Is the "Key" worth it?

[PWP-001]

4 hours ago, dizzyr said:

Hmmm now I'm kind of rethinking it - it could come in handy for disembarkation. Originally our return flight was at 2:00 so I wasn't too worried about what time we left the ship but they changed the flight to be at 10:00. I thought it would be too stressfull so I changed it to a less desirable route home but the latest time I could get was 12:45 so being able to have a nice breakfast and still leave quickly might make it worth it. It would have to go on sale again before the cruise though or it's too pricy for me. 

Yes, while a small few will lecture you on how you don't NEED The Key, I've purchased it every time because I WANTED it and VALUED its benefits.  And as I've sat at community tables for the lunch and breakfast, other passengers find value as well... enough that they want to buy it.

 

I just disembarked Friday morning with The Key.  After I finish eating at the special breakfast, I wheeled my carryon with me out of the dining room and towards a crew member holding a The Key sign.  When I showed him my seapass with key logo, he showed me right to the security officer who scanned me off the ship.  In the terminal there were 8 people waiting ahead of me to see 3 customs agents working the line.

[PWP-001]

4 hours ago, dizzyr said:

 

Anything else I should know ahead of time about the differences between Princess and RCI? What made you switch from Princess? I'm still having second thoughts about it.

I took 20 cruises, sailing 124 days with Princess over several years as a gambler and cruising for free after I established myself.  Mostly because of a shift in offers, I sampled alternatives, NCL in particular.

 

After sailing one time on RCI, and playing a considerable amount, I've been flooded with free cruise offers mostly Junior Suites, and several with free play attached to the offer.  Right now I have 15 upcoming cruises booked, all free.

 

But I probably will cancel a number of them.

 

RCI's food is just AWEFUL!  I never got tired of the Princess menus because they seemed to never repeat and they offered a very wide selection of food including a daily pasta.  Everything was high quality food.

 

RCI is truly a step down... uh that's a whole flight of stairs... step down.  I've posted how tilapia was served instead of sole, how a "Cool Whip"-like non-dairy topping was served with dessert in their $80 per person specialty steakhouse.  In another thread a poster misused the term "Bait & Switch" but here I will use it correctly to tell you that in Giovani's Table you're lured in with Gelato listed for dessert.  When you order it, you'll be told that they only have ice cream.  That's happened on the last two ships I've sailed, and the last one told me they haven't had gelato in two months.

 

And here's the final straw that's making me rethink whether I take all of my upcoming cruises or just cancel out:  On my last day of my last cruise, I woke up and only had coffee for breakfast, not eating any solid food until I went to Giovani's Table for lunch at noon and Chop's Steakhouse for dinner at 8pm.  I did not even walk through Windjammer that day:  absolutely no food or snacks other than the two specialty restaurants.

 

At 3am of embarkation day, I woke up feeling queasy, full and with a general "I don't feel so good" disposition.  By the 7am Key Disembarkation Breakfast, I really didn't want to even look at food, but I had said I'd join a couple for breakfast, which I did, ordering plain yogurt and granola.  I drank three glasses of ice water waiting for it, then took just two bites of the yogurt before pushing it away.  I took the long way home to avoid rush hour traffic on I-95 and was in bed by 9:30am with a 16.9 oz bottle of water at my side.  I slept on and off all day, waking to sip the water but taking the full day to ingest that one bottle. 

 

About 9:20pm, the fireworks began when I made my first trip to the bathroom.  I'll be polite and just say that I did not vomit.  I was a frequent visitor for the  next 20 hours, eating a bowl of milk & cereal at 3am and a homemade stir fry of chicken breast, onions and udon noodles at 1pm.  I've also managed to drink 16oz of skim milk with the stir fry and 2 more bottles of water.  As of 3am this morning, I feel much better, and I'm hoping that I'm on "solid ground"

 

All of those details are honest and accurate WITHOUT offering an explanation which I will leave to all those who read this to draw their own conclusions and provide an armchair diagnosis.   And last statement:  I do not have any food allergies or sensitivities.  

