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New Program called "The Key"


ValerieJo
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Moderators: Could you please allow new threads that talk about different aspects of the Key, such as how it works on different ships, what menu options are available, pricing, etc?

 

 Lumping every Key question or offered thread into this one has resulted in a monster unsearchable unbrowsable accumulation of over 2,100 posts. 

 

We don't see drink package questions all lumped together, or questions about specialty restaurants, loyalty benefits, or pretty much anything else. It may have made sense early on, when all the questions were along the lines of "Has anyone signed up?", but trying to find a particular post in this 86-page morass is now a nightmare.

 

Just a suggestion!

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3 hours ago, casone said:

We purchased The Key for an upcoming trip on Liberty of the Seas. My husband is vegan and gluten free.  😳 I was told Chops could accommodate his needs.  We cruised in May on Anthem and my husband coordinated with the head waiter regarding his diet. It was wonderful. I think it is more difficult to accommodate on the first day, but I do think Chops is capable of helping you out. For my sake, I hope so!

I just watched a YouTube video where a woman was vegetarian.  They ate at Chops Grille, and she was allowed to order her entire meal from Jamie's Italian.  

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I just purchased the Key.  We are sailing on Symphony at the end of September for our 25th wedding anniversary. We like to celebrate big so pulling out all the stops on this trip.  We normally wouldn't get something like this but after watching some you tube videos on it what really appealed to me was the early embarkation, the lunch at a specialty restaurant that first day, the special seating for shows, and the last day breakfast and escort off the ship.

 

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On 4/3/2019 at 9:53 AM, xpcdoojk said:

Stand up is the fun and challenging one.

 

jc

When you get to certain age and weight the lie down on your belly one is the challenging one and the stand up one is the stupid one.🏄‍♂️

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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.

 

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11 minutes ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

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.

 

Thank you for posting Jaime's menu for the Key.

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20 minutes ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

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.

 

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

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20 minutes ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

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

Sorry, but you said you were already on the ship at 10:20.  I meant, what time did you actually arrive at the port terminal, park your car and go into security?   We have a 3.5 hour drive to NJ so just wanted to know how to gauge my time when leaving from home.

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6 minutes ago, TennisCruiser62 said:

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

haha, okay. Just was typing as you wrote your new response.

 

wow, that was completely fast!  That helps me in knowing when to leave home. Thanks!

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Boarded Harmony this am with the key. We arrived at Port Everglades about 1015 and literally walked straight through security and check in. Waited about 10 minutes to board because they weren't boarding anyone when we arrived. Back to back cruisers were scanned through first, of course, followed by suite guests then key guests. We were easily in the first 50 people on board. There was a designated waiting area for key holders. Once on board we got our wrist bands, wifi access codes, and waited around for lunch at Chops. We arrived at 1135 and were seated immediately, place was never full while we were there. No place to check carry on luggage on this cruise but rooms were ready at 12. Daily times for most activities, with 2 times on flowrider some days. Ice skating only has one time for the whole week. Just from the boarding process alone they key purchase has totally been worth it to this point! 

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6 minutes ago, kdeason912 said:

Boarded Harmony this am with the key. We arrived at Port Everglades about 1015 and literally walked straight through security and check in. Waited about 10 minutes to board because they weren't boarding anyone when we arrived. Back to back cruisers were scanned through first, of course, followed by suite guests then key guests. We were easily in the first 50 people on board. There was a designated waiting area for key holders. Once on board we got our wrist bands, wifi access codes, and waited around for lunch at Chops. We arrived at 1135 and were seated immediately, place was never full while we were there. No place to check carry on luggage on this cruise but rooms were ready at 12. Daily times for most activities, with 2 times on flowrider some days. Ice skating only has one time for the whole week. Just from the boarding process alone they key purchase has totally been worth it to this point! 

Odd that there wasn't a place to check carry on luggage, I thought checking it at the theater or similar venue, had been the one thing that was very consistent in everyone's reports.  

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1 minute ago, rockmom said:

Odd that there wasn't a place to check carry on luggage, I thought checking it at the theater or similar venue, had been the one thing that was very consistent in everyone's reports.  

