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TennisCruiser62

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Posts posted by TennisCruiser62

    RCCL Travel Insurance

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    11 hours ago, Jenna said:

    Isn't RCCL requiring everyone sailing this year to have travel insurance? Or did that change?

     

    6 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

    An annual policy is an excellent idea. I have had an annual policy for several years now, economically it’s a good option, but it’s a great option for to the fact I don’t have to think about it; the policy is active ANYTIME I am 150 miles or more from home. 
    Also the COVID coverage on the annual policies, in my experience, is much more comprehensive.  

     

    Re Booking with FCC

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Chrisb732 said:

    @TennisCruiser62 they didn’t really have an explanation of why it happened. We had to talk to a few people to get it sorted out. If I could do it again I would just call to use my cruise credit instead of doing it online. I would also maybe try to get an idea of what the credit will pay for before I call. The credit was used for the cruise fare only. It wasn’t used to pay taxes or gratuities. The $1 and $2 charges were so the cruise still received crown and anchor points.   

    Thanks for the explanation ChrisB. Good luck with future bookings and be safe!

    Symphony of the Seas

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    1 hour ago, taglovestocruise said:

    From Royal.

    There is the opportunity to book private lessons for an additional cost.  At last check, private lessons cost $60 per person and lasts about an hour. Each lesson will have six to eight guests.

    Private lessons can be booked onboard the ship and is sometimes available via the Royal Caribbean Cruise Planner.

    Thanks for the response.

    Symphony of the Seas

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

    You cannot book any of those ahead of time unless you are looking to pay to rent the flowrider for one hour or sign up for a lesson both of which cost money. 

     

    Even on board you cannot make reservations. 

     

    Key guests cannot make reservations either. 

    Thanks for the heads up. When I was on Anthem last year I was able to make reservations on the Cruise Planner using the Key privileges. Great to know on Symphony I cannot. 

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    35 minutes ago, JEANMR1 said:

     

    I realized I misspoke about two things.  Yes it was with the pinnacles, etc. that we boarded right after.  Not the handicap.  Basically we were second group to board.  Also, it was Ifly only that was smack in the middle of a port day.  I overheard some other key guest trying to get them to change the time in guest services and they said no.  Can you see how sucky the private times were?

    For most it was, but my husband and I were the only ones who showed up for the iFly hour and that was great for us. If I hadn’t been to Nassau before I probably would have been disappointed too!

    • Like 2

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    9 minutes ago, JEANMR1 said:

    My review of the Key on Anthem of the Seas 4/6/19-4/13/19

    Short review:  Overall a fairly bad value for my particular family but possibly a moderate value for other families.

    Long review:

    Cost.  I bought the key when it was 19.99 so it was roughly $560 for my family (2 adults, 11 yo, 8 yo).

    Embarkation process.  We got their early (about 10) to get the most out of being on the ship so it was prior to regular embarkation so we did have to wait.  We were loaded on right after the handicap people so that was fairly quick.  However I have heard the process at Bayonne is good anyway and some other people that came a bit later said they walked right on anyway.  Conclusion:  Not a huge perk there. 

    Embarkation lunch.  We had lunch at Chops.  It was fairly crowded and our waiter was not terribly friendly so my view is skewed a little by him.  The food was pretty good but I asked if there were kids menus and he said no.  The kids just ate the side of mac and cheese.  Conclusion: meh – but mostly due to the particular waiter. 

    Internet.  I know this was a big part of the cost and we did use the internet.  However I don’t usually get the internet because cruise ships are the last place I get to feel unplugged.  That said, it was nice to have the internet, be able to check on my dog, text with my 11 yo on the ship, and chill out a little surfing the web before bed.  The streaming was very buffer’y though.  Conclusion:  If you were already getting the internet for everyone, then the key becomes more valuable.

    Priority disembarkation at ports.  Ok this was nice at Coco Cay.  They had us meet in the Music Hall and took us off the ship first thing.  If I didn’t have a beach bed already booked, we would have gotten the best seats anywhere we wanted due to being first.  Didn’t get off in Port Canaveral so I don’t know how that went.  No priority in Nassau.  Conclusion:  Good for what we used it for.

    Show reservations.  We did have reservations for all three shows.  For The Gift, we completely forgot about it so I have no clue.  For Spectra’s Cabaret, I just walked in and sat down.  Noone checked if I had reservations and I found a seat quickly so I did not sit in or know where the key area was.  For We Will Rock You, we ended up going to an earlier performance (matinee) in the standby line and got in fine so we didn’t use our reservation.  Conclusion:  I think one of my main reasons for getting the key was for shows but ended up not using it.  My fault.

