New Program called "The Key"

[blueridgemama]

11 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I think with all of the unsatisfying reports we're seeing about The Key it is likely to get a full overhaul or simply disappear. Way to many unrealized expectations.

 

I have followed this thread and the Key Review thread faithfully. Inconsistency, crew unprepared and not educated in the included benefits and lack of private hours on the activities, especially the flow rider, appear to be the major issues. Perhaps paring back the benefits and lowering the cost would be beneficial. I agree that there are too many unrealized expectations.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 hour ago, Tree_skier said:

I think with all of the unsatisfying reports we're seeing about The Key it is likely to get a full overhaul or simply disappear. Way to many unrealized expectations.

This program may end up one of those "it sounded good on paper" ideas that failed due to execution, training, and other factors.

[blueridgemama]

2 minutes ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

This program may end up one of those "it sounded good on paper" ideas that failed due to execution, training, and other factors.

 

I still am looking forward to my cruise in September with the Key. Priority embarcation, luggage drop off, Chops lunch, reserved seats for shows, last day breakfast and priority disembarcation are the benefits I am most interested in. I have no interest in the private hours on any of the activities. It's not a huge investment for us as its only for 2 people on a 4 night cruise. Time will tell.

[xpcdoojk]

6 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

I think with all of the unsatisfying reports we're seeing about The Key it is likely to get a full overhaul or simply disappear. Way to many unrealized expectations.

 

I am booked on the Anthem TA November 2020, and the key is not listed at all.  I suspect you are correct. For the small (significant to us) revenue it was generating it was just not worth the extra hassle. I think it was a good value initially, after my last cruise when the changes kicked in,... not so much.

 

jc

[Tree_skier]

44 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

I am booked on the Anthem TA November 2020, and the key is not listed at all.  I suspect you are correct. For the small (significant to us) revenue it was generating it was just not worth the extra hassle. I think it was a good value initially, after my last cruise when the changes kicked in,... not so much.

 

jc

It's still available on my Adventure cruise in Dec 2019 but not on my Dec 2020 but I guess that that is not really surprising. There are still several things that I expect to see that I haven't seen yet.

 

[The_Big_M]

4 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

 

For the small (significant to us) revenue it was generating it was just not worth the extra hassle. I think it was a good value initially, after my last cruise when the changes kicked in,... not so much.

 

I doubt they see the revenue is insignificant. $6000/day (100 cabins @$30 - obviously some were cheaper and some dearer, and also reports are cabins went up to maybe 200) is $2.2m/year, just for one ship. Admittedly it displaces some internet revenue, but it's not a non-starter, especially across more of the fleet. The great upside for them is it goes straight through to earnings, as there were no extra ongoing costs.

 

I doubt it's going anywhere.

[zooma]

14 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

 

I still am looking forward to my cruise in September with the Key. Priority embarcation, luggage drop off, Chops lunch, reserved seats for shows, last day breakfast and priority disembarcation are the benefits I am most interested in. I have no interest in the private hours on any of the activities. It's not a huge investment for us as its only for 2 people on a 4 night cruise. Time will tell.

 

Same with us for our upcoming cruise on Anthem ... except we don't even care about the Chops lunch since we got a great deal on the Unlimited Dining Package. Just 2 of us so worth a try. What ship will you be on in September?

[cre8tiv]

Great news irzero!

Now know who we ll be asking for if Key experience not what they offered, lol. 

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[brillohead]

I wonder if we'll see it broken up into individual components in the future? 

It seems that people were buying The Key for particular parts of the program -- some wanted the priority boarding / luggage drop-off / lunch at Chops, some wanted the priority debarkation with special breakfast, some wanted the semi-private Flowrider sessions, some wanted priority seating at shows.  

I wonder if in the future, the program will be broken into these various components.  

Priority boarding, luggage drop-off and Chops lunch upon boarding -- $75pp.
Priority debarkation and breakfast -- $50pp.
Semi-private Flowrider session every day -- $200pp.
Priority seating at shows with no reservations needed -- $100pp.

People could buy the part they were interested in, and not have to pay for the part they didn't want. 

 

And because each would be a separate program, each could be implemented individually on each ship and only in the departments affected, instead of trying to train an entire ship on a new program that affects multiple different departments.

 

 

[bballmomma]

DH and I had the Key on recent Freedom sailing from San Juan. We enjoyed it and would definitely do again. We paid $19/pp. Walked right up to gate no line to check in, easy luggage drop off, great lunch, great internet, used reserved seats for the comedy show, great breakfast on debarkation day and then walked off the ship directly into special customs line. Took about 10 minutes from leaving the dining room until we were done at customs. Easily worth doing again for us. It looked like only a few hours for special activities but we don't do any of those. We did watch Flowrider for a few minutes during the time and the line was very short and the kids looked like they enjoyed going over and over. Everyone we talked to at the debarkation breakfast we pleased with their choice as well.

