New Program called "The Key"

[tinkr2]

I was wondering if they were stopping the stickers bc they are not keyed to the card and people could peel them off and use them? The same way the IT has not made it where you have to put whole cabin in your cart to get The Key. perhaps they are trying to fix the loopholes?

(but probably just forgot to order stickers)

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, irzero said:

 

How does that work exactly. 

RCI changed the terms since you bought. 

[xpcdoojk]

So Biker did you meet, already know Tom? He got off in the last Hawaiian island, wife is on for whole cruise.  How is the weather on the crossing. We did the opposite direction in 2001 and the seas were very rough in October and cool.  

 

JC

[cre8tiv]

7 hours ago, irzero said:

When i paid for this crap it said daily hours on each activity. Now its 1 hour per cruise per activity.

 

How does that work exactly. 

 

There is going to be hell to pay when i get on this ship.

If the changes will affect you so negatively, why not just cancel now? It’s your vacation.. should be enjoyable not filled with angst. Simply not worth it. The program has changed several times and may continue to change.

While I think RCCL should be updating their clients as to changes made, ultimately it’s within their right to make changes..and Your Right to Dump the program, take the refund and Do what you wish with your hard earned money! 

Hope you Enjoy ur vacation!!

 

 

Edited May 12, 2019 by cre8tiv
Typo

[Biker19]

14 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

So Biker did you meet, already know Tom? He got off in the last Hawaiian island, wife is on for whole cruise.  How is the weather on the crossing. 

Yes, I did meet Tom on a previous cruise. 

It was getting progressively colder to the point that the Flowrider was closed all day today (48 F), but otherwise pretty nice. 

[tinkr2]

8 hours ago, irzero said:

When i paid for this crap it said daily hours on each activity. Now its 1 hour per cruise per activity.

 

How does that work exactly. 

 

There is going to be hell to pay when i get on this ship.

That seems fairly pointless. I bought it at the beginning. The terms have changed. You should cancel now rather than going in to a vacation angry. Your contract says they can change terms and conditions at any time, you can also cancel.

[CarnivalCruiser32]

We just boarded in Barcelona and no one really knew about The Key at the Port. We got on the priority line anyway because we refused to not get a benefit that we paid for and they let us through with only a little push back. But really no one knew about it and that was frustrating. There was some signage after security that we should’ve just followed instead of asking because no one knew anyway so it was a waste of time. We got an envelope with details about the Key for our sailing with our SeaPass Cards at check in. All the activity hours are on the last day of sailing (our only sea day) which seems unfair to everyone on board, not just Key members, and is not what was detailed when we purchased it. Not to mention that the Ice Skating is only a half hour not the hour advertised when we bought it. We purchased it when it was still DAILY hours but they’ve clearly changed it even the fact that you won’t get a full hour for each activity. 

 

They’ve seemed to compensate by allowing us to join the “priority line” at  other times. We’re thinking that means there will be two lines at almost all times for each activity but we don’t know for sure. We’ll be looking to see how that works and if it’s better than flashing a card or wristband and “skipping” the line which isn’t ideal. Boarding was super quick and easy though (though maybe that was due to the time we arrived?) and we were on the ship within 15 minutes. 

Edited May 12, 2019 by CarnivalCruiser32
Added Ice Skating*

[CarnivalCruiser32]

5 minutes ago, CarnivalCruiser32 said:

We just boarded in Barcelona and no one really knew about The Key at the Port. We got on the priority line anyway because we refused to not get a benefit that we paid for and they let us through with only a little push back. But really no one knew about it and that was frustrating. There was some signage after security that we should’ve just followed instead of asking because no one knew anyway so it was a waste of time. We got an envelope with details about the Key for our sailing with our SeaPass Cards at check in. All the activity hours are on the last day of sailing (our only sea day) which seems unfair to everyone on board, not just Key members, and is not what was detailed when we purchased it. Not to mention that the Ice Skating is only a half hour not the hour advertised when we bought it. We purchased it when it was still DAILY hours but they’ve clearly changed it even the fact that you won’t get a full hour for each activity. 

 

They’ve seemed to compensate by allowing us to join the “priority line” at  other times. We’re thinking that means there will be two lines at almost all times for each activity but we don’t know for sure. We’ll be looking to see how that works and if it’s better than flashing a card or wristband and “skipping” the line which isn’t ideal. Boarding was super quick and easy though (though maybe that was due to the time we arrived?) and we were on the ship within 15 minutes. 

