The Key Program

But do they charge you for age 6 and under and then not give the benefits? That seems odd. My DD is 10 so we should be fine.
Anyone in the stateroom that meets the age requirement, gets all the benefits.
Not sure a 7 year old needs WiFi .. then again. Maybe WiFi games etc lol
 


Early access is not offered on my sailing on Harmony in September either but I just bought it as a surprise for DH since it is on sale for $19.99 per person. Have no idea how many of these Royal is selling and when the price may go up. Plus we had $200 in cruise credit so only paid $79 for it and we would have eaten in Chops and bought 2 Voom packages anyway! Can't wait to read the reviews of those who come back and have experienced the program!
 


I just bought this for our cruise on Allure in April. It wasn't much more than the Voom Surf & Stream for 1 device. So, it seems like a good deal for the additional perks!
 
It appears that each ship is offering different Key components. Some are Requiring reservations for shows Despite having the Key. They are reserving the seating Area for Key holders,but still requiring Key holders to get a reservation ( to know how many people are showing up)
The cruise critic blog thread is quite long and perusing it might help clarify for individual ships and what people are experiencing once onboard.
Some ships offering early stateroom access, some not. Some offering no advance reservations, some not. Details versus actual experiences are differing. Good luck everyone!
 
Hi. We're going on our first RCCL cruise in July to Alaska and saw this as an option to buy and I have some questions. I've read through this thread but couldn't find the answers I'm looking for so hopefully, someone with experience can chime in.

So it seems that you have to buy this for every eligible person. We're a party of 7 with the youngest being 6.5. I think if I read it correctly, we have to buy for the 6.5 year old too, correct?

Can someone confirm if I'm reading this right too, that's it's $19.99 per person per day? So we're cruising 8 days/7 nights. Is that to say that our cost for this will be $19.99 x 7 people x 8 days = $1,119.44? If so, YIKES!
 
Hi. We're going on our first RCCL cruise in July to Alaska and saw this as an option to buy and I have some questions. I've read through this thread but couldn't find the answers I'm looking for so hopefully, someone with experience can chime in.

So it seems that you have to buy this for every eligible person. We're a party of 7 with the youngest being 6.5. I think if I read it correctly, we have to buy for the 6.5 year old too, correct?

Can someone confirm if I'm reading this right too, that's it's $19.99 per person per day? So we're cruising 8 days/7 nights. Is that to say that our cost for this will be $19.99 x 7 people x 8 days = $1,119.44? If so, YIKES!

You are correct. You have to purchase the Key for each person in your cabin to get the benefits. Folks have reported on cruisecritic that the Cruise Planner is allowing you to purchase individual keys but that does not make sense to me because it would mean some in your party would have the benefits and others would not. I also believe it states somewhere on the page when you go to purchase that each person in the cabin 6 and over have to purchase.

And your math is just a little off. It is per night not per day. My husband and purchased for our 7 night cruise at $19.99 each. So you would subtract one of the days ($139.93) from your total. It is not cheap and I do not know if I would be willing to purchase if we had a large party but for me and DH since we were going to eat at Chops and buy the Voom and Stream anyway, plus we had on board credit; it was an easy decision for us.
 
Hi all! I purchased the Key for my son (16) and I on the Mariner a couple of weeks ago. I am happy to answer any questions, but the bottom line is: Yes, I felt it was worth it.
 
Hi all! I purchased the Key for my son (16) and I on the Mariner a couple of weeks ago. I am happy to answer any questions, but the bottom line is: Yes, I felt it was worth it.

Thanks crabbymom for being willing to answer questions. So glad you thought it was worth it. I have a couple questions.

1. Did you have to reserve shows in advance? May not be something you can answer since I see you were not on an Oasis class ship but I will ask anyway!
2. Where were the seats for people with the Key? We sailed in a grand suite back in November so we were able to sit right behind Star Class for the shows. Great seats in all venues!
3. Can you describe debarkation? Did you take advantage of the breakfast and leave the ship when you wanted?
4. How were you distinguished as a Key participant? Special sticker on your SeaPass card or were you given a special band or anything?
5. Would you share any highlights you experienced using the Key?