[RG306]

9 hours ago, dizzyr said:

 

Anything else I should know ahead of time about the differences between Princess and RCI? What made you switch from Princess? I'm still having second thoughts about it.

It's been years since we sailed Princess but found they did anytime dining better, loved the little details around food/hosting like milk & cookies, the movies under the stars with popcorn, the real ice cream and waffle station.  

I prefer the cabin sizes and layouts on Royal.  Royal especially on the bigger ships does entertainment well, we've always had really good service and since we travel with a group of varying ages and interests it meets our needs better. I could happily sail princess, celebrity or royal and look at itinerary. My husband and the rest of our family and friends need more bells and whistles onboard, want good service, and food options so they're happy with Royal. 

 

We continue to select my time dining but always have reservations (early is too early, late is often too late and sometimes we want earlier and sometimes we want later) and adjust onboard if need be (don't usually have too much trouble). My time dining looks like a zoo without reservations otherwise it's fine.  We've done the UDP on symphony, that was great but too much food- a 3 night speciality is a good number. Coastal Kitchen on Wonder had us completely spoiled- so if I was in a junior suite or above and could access coastal kitchen I'd opt out of specialty dining. Embarkation lunch - we avoid windjammer and crowds, depending on the ship there are options (park cafe, solarium bistro, el loco fresh) but you can also pay for a specialty restaurant lunch. 

[dizzyr]

Movies under the stars and the milk and cookies are some of my favourite things on Princess! 

 

I chose my time dining for this cruise and booked every day around the same time (halfway in between early and late dining) and I'll adjust accordingly as needed. Since it's just myself and my oldest daughter it should be a little easier than when it's the four of us - trying to get everyone coordinated was much easier when the girls were younger and cared about my opinion LOL!

[chiguypaul]

Many posts on this. My family has looked at many times. Waste of money in our opinion. Not enough value.

[Longford]

2 hours ago, chiguypaul said:

Many posts on this. My family has looked at many times. Waste of money in our opinion. Not enough value.

For a couple or family traveling together ... it's expensive because each in the room is required to buy The Key, if I understand correctly.  I understand a family/couple decision not to go that route.  One size doesn't fit all. 

 

The pros and cons have been appropriately described in the discussion.  Why the angst?  Let people do what they want without one side trying to convince the other that their decision is right or wrong.  (not referring to the remarks of chiguypaul, above)

[PWP-001]

10 hours ago, Longford said:

For a couple or family traveling together ... it's expensive because each in the room is required to buy The Key, if I understand correctly.  I understand a family/couple decision not to go that route.  One size doesn't fit all. 

 

The pros and cons have been appropriately described in the discussion.  Why the angst?  Let people do what they want without one side trying to convince the other that their decision is right or wrong.  (not referring to the remarks of chiguypaul, above)

 

I think the only requirement is that everyone in the cabin purchase it.  

 

Having plenty of passengers who find no value to The Key only means it's more difficult for RCI to raise the price.  I'm okay with that.  Keep hating it.

 

[PolicromaSol]

The more I hear about "The Key", the more it kinda reminds me of logging into your Southwest account and paying extra to get an A-ticket the morning of your flight, except a lot more expensive as you have to pay for every day. 

 

I could get it being convenient if you're trying to make a morning flight, but IMO it's just easier (and probably cheaper) to make sure the cruise you're on fits your schedule comfortably and that you have enough buffer room before and after for any unexpected issues. And hey, with the money you saved, that could mean a resort day before or after your cruise.

 

Put me in with the folks who say it's probably better for busy solo travelers.

 

Now if it gave you all the suite perks without having to actually stay in a suite, I could see it being worth the money.

Edited December 5, 2022 by PolicromaSol

[Deeliteful]

As a solo traveller I think it’s worthwhile as I get the internet for business purposes anyway. So for that little extra I like it and will continue to use it.

 

[JeffT237]

There has been a lot of posts relating to the key and if it's worth it lately.  For some reason it has become a hotly debated topic.  Maybe we're all getting burnt out on tipping and dress code threads!