[cre8tiv]

Bballmomma thx for taking time to post, appreciated! 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 hour ago, brillohead said:

I wonder if we'll see it broken up into individual components in the future? 

It seems that people were buying The Key for particular parts of the program -- some wanted the priority boarding / luggage drop-off / lunch at Chops, some wanted the priority debarkation with special breakfast, some wanted the semi-private Flowrider sessions, some wanted priority seating at shows.  

I wonder if in the future, the program will be broken into these various components.  

Priority boarding, luggage drop-off and Chops lunch upon boarding -- $75pp.
Priority debarkation and breakfast -- $50pp.
Semi-private Flowrider session every day -- $200pp.
Priority seating at shows with no reservations needed -- $100pp.

People could buy the part they were interested in, and not have to pay for the part they didn't want. 

 

And because each would be a separate program, each could be implemented individually on each ship and only in the departments affected, instead of trying to train an entire ship on a new program that affects multiple different departments.

Certainly not at those prices!

 

Considering private Flowrider lessons (for an hour) used to be $65/person, and the rest of the prices are about double what they're worth (or less)...that likely would end the program right there.

[notladjr]

Whoever was in charge of the implementation of The Key program should be fired or at least demoted as that seems to be the worst thing.  That crew members on ships were not fully trained on it before implementation is inexcusable.  I have read too many instances of crew members not even knowing features of it like hand luggage storage and delivery to cabins or priority disembarking at ports. 

[Clarea]

5 hours ago, notladjr said:

Whoever was in charge of the implementation of The Key program should be fired or at least demoted as that seems to be the worst thing.  That crew members on ships were not fully trained on it before implementation is inexcusable.  I have read too many instances of crew members not even knowing features of it like hand luggage storage and delivery to cabins or priority disembarking at ports. 

 

This lack of accurate, timely communications thoughout the corporation has been a recurring theme with Royal for as long as we have been using them.

[brillohead]

1 hour ago, CRUISEFAN0001 said:

Certainly not at those prices!

 

Considering private Flowrider lessons (for an hour) used to be $65/person, and the rest of the prices are about double what they're worth (or less)...that likely would end the program right there.

Well, I wasn't considering the prices to be per day, just per person!  LOL   And it's just an idea, nothing set in stone.

For example, if there are seven Flowrider hours available for $200 total, that's less than the $65/session you quoted.  

As for what these "priority" items are worth, that value is entirely subjective, as we've seen in the discussion in this thread.  Some people bought The Key solely for the Flowrider sessions -- others wanted priority debarkation or the Chops lunch and luggage drop off and others wanted the priority seating. 

For people who paid $20/day x 2 people in the cabin x 7 days for the cruise, that ended up being $280.  If they were willing to pay $280 for priority seating and didn't really utilize the other benefits, then the $200 for priority seating only is a deal.  Same for the other items.  

Obviously, these items all together aren't worth an extra $20/day to most of us, but there have been people buying this program, so these things do have value to certain people.  I'm glad that some people have been happy with what they got for their money, but I feel sorry for those whose experience on board didn't match with what they were led to believe they'd be getting (like only one hour of activities the entire week, and all of those on the same exact day, one after the other).  

 

 

[xpcdoojk]

1 minute ago, brillohead said:

Well, I wasn't considering the prices to be per day, just per person!  LOL   And it's just an idea, nothing set in stone.

For example, if there are seven Flowrider hours available for $200 total, that's less than the $65/session you quoted.  

As for what these "priority" items are worth, that value is entirely subjective, as we've seen in the discussion in this thread.  Some people bought The Key solely for the Flowrider sessions -- others wanted priority debarkation or the Chops lunch and luggage drop off and others wanted the priority seating. 

For people who paid $20/day x 2 people in the cabin x 7 days for the cruise, that ended up being $280.  If they were willing to pay $280 for priority seating and didn't really utilize the other benefits, then the $200 for priority seating only is a deal.  Same for the other items.  

Obviously, these items all together aren't worth an extra $20/day to most of us, but there have been people buying this program, so these things do have value to certain people.  I'm glad that some people have been happy with what they got for their money, but I feel sorry for those whose experience on board didn't match with what they were led to believe they'd be getting (like only one hour of activities the entire week, and all of those on the same exact day, one after the other).  

 

 

I have never seen $200 for an hour on the flowrider.  Have you?  Or are you just repeating Internet garbage?