Additionally it seemed as though they were still selling the Key when we boarded there was a stand with The Key signage and internet packages 

[CruiseJoyful]

Thanks so much for this review... We are sailing Oasis/Barcelona next month. Can we ignore our 12:30 board time to board earlier? Or is there a way to get that officially changed beforehand?

Looking forward to hearing more from folks who are sailing on Oasis in the Mediterranean. 

[brillohead]

53 minutes ago, CarnivalCruiser32 said:

 

 

What a stupid schedule.... have to have long pants and socks for skating, then you have ten minutes to go change into your swimsuit and get back for FlowRider, then change into clothes again for Rock Wall and Zipline.  

[EricainDC]

Thanks for posting the Barcelona info. We sail next month and I'm on the fence about whether to keep it. I will be curious about these "priority lines" they reference in the letter! I hope you have a super fabulous cruise!

[CarnivalCruiser32]

1 hour ago, CruiseJoyful said:

Thanks so much for this review... We are sailing Oasis/Barcelona next month. Can we ignore our 12:30 board time to board earlier? Or is there a way to get that officially changed beforehand?

Looking forward to hearing more from folks who are sailing on Oasis in the Mediterranean. 

Our check-in time was 2:00pm but we would’ve missed The Key lunch perk and we had to check out of our hotel by 10 so we decided just to show up early and see what happened. We ended up arriving to the port at like 10:20 and we waited around 10 minutes for them to start letting folks through security and then we were on the ship well before 11. They definitely weren’t being sticklers about sticking to whatever check in time they gave you 

[CarnivalCruiser32]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

What a stupid schedule.... have to have long pants and socks for skating, then you have ten minutes to go change into your swimsuit and get back for FlowRider, then change into clothes again for Rock Wall and Zipline.  

Agreed. Short of carrying a bag with a bunch of changes of clothes it’s not practical. It’s annoying actually 

[CarnivalCruiser32]

1 hour ago, EricainDC said:

Thanks for posting the Barcelona info. We sail next month and I'm on the fence about whether to keep it. I will be curious about these "priority lines" they reference in the letter! I hope you have a super fabulous cruise!

Thanks!! I’ll definitely be looking into everything and posting it here for other folks because I haven’t seen anything about how it works for the Med! Granted there’s only been one cruise so far since the Oasis arrived but it would’ve been nice to know what to expect 

Edited May 12, 2019 by CarnivalCruiser32

[cre8tiv]

2 hours ago, brillohead said:

What a stupid schedule.... have to have long pants and socks for skating, then you have ten minutes to go change into your swimsuit and get back for FlowRider, then change into clothes again for Rock Wall and Zipline.  

Totally agree. Poor planning, ridiculous schedule at the very least. A definite dumbing down of the entire activity perk

 

[cre8tiv]

2 hours ago, CruiseJoyful said:

Thanks so much for this review... We are sailing Oasis/Barcelona next month. Can we ignore our 12:30 board time to board earlier? Or is there a way to get that officially changed beforehand?

Looking forward to hearing more from folks who are sailing on Oasis in the Mediterranean. 

We called rccl direct as TA said just show up. Wasn’t taking a chance. Told them we had key,changed us to11. Still showing up at 10ish 

[tinkr2]

This is a hilarious schedule. I hope you're up for action on day 7, following 6 port days. Up dressed warmly, rushing to change after to swim suits and then rushing to get new dry clothes for rock and zipline.Time for lunch and a sound sleep.🤣

[norway olin]

First time I have seen this on or mid July Symphony sailing.  For the past several weeks it said not available, check on board.  I bought at $19.99 but am still ruminating over it.

 

 

 

[mgantt87]

Just boarded Harmony today in Port Canaveral. Arrived to the pier around 11:30 and got parked by around noon after unloading my wife and son. At security, I asked 2 different people if we could use the suite line due to having the Key but was ushered to the longer general purpose line instead. No big deal as it wasn’t but about a 10 minute wait. 

 

Once through security, there was a Key desk where they handed us an envelope with the attached documents and our wrist bands for day 1 until we receive our sea pass which is supposed to note the Key (more on that below). We then went to a short check in line where we re-did everything we had already done on our phones including taking pictures. Not sure what that’s all about. After security we were on the ship in about 10 minutes. 

