New Program called "The Key"

[CubsFanRS23]

On 1/1/2019 at 11:04 AM, lovescats5 said:

Do you mean suite guests when you made this comment?  I do not care if you have the Key or not, as a suite guest (Star Class) I can go first regardless who is in line at any venue.  My seat is in front of yours at the shows.  The Pinnacles might be a little upset but us in Star Class have no worries about the program.

 

Word.

[kdeason912]

So I just purchased this for Harmony in April 2019. The major change I see on our cruise planner is guaranteed room availability with early boarding now instead of dropping carry-on's with staff.  I agree this is pricey for a larger family and I don't think I would do it with kids because of the price, however as others have mentioned the internet alone is a large part of the cost. Also, getting seats for shows on Oasis class ships is a huge ordeal and consumes a lot of time with waiting in line which means many times leaving dinner early or rushing through meals to get in line. For me the removal of this hassle alone is huge and worth a little extra money. I considered upgrading to suite class but juniors don't get a lot of the benefits of other suites and no grande suites are currently available for this cruise. I don't have high roller money for anything over that (gotta save that for the casino LOL) and we don't have high status with crown and anchor. We are very loyal to Royal so while some may be upset about me "buying my perks" isn't that really what everyone has done? Not trying to rude bc I plan to buy my way right on up the ladder too! I do know they greatly limit the number of "keys" available on each cruising. Another blog I read about the key said they were limited to 100 during the pilot on Oasis so I really can't see that large of an effect on other's benefits.  Also someone mentioned the times for deck activities like flow rider and on the pilot cruise it was an our or so before normal hours begin, a few days throughout the cruise. I think one day was from 12 to 130 for example. May have been a port day, I'm not sure. Anyway, hope this clears some questions and alleviates some concerns. I'll post again after we cruise with opinion of my experience. Happy Cruising!!!

[tcneal]

20 hours ago, Trackhead37 said:

Lots of chatter it seems with this program. We have a sailing on June 30th on the Allure and will most likely be purchasing this. My wife and I are in one room and our 2 kids are in the room connected to us. Since we didn't do a suite for this sailing, this will give us some of those perks we'll be missing out on, without a significant price increase. We were getting Voom + stream anyway so its only $3 per person per day extra and only for me and my wife, since we don't have to add the kids. Totally worth it with the better reserved show seating and special times for access to onboard activities. As for how many they sell, as others have mentioned, similar programs with other cruise lines always sell out and are obviously considered worth it by a lot of people. They do have to limit it of course and even if it was 200, the fact is that 200 aren't going to show up for activities the same time, when there are multiple times available; it's why there are never thousands of people on line for flow rider or the rock climbing wall at one time. The question is whether or not you have the money to buy it. It was smart of RCCL to catch up to some of the other lines and offer a way to get suite/concierge type of perks by paying directly for it without being in that type of room.

 

Be careful with only buying for 1 room if I read correctly.  We are in the same situation as you with 2 rooms, 1 for kids, and I was told if The Key was not marked on the cards, you might not be able to take advantage of the perks.   I don't know how they would handle the Priority Embarkation/Tendering.  My guess would be it should be fine paying for 1 room, but you never know.   I was thinking more about the shows, rock climbing, flow rider, etc.   If your kids are old enough and don't have it on their sea cards, they might not be able to take advantage.   It might be a good idea though if they are young.   We went the other way with 1 adult and 1 kid booked in each room so I could get the Beverage package and my wife didn't so that forced us to get The Key for both rooms.

[tcneal]

3 minutes ago, ILvBeingMom said:

We were going to purchase a VROOM anyway (wish this was for everyone in the party, would make more sense), and now you don't even have to reserve the shows (big incentive for me), as well as losing my carryon, priority boarding (like this one) and priority disembarkation (only have 1 port on this cruise so that doesn't matter).  

 

Every person who purchases The Key gets a VOOM for 1 device.   Do you have people in your party not signing up for The Key?  I don't understand why you would need to buy a separate internet package?

[ILvBeingMom]

[ILvBeingMom]

 

[ILvBeingMom]

May vary on ships

[ILvBeingMom]

I actually need 1 more for a 2nd device.  I apologize for confusion.

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by ILvBeingMom

[tcneal]

3 minutes ago, ILvBeingMom said:

I actually need 1 more for a 2nd device.  I apologize for confusion.

 

Thanks, no problem. 

 

BTW, the 1 device is actually "1 device at a time".   So, unless you need to be on 2 devices at the same time, the 1 device will work for you.  But, I've known cases where someone needed to be on both devices at the same time so the 2 devices is understandable.

[Trackhead37]

1 hour ago, tcneal said:

 

Be careful with only buying for 1 room if I read correctly.  We are in the same situation as you with 2 rooms, 1 for kids, and I was told if The Key was not marked on the cards, you might not be able to take advantage of the perks.   I don't know how they would handle the Priority Embarkation/Tendering.  My guess would be it should be fine paying for 1 room, but you never know.   I was thinking more about the shows, rock climbing, flow rider, etc.   If your kids are old enough and don't have it on their sea cards, they might not be able to take advantage.   It might be a good idea though if they are young.   We went the other way with 1 adult and 1 kid booked in each room so I could get the Beverage package and my wife didn't so that forced us to get The Key for both rooms.