    Private hours at rides.  To me, this was the biggest fail and my one real complaint. Unfortunately, I don’t have a pic of the schedule but it pretty much sucked.  If I can find the paper, I’ll upload it.  There was not something every day.  A couple of days had nothing.  The times they gave us for Ifly and Northstar were port times.  Conclusion: lousy.

    Disembarkation breakfast.  Lovely.  Conclusion:  Thumbs Up.

    Disembarkation.  Very very good.  You go to the Shore Excursion desk and say you are ready to leave.  They hold up a key sign and walk you by everyone, help you find your luggage, then escort you directly to Customs.  Conclusion:  If they wanted to charge me $50 just for that, I would pay it. 

     

    So overall it had some good points and bad points.  For the use we personally got out of it, not worth it for our family.

    Interesting, we boarded before the handicap people. As we were walking on the ship, I saw them all sitting in a certain area still waiting. 

    Here’s a pic of the schedule for that week. 

    2189E084-CEA5-46AB-B089-72BFBF4D929A.jpeg

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Lionesss said:

    For those cruisers who have used the KEY on tendering ports, lets say Grand Cayman.  When you return to  the port area after visiting the Island, and the line is long to get a tender to get back to the ship................do they have a different line for you to use?

     

    Just curious if anyone encountered this.

     

    Thanks

     

    When I was on Anthem last week, I actually asked a staff member about that. They said no special line for getting back on the ship. None of our stops used tenders, and only two of the three stops had priority disembarkation. I never encountered a line getting back on the ship as I never stayed in port all day.  Good luck and try to have fun on your cruise! 

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    2 hours ago, MissLittle1959 said:

    No complaints here!  Tonight we see the gift.  Not sure if we have special seating or not.

     

    2 hours ago, blueridgemama said:

     

    Sounds like everything is going perfectly for you. Hopefully will continue. Appreciate you taking the time to post.

    Maybe Anthem just has it down and their staff are all informed. It worked well for us this past week also.

    • Like 2

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    14 hours ago, LiamsMommy2008 said:

    This is truly disappointing to read. As was already mentioned, after four months they have had plenty of time to educate the crew!  First the 'no show reservations needed" disappeared, and then the "daily" private hours.  Now the boarding amenities have gone < poof > (if they were ever in place to begin with!) And the private hours even more limited? Not what I signed up for, and dwindling daily.     I am reconsidering my Key purchase for our June and November cruises,  especially since the the Thanksgiving cruise will be PACKED with kids, as always. PLEASE keep posting, experienced Keyers !!

     

    My husband and I had a great experience with The Key. Just home from Anthem of the Seas Bahamas 7 day cruise yesterday.

    *Embarkation at Cape Liberty, Bayonne was great. Special “The Key” line for security (a sign was out for Key members).

    *Special Check—in line for Key guests. Here they slide you in to the next available agent

    *since seapass cards are not issued at checkin (they will be waiting for you in your cabin at 1pm), you will get a Key bracelet to wear the first day so staff will know you are a key member. You can still order drinks etc. if you have a drink pkg. 

    *sent to the Suites/Pinnacle door for boarding, no waiting. Just kept walking and following others straight onto the ship (we saw many people waiting in chairs to board

    *Soon as you step foot on board you are directed to a table for Key members where you get your voom Internet codes and special Key activity hours. 

    *next, we went to check in one carry on bag in the Royal theater. A line here of 4 people and only one check in person. (By the time we went to our cabin our carryon was already INSIDE THE CABIN, inside a closet.

    *We explored the ship as we were an hour too early to go to Jaimie Oliver’s for lunch. We rode the bumper cars as it just opened. 

    *Lunch at Jaimie’s started out great when there were only a few of us, as it started getting more and more crowded we saw less and less of our waiter! But the pasta was fantastic!

    *After Jaimie’s (12:45ish) we decided to walk from deck 5 to deck 12 to see if our cabin was ready. Many people waiting by stairs to get into the hallways of their cabins. They must open from top to bottom as our floor and deck 11 were already opened for passengers and luggage waiting outside our door! 

    *At first I was disappointed in the schedule for Key member times for the activities as there weren’t many but we took advantage of the hours they offered. The first Key member hour on Flowrider about a dozen of us showed up. This was my first time and the instructors were great at teaching you what to do. I was able to ride twice (2 tries each time). The second day for Key members only 5-6 of us showed up. It was great for me as I’m a first timer and just happy I got to try! Staff at both times always asked if you were a Key member and even asked the kids to show their key card. 

    *Rock climbing, staff seemed a little more lenient. They asked if everyone was a Key member but never asked to show the card. Pretty sure a few kids were not cuz they didn’t answer. 15 min later another staff came and asked her coworker if we were all Key members and they guy didn’t seem to care and said yes. 