 

The check in desk told us to go to deck 4 for the bag drop. Once we got there (Grande dining room) , we dropped 3 bags very quickly and then they asked if we were ready to eat. The Chops meal was served in the dining room and service was very quick. The best thing about the meal was the dessert (cheesecake for my wife and warm chocolate cake for me, both were great!). The sides were just ok and the filet was decent. 

 

When we got to our room, we noticed our sea pass cards did not have a Key sticker. The guest services line has been long as always on day 1, so we will deal with that tomorrow. Nothing really going on tonight where we need it. 

 

I’m disappointed in the 1 hour per session, specifically on FlowRider, but hopeful there are specific “priority lines” like the letter says. 

 

Will post more later in the week!

[Grenouille21]

I hope those of you who just boarded will report back about whether there are actual priority lines (separate lines) for all of the activities.  I know this will sound repetitive to anyone who has read my posts before, but when we were on Symphony I saw a priority line for The Abyss, though it was marked for Suite guests not Key guests.  The other activities had no priority lines that I ever saw.  We were told to cut in line if we wanted priority.  I certainly hope they have created separate lines by now, if they are really going to do this whole "You can have priority any time you want!" thing.  

[archchic]

On 5/7/2019 at 11:16 AM, alexpfsu said:

We sail on Symphony in 25 days.  Still on the fence but looking like I will call to cancel it before it is to late.  We also paid under $20 for it.  Trying to wait until the last minute before doing it in case it changes again (as it seems to be changing weekly on Symphony of the Seas).  So maybe it will get better.

 

If i was on any other ship right now I think we would keep it, but Symphony seems to have it all wrong from what people on the ship are reporting. (No I am not talking about what people think, I am talking about people who are sailing right now with "the Key" on Symphony only....and thank you for keeping us updated with your live post about the Key.)

I'm in the same situation. Symphony on June 22nd, but cannot decide whether to keep the Key to try it out of curiosity or if I should bail. I'm hanging on for now. Looking forward to your feedback. 

[mgantt87]

16 hours ago, Grenouille21 said:

I hope those of you who just boarded will report back about whether there are actual priority lines (separate lines) for all of the activities.  I know this will sound repetitive to anyone who has read my posts before, but when we were on Symphony I saw a priority line for The Abyss, though it was marked for Suite guests not Key guests.  The other activities had no priority lines that I ever saw.  We were told to cut in line if we wanted priority.  I certainly hope they have created separate lines by now, if they are really going to do this whole "You can have priority any time you want!" thing.  

No priority line for FloRider today and I didn’t feel comfortable just cutting the 11 year olds in line. 🤦‍♂️

[archchic]

7 minutes ago, mgantt87 said:

No priority line for FloRider today and I didn’t feel comfortable just cutting the 11 year olds in line. 🤦‍♂️

Oh you are so much nicer than me. I would totally play the priority card with 11 year olds. It's the FlowRider regulars that I would be intimidated by. My husband loves the Flowrider, but sucks at it. It takes a pretty big pair of ____s to cut in front of a bunch of good "surfers" then wipe out right away.

[CARALOU20]

On 5/12/2019 at 2:28 PM, tinkr2 said:

This is a hilarious schedule. I hope you're up for action on day 7, following 6 port days. Up dressed warmly, rushing to change after to swim suits and then rushing to get new dry clothes for rock and zipline.Time for lunch and a sound sleep.🤣

 

 

We just had this schedule on our Oasis Cruise and it worked fine. We didn't spend an hour at any one activity so just went around and used them as we wanted.  It only takes about 5 mins to climb each section the rock wall and after doing each section we headed out had a snack went to the next area once it opened. Same for the zipline did it a couple of times and moved on. There was a small line at the FlowRider so only went up twice before going into the hot tub. It all worked out quite well. I just posted a whole review under The Key Reviews. 

Edited May 13, 2019 by CARALOU20
Added Info

[Grenouille21]

4 hours ago, mgantt87 said:

No priority line for FloRider today and I didn’t feel comfortable just cutting the 11 year olds in line. 🤦‍♂️

 

I don't blame you at all for not wanting to cut in front of children!  I wouldn't be able to do that, either.  My 13yo son wouldn't do it either, so we never got to use the "priority access" to the Flowrider.