Yeah we thought about that but aren't really concerned about the stuff like the shows, rock climbing and such; the teens get their own scheduled times for all those activities with the teen club so will have plenty of time to do all those things without the usual lines and we really don't see them except for when we make them meet us for dinner and when we do our excursions at port. The only wonder we did have was with with priority embarkation but, since we have had them with us when we book suites and have them in the room next to us, we know we've never had a problem with checking them in or taking them with us when we get priority stuff; i left on 1st tender with one son during our scuba certification through the ship and my wife left on the 1st priority tender with our other son for their day at coco cay. They were even welcomed with us for the other suite perks we got, like a tour of the bridge and some lunches with captain or cruise director and such. Not looking to take advantage of it in that way though. We did the one adult in one room and the other in the other room once and ugh, what a pain I found that to be with the room keys, lol. One of the reasons we didn't do the suite this time with them in another room, is there was nothing available that really worked, being right next door or exactly across from our room; we would have had to split us two adults to do it and didn't want to go through that again so, just did connecting balcony rooms instead. Even with The Key perks, I know we are really going to miss having the concierge this cruise. I'm wondering if they will ever do a buy-up that gives access to that without being in a suite, which I've seen on other cruise lines.

[Lupush]

Hello All,

 

First time RCCL cruiser here (Platinum on NCL, decided to try a new line).  We will be doing a quick sailing on Independence of the Seas out of Port Everglades on Feb 28th.  I received a pre-cruise email with an option to purchase "The Key".  Includes priority check in and a few other things.  Has anyone done this before and is it worth it?

 

Thanks.

[37645]

4 minutes ago, Lupush said:

Hello All,

 

First time RCCL cruiser here (Platinum on NCL, decided to try a new line).  We will be doing a quick sailing on Independence of the Seas out of Port Everglades on Feb 28th.  I received a pre-cruise email with an option to purchase "The Key".  Includes priority check in and a few other things.  Has anyone done this before and is it worth it?

 

Thanks.

 

I haven’t used this but it is available for my upcoming cruise. Personally I find it a ware of money since all people in the same cabin must purchase it. With what it includes I would only find it useful for the priority checkin and internet. But internet is cheaper by a lot when purchasing a package for two devices to be shared by two people only. 

 

So for me it is an extra almost 200 after I account for the internet portion that I would have gotten anyways for two people. 

 

But if you would actually use the other benefits such as private time on the rock climbing wall, wave thing, zip line etc then you might think that it’s worth it. It includes a one day only lunch only at Chops which we can’t use as I travel with a vegetarian. So that is another benefit that I don’t consider since we wouldn’t use it. And it’s only for embark day and it isn’t every day. 

 

So so it depends on if you would use and take advantage of the private time at the activities as those are the main other benefits associated with it. Personally I don’t think reserved seating and priority check in is worth another 200 for just two people after internet is taken into account. 

 

If they included lunch at a specialty restaurant of your choice every day or something along those lines then I would consider it. 

 

But it without it, in my opinion only, based upon what we actually do on the ship, it’s just a ware of money and not worth it. But some people are willing to pay 200+ just to get priority to check in and reserved seating at shows. 

 

So so depends on the person and their interests etc. 

[djjoe]

Checking on my Anthem cruise in a few days and I see this thing called "The Key". Seems like first time cruisers can get priority boarding, Chops lunch and lots of goodies for $20 per person. Why work towards D+ or Pinnacle when you get the goodies for $20?

[SciFiGuy1960]

That's $19.99 per person per day and if one person gets it then every one age six or above has to purchase as well.

 

So that would be $139.93 per person in the cabin six and above for a 7 day cruise.

 

Edited January 3, 2019 by SciFiGuy1960

[frank808]

2 hours ago, ILvBeingMom said:

I actually need 1 more for a 2nd device.  I apologize for confusion.

 

You could log out of the first device and log in to the other device you want to use.

[Loonbeam]

Bluntly, I'll be buying this for our Oasis cruise assuming it is still around in current form then.   But we'll only be two people in the cabin so it's not prohibitive at current rates when you factor in internet service.   If they added a private lunch venue on sea days it would be a no brainer for me (listening RCCL?).  

 

[molly361]

The priority check in is once you are inside the terminal right?  The Key doesn't give you priority on the security line is that correct?

[Clarea]

6 minutes ago, molly361 said:

The priority check in is once you are inside the terminal right?  The Key doesn't give you priority on the security line is that correct?

 

Not sure we've gotten that level of detail yet.

[rt1092]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

The priority check in is once you are inside the terminal right?  The Key doesn't give you priority on the security line is that correct?

The "Key" program gets you into the suites and pinnacles line from the entrance door through security. They put the cardboard sign over the pinnacle sign. And one of the cops was directing pinnacles to the back of the regular line. I quickly got someone from Royal to go over a inform him of the proper procedure.

 

Edited January 4, 2019 by rt1092

[Thorben-Hendrik]

4 hours ago, rt1092 said:

And one of the cops was directing pinnacles to the back of the regular line.

That's Andy C - he took a second job to pay for suites..... 😁😂🤣

[KevinOMReb]

$19.99 a head on Symphony in May.  We’re definitely getting it.  Internet plus the dedicated venue seating and designated times for zip line ,rock wall etc.   Plus free filet mignon for lunch and priority on and off. For a cabin of two it’s a no brainer

[SciFiGuy1960]

6 hours ago, KevinOMReb said:

$19.99 a head on Symphony in May.

 

Remember that's $19.99 per person per day so for two your looking at $279.86 total.

[KevinOMReb]

2 minutes ago, SciFiGuy1960 said:

 

Remember that's $19.99 per person per day so for two your looking at $279.86 total.

Correct.  High speed internet is 14 a day. That leaves 5.99. The Chops Grille lunch is $25. That’s $3.50 a day. Now it’s $2.50 a day for early on and off, no wait seating and dedicated times for flowrider, wall and zip.   Well worth it for a family of two. 

[junglecat]

I'm going to assume this is the same as FTTF on another cruise line?  

[Biker19]

Just now, junglecat said:

I'm going to assume this is the same as FTTF on another cruise line?  

Kinda, with a few other perks thrown in at a much higher cost.