    *iFly was awesome- NO ONE else showed up for iFly Key time. My husband and I had the time all to ourselves! (It was 11am on Nassau day, so people were probably on excursion). We’ve been before so only got off for a short time and back on to try iFly. We both got to go in twice and we asked the instructor to do a demo of her tricks. 

    We did iFly again because we had a reservation that we booked earlier. That group we had 12 people so everyone had one turn each.

    *Northstar was pretty busy. We had a reservation so we went at that time instead of the Key time. They have a reserved line and a standby line which we saw a few times people who were waiting in standby never able to get on. Next time is like to reserve a time when we are docked so you can see the island from above!

    *Since there is only one Flowrider on Anthem, we saw at non-Key times that they split it in half by putting a bumper in the middle so you can have 2 people ride at the same time. 

    *As far as the shows we never had a problem getting a good seat. For The Gift we sat in the reserved seating main level, rows 3-4 Center were blocked for Key. It was manned by a staff member as well as a sign and she did turn people away. The other shows we sat upstairs in the center, lots of reserved seating there. There were signs for diamond, pinnacle etc. but we’re told we can sit there. Many times the sign was there and I think only 1-2 shows did they have a staff member checking. 

    *The Key also gave us priority debarkation at Port Canaveral and Cococay. We didn’t get off the ship at Port Canaveral. At Cococay, we asked where the key debarkation was and the officer told us where it was but said there was no line in the regular debarkation. She was right. The Key debarkation was at the other end of the ship which made for a longer walk on the pier.

    *Voom Surf & Stream worked great at sea! I was able to download pics, send messages etc. no problem! 

    *Debarkation day- we went to Silk for breakfast and that was very relaxing and quiet. It really was a dining room of only Key members. 

    *After we finished breakfast, used the restroom and were ready to debark we went to The shore excursion desk were a staff member was waiting to escort us off the ship. Anthem was still calling debarkation numbers and were only up to 31 out of 93. He grabbed his Key sign and said to follow him. We cut across the line of people waiting to get off the ship to an officer who scanned us out right away. We proceeded to follow our guide to the Key luggage area, picked up our luggage and followed him to security where there was absolutely no waiting. We looked over at all the other passengers waiting in a long snake like line waiting to go thru security. It was a long line. He said goodbye to us there. Proceeded out, called Uber and were off to the mall. 

    For us the Key worked great on the Anthem and seemed like most of the staff we encountered with were very aware of The Key program. 

     

     

     

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted · Edited by TennisCruiser62

    15 hours ago, MissLittle1959 said:

    I find out tomorrow how it all goes.  Can't wait!

     

    Hi All,

    Just off Anthem of the Seas this morning. Arrived at the Silk Dining room on deck 4 where they had a sign out for Key members only. One last time for them to bring you the food and to sit and relax. We took our time since we have a late afternoon flight. After we finished eating we were told to go to the Shore excursion desk for Key debarkation. I thought since we were getting off late (9:30am) the crowd would have disappeared. I was wrong! The two of us were escorted off the ship with a staff member carrying a KEY sign and we cut the lines following him. He took us down to luggage and to the special Key area which was being guarded by a staff member. Picked up our luggage, proceeded off the ship (there was a line of passengers waiting to get off the ship and an even longer line for security. He took us to a special security line which had absolutely no waiting. From there you are in your own. It was great, I can only imagine people having to wait in that security line for 30-45 min maybe?! They really make you feel special. 

    The whole experience with the Key was great. Watched the shows from Key/Suite section. Never ever full except during The Gift show. 

    Will report more after I have more down time. Time for a little shopping in New Jersey

     

    3452F5B1-FD1A-4BA4-A9C0-C4493E779E32.jpeg

    • Like 4
    • Thanks 1

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

     

    Hasn't been around long enough for anyone to notice a pattern.

    I know they will sell The Key until the very last possible day until the reach 200. The Key was still available two days before sailing because they only sold 180. The price goes up closer to sailing also. 

    Make sure you reserve online iFly, Northstar and all possible big shoes. 

    New Program called "The Key"

    in Royal Caribbean International

    Posted

    40 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

     

    Wow - does not seem like a good deal at all!😱

    If you are buying the Key mainly for Flowrider I can see how people might complain. But it is spring break and pretty full ship. I suppose if you go off season when kids are back in school it would cut down the line. 

    Oh, and we did receive a plate of fruit in our cabin but by the time we came back the fruit had a rancid smell. That seems useless as you can just to to Windjammers etc for the same fruit! 

    I figured the Key is worth it cuz maybe non key times there will be an even longer crowd.

    Do remember and iFly, Northstar and shows you can book ahead, do it cuz those reservations go fast

     

    40 minutes ago, Thorben-Hendrik said:

     

    Wow - does not seem like a good deal at all!😱

     

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