 

jc

[brillohead]

1 minute ago, xpcdoojk said:

I have never seen $200 for an hour on the flowrider.  Have you?  Or are you just repeating Internet garbage?

 

jc

Did you even read this thread?

I was "what if"-ing about different ways the program might be re-implemented in the future to make it more viable.  It's a HYPOTHETICAL discussion.  
 

[xpcdoojk]

O, I get it you make up a hypothetical price to prove your hypothetical rationalization.

 

Very helpful.

 

I have read the 112 pages over a multiple month period, I didn’t realize it was only a hypothetical discussion.🤣🙄

 

jc

Edited June 6, 2019 by xpcdoojk

[brillohead]

1 minute ago, xpcdoojk said:

O, I get it you make up a hypothetical price to prove your hypothetical rationalization.

 

Very helpful.

 

jc

I wasn't trying to "prove" anything... it was conjecture, discussion.  Did you even read my post?  Nowhere did I say that it would be $200/hour to ride the Flowrider, even hypothetically.  I think you're totally misinterpreting this whole conversation.  

Maybe you should go back and read the first post I made, and see if it makes more sense that way.  Because you're the one spewing garbage on the internet, not me.

[blueridgemama]

This is the kind of discussions that is so frustrating about this thread. Too many people who have not used or participated in the Key program  but who are merely speculating. Yes, I know I can stop reading but I keep reading for the occasional helpful information that I can garner.

[brillohead]

5 minutes ago, xpcdoojk said:

O, I get it you make up a hypothetical price to prove your hypothetical rationalization.

 

Very helpful.

 

I have read the 112 pages over a multiple month period, I didn’t realize it was only a hypothetical discussion.🤣🙄

 

jc

And since you went back to edit your post as I was replying to it, I'm going to respond to your added comment.  

Nowhere did I say that this entire thread was a hypothetical discussion.  I am referring entirely to my RECENT post where I repeatedly said "I wonder" and talked about HYPOTHETICAL changes we might see to the program in the future, to make it more viable / successful / realistic to implement.  

I think you totally missed that entire post, which doesn't surprise me, because you ALSO misread my follow-up post, because nowhere did I ever say anything about the Flowrider being $200/hour.  

I don't know what you have against me, and why you feel the need to spew your garbage at me, but I suggest you get over yourself.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, blueridgemama said:

 Too many people who have not used or participated in the xxx program  but who are merely speculating. 

How's that different than most threads?

[xpcdoojk]

7 minutes ago, brillohead said:

And since you went back to edit your post as I was replying to it, I'm going to respond to your added comment.  

Nowhere did I say that this entire thread was a hypothetical discussion.  I am referring entirely to my RECENT post where I repeatedly said "I wonder" and talked about HYPOTHETICAL changes we might see to the program in the future, to make it more viable / successful / realistic to implement.  

I think you totally missed that entire post, which doesn't surprise me, because you ALSO misread my follow-up post, because nowhere did I ever say anything about the Flowrider being $200/hour.  

I don't know what you have against me, and why you feel the need to spew your garbage at me, but I suggest you get over yourself.

 

Thanks for your concern about my self-esteem.😂

 

jc

 

 

[blueridgemama]

5 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

How's that different than most threads?

 

So true😕

[CRUISEFAN0001]

4 hours ago, brillohead said:

Well, I wasn't considering the prices to be per day, just per person!  LOL   And it's just an idea, nothing set in stone.

For example, if there are seven Flowrider hours available for $200 total, that's less than the $65/session you quoted.  

As for what these "priority" items are worth, that value is entirely subjective, as we've seen in the discussion in this thread.  Some people bought The Key solely for the Flowrider sessions -- others wanted priority debarkation or the Chops lunch and luggage drop off and others wanted the priority seating. 

For people who paid $20/day x 2 people in the cabin x 7 days for the cruise, that ended up being $280.  If they were willing to pay $280 for priority seating and didn't really utilize the other benefits, then the $200 for priority seating only is a deal.  Same for the other items.  

Obviously, these items all together aren't worth an extra $20/day to most of us, but there have been people buying this program, so these things do have value to certain people.  I'm glad that some people have been happy with what they got for their money, but I feel sorry for those whose experience on board didn't match with what they were led to believe they'd be getting (like only one hour of activities the entire week, and all of those on the same exact day, one after the other).  

 

 

Fuzzy math on the Flowrider...you’re lucky to get 1 session or extremely lucky at 2...and its not worth $200.

 

As for priority seating - unless the Beatles are making some form of Lazarus comeback at a show...that too isn’t worth $200.

Edited June 6, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001