-disembark (and carry your own luggage) or leave when your group is called (and pick up luggage separately)? And around what time do you leave? Wondering how long lines will be with regular disembarkation for my parents and whether we should just carry their luggage off for them ourselves (if we can...).

 

We have done both.  Anthem has two different times for self disembark, one is first thing and the other half hour or so later.  We saw a massive line for self disembark in the past, so when we did it, we did not go down at the exact time, we went about 10 minutes after the initial time and walked right off.  Decent line at customs, but it was moving the whole time.  Our preferred way to go at Bayonne is with a porter.  We go off when our number is called and usually there are lots of porters ready.  I think our last cruise was different because of the flu onboard.  Porters weren't waiting in and around the luggage as they typically are, there was a line at the end of the area to get a porter.  We decided to try to move our stuff ourselves and went on our way.  Usually, we get a porter quickly, they help find the bags and then they have a separate line through customs.  They will take your bags to the garage and I have actually had one wait and load the car.  Well worth the tip to us.

 

On our last sailing, we had number 4, which was supposed to be called at 7:20.  It was called at 7:13 while we were still in the cabin.  We had just finished getting ready so, we just grabbed our carryons and got an elevator almost immediately.  We were off the ship, had our luggage, through customs and in the car before 7:30.  The new facial recognition process at customs was really quick!  They also now let you out a side door to the right, immediately after you clear customs that takes you to the pick up area of the garage.  That made things really easy.  

 

I would take a look at the customs line and decide if a porter makes sense or not.  If you can manage all the luggage, it isn't too far to the garage.  If not, get a porter.  I really think the porters this last time were trying to avoid us sick people.  They had people stationed at the bottom of the escalators with a bucket of sanitizer and a cloth on the railing the whole time, cleaning it as it moved.  There were others near the customs area wiping anything anyone could touch.  

[zooma]

@reallyitsmema -- So, so helpful -- thank you!

[molole]

I understand the price is per adult per night so if hubby and I both get it shouldn't we each get our own voom for 1 device?

A related question, can only one adult in a cabin of two get it?

[reallyitsmema]

2 minutes ago, molole said:

I understand the price is per adult per night so if hubby and I both get it shouldn't we each get our own voom for 1 device?

A related question, can only one adult in a cabin of two get it?

 

Yes, when you buy the Key, you each get your own Voom login.  We only purchase on login typically, so I was trying to quantify the price with my math above.  All have to purchase Key except for very young, forget the cutoff age.

[Sizzlechest]

I was planning on getting Internet with VOOM for all of us. I got in at $19.99, so the price was right to give it a go. I never sailed on RCL, so this give me some perks that longtime cruisers have.

[JAMESCC]

4 hours ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

Yes, when you buy the Key, you each get your own Voom login.  We only purchase on login typically, so I was trying to quantify the price with my math above.  All have to purchase Key except for very young, forget the cutoff age.

Whoa, whoa I am little confused and excited if I am following you. If we get "The Key", we pay obviously for myself, my wife and our son who will be 6. Do we each get one voom? Meaning we will get 3 Voom one device each? I thought it was just a flat 1 Voom plan for 1 device? Am I following correct or not so much? Thanks.

[RFerrington]

Everyone who pays gets a Voom 1 device plan