TennisCruiser62

3 hours ago, alexpfsu said:

 

Are you able to "cut" the line if you choose to for Flowrider and such? I know others have posted that during normal operations that you are given priority on all activities. Or does the Key now only help for 1 Flowrider/Zipline (ect) during the only posted Key time? 

 

Can you post the front of the Key letter that you have (i think it is the other-side of the activists sheet).

Hi All,

Day 3 & 6 are Key only Flowrider at 9-10am. There were at least 12 of us, so I only got to take two turns. Two times in line and two tries each. A lot of young kids trying it as it’s spring break for some schools. Staff did a good job asking if people were Key members and needed to check the seapass cards for the Key. 

Yesterday at Key hour for Rock climbing they didn’t do as good a job looking at everyone’s Seapass. Pretty sure there were 3 people without the Key. But it went okay. 

We saw people in a standby line and reservations only line for the Northstar. If you don’t have reservations, forget it! People in the standby line waited and didn’t get on.

In the main Royal Theater on Anthem, reserved seating were rows 3&4 from the stage. Top balcony had the platinum and Gold special people. Never asked if we could sit there. The Key rows were manned by staff until 5 min before hey opened up to everyone. 

Oops, I meant boarded about 10:30, got to port around 10:20. Sorry about that.

4 hours ago, MissLittle1959 said:

Thanks so much for posting this.  What time did you actually get to the port?

About 10:20 am. There were so many more people there before us waiting in seats for regular boarding. We never had to sit. 

These are for Anthem of the Seas Bahamas 7night Cruise for 4/6 sailing.

On 4/5/2019 at 1:48 PM, 2Beeze said:

 

For us the Key program means that we are far less likely to book a suite. A huge benefit to a suite for us was the time saving aspect (lines and reservations) and if we can purchase that separately then the reasons for booking a suite are greatly reduced (especially on the majority of RCL ships as they do not have the sky/sea/royal classes with extended benefits for suites).

Hi All,

onboard Anthem heading to Bahamas right now. Yesterday at embarkation with the key...

There WAS a special “The Key” line for security. Bypassed the much longer line of security for regular passengers. Just tell them you purchased the Key since we didn’t have the key marked on our Set Sail Pass. After security we were directed to the shorter line for checkin, behind one person only。after checkin, they sent us to the entrance for “Suite” members. We walked straight onto the ship, while we saw a ton of passengers in a Non-Key area sitting and waiting. Very crowded there! We were onboard before 10:20am! 

Dropped off a bag in theater where they issued a wristlet to wear the first day so staff knew you were a Key member. 180 Keys sold this cruise. I asked. 

Too early for lunch at Jaimies so we went to ride the bumper cars while we waited. Very fun!

11:30- showed up at Jaimie’s. Not crowded st first so service started out well. As more and more passengers came we saw less and less of our waiter. Pasta was really good and burgers others were eating looked delicious!

No Key program used in any shows tonight. Good seats in both Royal Theater and Two70 for tonight. 

Not many special hours for Key members this week. Think it’s still school break. Almost 100 junior passengers aboard.

So, no one has a picture of Jaimie Oliver's "The Key" menu for embarkation day on Anthem of the Seas?

4 hours ago, Dmkaminski said:

Hi All,

 

Boarded Anthem yesterday with the Key out of Cape Liberty. Wanted to report back with our experience so far as I know some have recently been asking questions specifically about this ship. We did not have a separate line to go through security, but did to check in and separate waiting area (though is no longer by the star class waiting area/snack). 

 

Upon boarding the ship, they have a table front and center for you to get your temporary wristbands and Key paperwork. I asked the woman at the desk how many they had on this sailing and she told me they had 180 Keys, so seems like prior posts are correct in that they may have bumped the quantity up to 200 per cruise (as of the day before our ship Keys were still available on the website). Our private hours for the activities are more limited than initial cruisings with they key, but may be due to the cruise being sold out. The private hours are as follows:

 

1 Rockwall on day 2 from 2pm - 3pm

2 Flowriders on days 3 and 7 both from 9am - 10am

1 i-fly on day 5 from 7-8pm (and told we could each make another reservation for this in addition to the private hour since we had the key)

1 North Star on day 6 from 1-2pm

 

We ate at Chops lunch embarkation day which had the same limited menu as others have posted, and did not fill up (plenty of space left in the restaurant). Both of our steaks were over cooked but it was a decent meal and pleasure to not have to fight our way through the crowds in the Windjammer. I had read reviews about the lunch taking a very long time but our entire 3-course meal was served to us in under an hour. 

 

Fruit plate arrived in our stateroom today. 

 

So far, not bad for $19.99 price. Would recommend for those who like a little extra on their vacations.

DMkaminski,

Thanks so much for your live report. Do you know anything about the bumper cars? Any special times for bumper cars and how long is the line for that? 

How about on Anthem 7 night Bahamas cruise? Which nights are formal nights?

Any specifics for The Key on Anthem of the Seas? Did I miss anyone posting a pic of the Private Hours for activities on Anthem? I saw it for many other ships but not specifically Anthem heading to the Bahamas. 

