Sold out shows and The Key

[fsufancc]

If a show is sold out (per the cruise planner), if you have purchased The Key, are you able to get a seat (assuming you get their early) in The Key section?  

 

And if you don't have The Key. Do you need to have the show reserved on your planner to see it or can you show up early and get a seat?

 

I am asking because we have The Key and early dining on an upcoming sailing.  I reserved seats for Starwater which was scheduled for 6:30. Then RCL moved the show time to 6:00. I went to grab a later time and the show is sold out.

[Ourusualbeach]

17 minutes ago, fsufancc said:

If a show is sold out (per the cruise planner), if you have purchased The Key, are you able to get a seat (assuming you get their early) in The Key section?  

 

And if you don't have The Key. Do you need to have the show reserved on your planner to see it or can you show up early and get a seat?

 

I am asking because we have The Key and early dining on an upcoming sailing.  I reserved seats for Starwater which was scheduled for 6:30. Then RCL moved the show time to 6:00. I went to grab a later time and the show is sold out.

There are spots saved to reserve on board, just make a reservation once you board

[shof515]

In the theather there is usually a row of seats reserved for people with the key.

[brillohead]

Getting there early doesn't get you a seat without reservations, but showing up about ten minutes before the show will get you in -- that's when they start letting people in without checking for reservations.

 

[packedandready]

Was told that even with The Key you need reservations.

[OCSC Mike]

10 minutes ago, packedandready said:

Was told that even with The Key you need reservations.

 

You don't really NEED reservations, Key or not.. There is a standby line for every show and you'll have no problem getting into everything... except maybe the adult comedy b/c the venue is pretty small.

[packedandready]

2 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

You don't really NEED reservations, Key or not.. There is a standby line for every show and you'll have no problem getting into everything... except maybe the adult comedy b/c the venue is pretty small.

Yes. Guess I didn’t completely explain. I was told you needed reservations even if you had The Key if you wanted to get there early for a seat. Thanks for clearing it up for the OP. Everything is so confusing for those that haven’t cruised or it’s been a long time. 

[Vacation...Yes]

We had the Key last year & never used the reserved seating at shows except for aquatheatre. For the ice shows, they had a whole row of reserved seats but we were told they were for suite guests & those with higher status…then, closer to the start of show, just anyone could site there. Frustrating. Where actually does The Key have preferred seating?

[reallyitsmema]

22 minutes ago, Vacation...Yes said:

We had the Key last year & never used the reserved seating at shows except for aquatheatre. For the ice shows, they had a whole row of reserved seats but we were told they were for suite guests & those with higher status…then, closer to the start of show, just anyone could site there. Frustrating. Where actually does The Key have preferred seating?

 

The Key has access to those seats too.  Many times the crew member who is letting people into the seats do not understand who actually can get into the seats.  The Key should have been listed on the sign the stand there holding, just make them read the sign.  We were just on Oasis and a crew member who was allowing people into the venue said there were no reserved seats in the Aqua theater but once you got past him, you could see the person holding the sign.  The reserved area used to be the last rows but for this sailing were a few rows ups from the splash zone.

[topnole]

13 hours ago, packedandready said:

Yes. Guess I didn’t completely explain. I was told you needed reservations even if you had The Key if you wanted to get there early for a seat. Thanks for clearing it up for the OP. Everything is so confusing for those that haven’t cruised or it’s been a long time. 

Yeah.  The key or any status is irrelevant if you are willing to wait in the standby line.  Anyone can do this and for

the big shows you will usually be fine getting seats.  
 

But if you want to get in early to get seats you want, or sit in “the key” section, you will need a reservation.  

 

Even some big shows can get very crowed.  Particularly last day or two if there was only one or two of them.  In those cases decent seats (or several seats together in a decent area) can be hard to come by and you only get a few minutes to hunt before the show starts.  
 

So, I’d always try to get a reservation if possible.  Why not try versus just relegating yourself to the standby line.  

[topnole]

30 minutes ago, Vacation...Yes said:

We had the Key last year & never used the reserved seating at shows except for aquatheatre. For the ice shows, they had a whole row of reserved seats but we were told they were for suite guests & those with higher status…then, closer to the start of show, just anyone could site there. Frustrating. Where actually does The Key have preferred seating?

There are sections for suites and as I understand it a section for key in most venues.   You just need to ask an employee and they will tell you.  The section may not be your preference and for many it isn’t.  So probably no big deal.  

[OCSC Mike]

15 minutes ago, topnole said:

So, I’d always try to get a reservation if possible.  Why not try versus just relegating yourself to the standby line.  

 

Agreed, I just like to make sure posters who seem upset and/or panicked about not having reservations know that they will very likely get to see everything via the standby line if need be.

[topnole]

13 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Agreed, I just like to make sure posters who seem upset and/or panicked about not having reservations know that they will very likely get to see everything via the standby line if need be.

I can imagine the advertisements are a bit confusing.  On our last cruise, not sure why I forgot the rules, but I falsely assumed we could go to shows early without a reservation since we were sky class.  
 

I always make reservations, but many shows got canceled for weather on this trip.  Luckily I asked the suite concierge ahead of time and she said that in fact we couldn’t just walk in early unless we had a reservation.  Then she looked and reservations were full for the big show we wanted  At that point she said to just come get her later when we were ready.  So we came to SL and she escorted us all the way into the show (express elevators too and past all of the lines).  Not a bad way to learn my lesson remembering reservations rules.  It was early and still very crowded.  By the standby release folks were definitely having to look hard for seats that were together.  

[OCSC Mike]

8 minutes ago, topnole said:

I can imagine the advertisements are a bit confusing.  On our last cruise, not sure why I forgot the rules, but I falsely assumed we could go to shows early without a reservation since we were sky class.  
 

I always make reservations, but many shows got canceled for weather on this trip.  Luckily I asked the suite concierge ahead of time and she said that in fact we couldn’t just walk in early unless we had a reservation.  Then she looked and reservations were full for the big show we wanted  At that point she said to just come get her later when we were ready.  So we came to SL and she escorted us all the way into the show (express elevators too and past all of the lines).  Not a bad way to learn my lesson remembering reservations rules.  It was early and still very crowded.  By the standby release folks were definitely having to look hard for seats that were together.  

 

Glad it worked out. We're rarely in suites (2nd time ever in 2 weeks) but did make reservations for everything last time. Then we had a weird glitch with the app where our adult comedy reservations magically moved themselves to a different night that didn't work for us. The SL concierge never could get the app to reflect the change he made but also told us "I'll walk you down there right into the show if I have to." It wasn't an issue in the end.

 

As an aside, it was my job to make reservation for this upcoming family cruise involving ages 9-70+. I didn't mind as I'm obviously computer literate and familiar with most things related to RC but still felt some pressure to puzzle everything together, lol. All I had to go on was "we want to eat in CK around 6pm every night" so I did my best to not make too many late reservations but ended up telling everyone I did my best, you'll just have to stay up a bit later on a couple nights.

[renza]

Still need reservations for shows even if you have key. Don’t worry once you get on board all shows were open last week on wonder. You definitely do not need the key on oasis class ships. We boarded at 10:20 May 7th on wonder and 10:40 on Harmony in march. We cruise about 4 times plus a year. The key is not needed at all. Never checked times at check in and was super quick for everyone. 

Edited May 22, 2023 by renza

[PhillyFan33579]

First, you need reservations (on ships that require them) even with the Key. 
 

Second, I don’t know what ships other posters are referring to, but I have been on 26 RCI cruises post COVID and I have never gotten into a comedy show or ice skating show on any Oasis class when we used the standby line.