Yea, we specifically asked and were told our rooms would be ready at 12... others aren't ready until 130... we also saw some people with larger bags in chops which I'm sure they would have preferred to get rid of so IDK why thisbwasnt available today. We didn't mind bc we don't carry much on anyway but I would have been frustrated had we carried on larger bags banking on the check bags option...

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This is just a FYI for everyone who has used or will use the Key. I emailed the customer service department at RCI with some questions about specific Key benefits that people have been unhappy with. I received a response in about 2 weeks. Their response was that they take guests evaluations and suggestions very seriously and that any new program will require refinements.  They encourage guests to complete a guest satisfaction survey that is distributed on the last day of the cruise. They are reviewing all feedback on the program and are working hard to address guests concerns. They also stated that the Set Sail Pass will have a key printed on it that will identify  you to the pier staff so that you will be directed where to go for express boarding.

 

So I guess my take-a-way from RCI's email response is for everyone who has used the Key to complete the survey and be sure to give feedback about your experience with the Key especially suggestions for improvement. It is helpful to share experiences on these boards but if we don't share them with RCI directly they will not be resolved.

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On 3/10/2019 at 12:57 PM, Thorben-Hendrik said:

 

I am wondering just how many people can be accommodated at iFly in just an hour. Max 60 I would guess, I daresay it is likely less.  If you are counting on checking iFly off your bucket list, don't count on the Key hour, do everything possible to get a reservation. If you can do the waiver on your room TV in advance, do so!  I think they should warn that there is a limited number of spots each hour 😕

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On 4/5/2019 at 1:36 PM, ijkj said:

.....I have a few questions, has anyone seen the menu for Jamie's Italian for the Key lunch yet?....

🙂

Not sure if you saw post #2140...it has the Key lunch menu at Jamie's on Anthem.  My thread got merged into this thread.

 

There is also a newer, shorter thread with both Key lunch menus from Chops and Jamie's that is easier to scroll through....called Key Lunch Menus or something like that.

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7 minutes ago, LiamsMommy2008 said:

I am wondering just how many people can be accommodated at iFly in just an hour. Max 60 I would guess, I daresay it is likely less.  If you are counting on checking iFly off your bucket list, don't count on the Key hour, do everything possible to get a reservation. If you can do the waiver on your room TV in advance, do so!  I think they should warn that there is a limited number of spots each hour 😕

Where exactly do we go to get a reservation for iFly?

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16 minutes ago, ptod said:

Not sure if you saw post #2140...it has the Key lunch menu at Jamie's on Anthem.  My thread got merged into this thread.

 

There is also a newer, shorter thread with both Key lunch menus from Chops and Jamie's that is easier to scroll through....called Key Lunch Menus or something like that.

I did find it, thank you so much for letting me know.

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58 minutes ago, LiamsMommy2008 said:

I am wondering just how many people can be accommodated at iFly in just an hour. Max 60 I would guess, I daresay it is likely less.  😕

I think the sessions are spaced 20 min apart and can handle 12-14 per session.

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3 hours ago, LiamsMommy2008 said:

I am wondering just how many people can be accommodated at iFly in just an hour. Max 60 I would guess, I daresay it is likely less.  If you are counting on checking iFly off your bucket list, don't count on the Key hour, do everything possible to get a reservation. If you can do the waiver on your room TV in advance, do so!  I think they should warn that there is a limited number of spots each hour 😕

 

I do not believe all Key people on a sailing are given the same single hour for iFly or North Star. My understanding is that those activities are assigned separately (unlike the Flowrider Key times, for example). 

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On 4/2/2019 at 1:12 PM, MissLittle1959 said:

I would never wait till 2 to show up but that's me.  Not sure your email says this but mine said don't show up any less than 2 hours before the scheduled time, which would mean if I chose 11:30 to 12, then I'm to be there by 9:30 to 10. I plan to be at the cruise terminal by 9:30.  I also wouldn't trust you could use the free lunch on another day.

The emails says show up 2 hours before embarkation time. that means final boarding is 3 for a 5pm sailaway. its not 2 hours early than your assigned time. You of course may come early. 930 is really early.

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On ‎4‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 7:49 AM, MissLittle1959 said:

Well, that's answers that! lol I like to have it done beforehand but I guess that's not the case anymore.  

 

You can now do them in the cabin on Quantum class, which can still be beforehand (depending when you want to go).

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