Did they up the sales for The Key to 200 now? Is it no longer just 100 Key holders. Maybe thats why my sailing on Anthem in April is still selling them? I thought it might be worth it since its Spring Break at that time, but who knows.

Our Anthem cruise in April also “had” time slots available for iFly and North Star, but more recently does not show the option. Must have reached their limit. The Key and drink packages also have gone up in price, but was expected as I kept receiving emails from RCCL to buy before it goes up! It did!

Thanks so much for the info. That will help make my decision. Wow, The Key passengers get on first even before the Suites and Diamond guests. Interesting!

Does anyone know how priority boarding is for Crown & Anchor Emerald members cruising on Anthem of the Seas? Is the Emerald line long and is the security line the same for everyone? Just curious if this is worth purchasing The Key for? On other cruises we have had a faster line than non-C&A members, but wondering if this has changed?

Last week, I was able to reserve the 3 main shows for an early April sailing on Anthem.

I've always asked our cabin steward to open the dividers (or doors) on the balconies and it has always been done by the time we get back from exploring the ship.

Thanks so much for posting this helpful information!

Thanks Stevea36 for clearing that up for me! Much appreciated!

Does anyone know if you are allowed to choose your main dining room prior to your cruise on Anthem of the Seas? I noticed there are 4 different dining rooms which have different themes and different menus (Chic, Grande, Silk and American Icon Grill). Can we switch dining rooms every night?

1 hour ago, aflyingbuttress said:

I’m currently on The Anthem and thought I’d drop in to report my Key experience so far. I paid $19.99 per day for The Key for our trip. I’d already had purchased internet packages and lunch at Chops so the difference in cost was minimal at that point. 

 

Priority Embarkation was indeed priority. We arrived early and were checked in where the suite guests and the higher classes of the crown and anchor society (not sure what they’re called) are checked in. We then waited in an area with chairs until the ship was ready to board. It was nice because we had a place to sit and I didn’t need to wait on a line at all. That was my main concern because I have health issues and really needed the process to be quicker and less trying on my body than a lengthy wait in line. We heard someone mention the 0 count on the ship right around 10 am and we were the first people to head onto the boat at 10:30. That part was great. 

 

When we boarded, we were directed to a table nearby where a man had an envelope for me, which included a paper with all the key benefits, and all of my groups internet package information. There was also a schedule of the private experiences for key members on the rock wall, flow rider, and I fly. The ifly was not included in the benefits print when I first bought the key so that was an extra. 

 

On day 2 we had a complimentary fruit basket delivered to our room. It included bananas, apples, a plum, an orange, a kiwi, and some grapes. 

 

Weve also gotten notification for priority disembarkation or tendering at the ring at the next two ports (Nassau and Coco Cay) and it looks like you truly do get to be in the first group getting off the ship. 

 

When we bought the key, the description boasted that there was no need to make show reservations and that there would be a special seating area just for people with the key. When we boarded, we discovered the verbiage had changed (as had been noted in some previous posts) and that we no needed reservations. Luckily I had made some anyway or that would probably have been an annoyance for me because I wanted to play it by ear and I not having to make reservations would have helped with that. So that was a selling point for me, which I’mDisappointed I didn’t get. We’ve attended two shows and both times asked to be seated in Key seating. It’s the same section as all the suite guests and guests with platinum or whatever they call it. The first time I was extremely disappointed in the seats. It was upstairs and a lot of seats were already taken once we arrived so the only place to sit was right behind a huge pole where we could see nothing. We moved but we’re no longer in the key area, making that benefit not worth it, at least for that show. 

 

For the next show, we went to cafe 270. The seating was better,  but the woman letting us sit there didn’t seem to understand how the key program worked. She did let us in but as if she were doing us a favor. The seating area was also not that great. There was a section at the front of the stage where you couldn’t see what was happening from upstairs where we were sitting. I assumed both shows would have great viewing, but it wasn’t the case. 

 

So far, I’m not overly impressed. Better seating at the shows would have made it infinitely better. If you’re getting internet packages it’s more worth it. Otherwise I would probably not invest in it again. I say probably because I need to finish out the trip to be sure. I’ll post an update if things change. 

Thanks for the update while you're still on your cruise. I'm still deciding what to do. We have Emerald status, not very high but we get a little break in boarding (special line). Since they added iFly, that sounds good. Let me know if they add bumper cars! Good luck with seating for the We Will Rock You show. I hope you get better seats without having to show up 30 minutes prior. Enjoy your cruise and thanks again!

I've only been to Chops for dinner and I must say their steaks are better quality than they serve in the main dining rooms.

On 1/4/2019 at 5:37 AM, KevinOMReb said:

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. 

Voom surf & stream for 2 devices (1 device per adult) is $19.99/day. $279.86 for 2 The Key - $139.93 for 2 Voom surf & stream - $50 (for 2 lunches in Chops Grille) = $89.93. Is it worth it to pay $89.93 for the reserved seating in the 3 shows of Anthem of the Seas, and dedicated times on Ziplining and Rockclimbing? (I wouldn't do the flowrider but would bumper cars or skating have dedicated times?) Emerald members also get priority check in at embarkation, but is this check-in that much better? I need to decide if I want to purchase the Key also! Help please.