Again, thanks in advance for sharing your experience and answering my questions.
 
Thanks crabbymom for being willing to answer questions. So glad you thought it was worth it. I have a couple questions.

1. Did you have to reserve shows in advance? May not be something you can answer since I see you were not on an Oasis class ship but I will ask anyway! - Did not have to reserve (not Oasis) just had to show up 15 mins early.
2. Where were the seats for people with the Key? We sailed in a grand suite back in November so we were able to sit right behind Star Class for the shows. Great seats in all venues! - We sat right behind the Suite/Pinnacle (no Star Class).
3. Can you describe debarkation? Did you take advantage of the breakfast and leave the ship when you wanted? - Debarkation was the best! We were able to leave with the self carry people, but we were also able to check our luggage and not have to carry it off. We had an early flight so we put our bags out the night before (special luggage tags provided), left our cabin around 7am to go to breakfast, had breakfast in the MDR then had a special line to disembark and pick up our luggage. We were in the Uber by 8am.
4. How were you distinguished as a Key participant? Special sticker on your SeaPass card or were you given a special band or anything? The SeaPass card had a Key symbol sticker on it, and they did check for it when we used a Key privilege. In addition they asked for our cabin number.
5. Would you share any highlights you experienced using the Key? Aside from the amazing disembark, I really liked having Chops available at Lunch instead of the Windjammer. On the Mariner, Chops is not normally open for lunch so it was ONLY open for Key holders. Also, the priority boarding was pretty fantastic as we were the absolute first people on the ship, we were called with Pinnacles and there was only one at that time so we were on board by about 10:30am. My son enjoyed having internet as I normally do not get that for the kids. The extra hours on the FlowRider were another hit with my son.

Again, thanks in advance for sharing your experience and answering my questions.

Certainly! See above.
 
Thanks so much for answering my questions. I am more sure than ever that since we are just in a junior suite this time, the Key will enhance our experience.
 
It seems that the Key perks have changed. It’s very possible your upcoming cruise is effected by the changes. Check the package details out on cruise planner again to confirm for your cruise.
They now DO require reservations pre cruise for shows! :( on some Oasis ships.. best to check! As rccl said... they can change at any time... oh well.
Not sure I’ll be keeping the key as it was the deciding factor for me.
 
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It seems that the Key perks have changed. It’s very possible your upcoming cruise is effected by the changes. Check the package details out on cruise planner again to confirm for your cruise.
They now DO require reservations pre cruise for shows! :( on some Oasis ships.. best to check! As rccl said... they can change at any time... oh well.
Not sure I’ll be keeping the key as it was the deciding factor for me.


Thanks for posting this update. I looked it up and it definitely does require reservations now! I wonder what they will do for everyone that purchased it before the change! People have since cancelled on my cruise and I did grab a resverstion for The key incase we decide to use it because the rest of our party is but this is definitely a huge detractor in value. If my friends who have it reserved get a notification - I will post here. If any of you got a notification of the change - please share what RCI said!

As a side note - our Symphony cruise is 74 days away and still no entertainment available to book...
 
I am so bummed! Just read the updated details and yes for Harmony it does say advance booking for shows is required. We did book shows in advance for our last cruise even though we were in a grand suite so I suppose it is no big deal but I feel a little disappointed.

I also copied and will paste what the offer says now about embarkation lunch which I think is nice that you can pick which restaurant now.

***Exclusive embarkation lunch at a specialty dining venue. Choose between a Steakhouse (Chops Grille) or Italian (Giovanni’s Table or Jamie’s Italian depending on your ship). You can select your venue of choice once onboard. Seating is first come, first served from 11:30am – 1:30pm.
 
No notification from royal.. just
lucked out? Reading blogs... does not make me happy..
I too noticed choose a restaurant, guessing chops too busy!

Anyone know the cancel/refund (timing) policy (Key) ... will it be after I have an opportunity to try for the show?
Are key members Guaranteed their choice?
Why are some saying they re Less than 90, but still no way to reserve?
I thought the first chance to book was 90 days..
TIA, if u know!

Back to planning....
 

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