Jump to content

The Key Embarkation


Recommended Posts

I was just listening to Matt's podcast on terminal A of portMiami, in the podcast he talked about how suite guests go to a different area than normal stateroom guests for check-in, does anybody know where 'The Key' guests go in Terminal A?  Additionally how has your experience with Embarkation with "The Key" gone?  Is it really that much faster, is there still wait times etc.?

Thank you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, swimking1 said:

I was just listening to Matt's podcast on terminal A of portMiami, in the podcast he talked about how suite guests go to a different area than normal stateroom guests for check-in, does anybody know where 'The Key' guests go in Terminal A?  Additionally how has your experience with Embarkation with "The Key" gone?  Is it really that much faster, is there still wait times etc.?

Thank you

We had the Key for Symphony at Port Miami Terminal A last month. It was great once we were dropped off. We got to the port at 10:30ish and the drop off area was at a standstill. Didn't get out until about 11. Leave yourself some time for drop off. However, once at the terminal everything was as quick and easy as could be. No waiting at all.

We showed them our Key membership and they whisked us past another security line to a much shorter line for suite guests, etc and we zipped right through and on to the ship.

And actually, the debarkation perk of the Key was even better. There was absolutely no waiting to get off the ship. There was a debarkation breakfast that was phenomenal after which they called an escort who led us off with all the Star Class and other suite guests. Our luggage was placed in a totally separate area away from the crowds. We then chose to use a porter who took us right to the facial recognition customs area and out to the street.

As a side note, we had an unpublished perk---as Key members, they did not scan our sea pass cards when getting pool towels. This was great for 2 reasons---no chance of erroneous charges for unreturned towels and no waiting on line for scanning back return towels--just drop them in the bin and go on your way. If they don't offer you this, ask about it. It may depend on which ship you are on.

We were very happy with the whole Key program.

Happy sailing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Skid said:

We had the Key for Symphony at Port Miami Terminal A last month. It was great once we were dropped off. We got to the port at 10:30ish and the drop off area was at a standstill. Didn't get out until about 11. Leave yourself some time for drop off. However, once at the terminal everything was as quick and easy as could be. No waiting at all.

We showed them our Key membership and they whisked us past another security line to a much shorter line for suite guests, etc and we zipped right through and on to the ship.

And actually, the debarkation perk of the Key was even better. There was absolutely no waiting to get off the ship. There was a debarkation breakfast that was phenomenal after which they called an escort who led us off with all the Star Class and other suite guests. Our luggage was placed in a totally separate area away from the crowds. We then chose to use a porter who took us right to the facial recognition customs area and out to the street.

As a side note, we had an unpublished perk---as Key members, they did not scan our sea pass cards when getting pool towels. This was great for 2 reasons---no chance of erroneous charges for unreturned towels and no waiting on line for scanning back return towels--just drop them in the bin and go on your way. If they don't offer you this, ask about it. It may depend on which ship you are on.

We were very happy with the whole Key program.

Happy sailing!

Thank you for the detailed reply.  I am also leaving terminal A on Symphoney for my next cruise, and hoping to buy the Key, were there lots of opportunities to use it on board with the shows and activities?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, swimking1 said:

Thank you for the detailed reply.  I am also leaving terminal A on Symphony for my next cruise, and hoping to buy the Key, were there lots of opportunities to use it on board with the shows and activities?

Yes, there was reserved seating for the shows in the Royal Theater Hairspray and Flight), Studio B (1977 ice show) and the Aquatheater (Hiro). When you enter the theaters you will see the ushers holding Key Member signs to direct you to the seats. They are really good seats on the balcony level. Every show is great-you do not want to miss them. Reservations are a must. Make sure you make reservations on the cruise planner as soon as you can. Then get there about 15 minutes before showtime. At 10 minutes before they let everyone in that is on the standby line.

They set aside special times for you to have priority for activities like flowrider, ice skating etc. The are not always the most convenient, but better than nothing I guess. For example, our ice skating time was  9:30-10:30PM for, IIRC, night 1. We didn't go. There will be a letter in your cabin when you arrive telling you about your Key benefits and times.

Hope this helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, pezgirl said:

As a followup, how do you make reservations for the shows? 

Welcome to the forum @pezgirl. Reservations are made on the cruise planner under Entertainment & Activities. You need to check on there often because when the shows do show up on the planner, they fill up pretty quickly. I believe only Oasis and Quantum classes of ships have shows that need reservations. All other ships do not have reservations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Skid said:

Welcome to the forum @pezgirl. Reservations are made on the cruise planner under Entertainment & Activities. You need to check on there often because when the shows do show up on the planner, they fill up pretty quickly. I believe only Oasis and Quantum classes of ships have shows that need reservations. All other ships do not have reservations.

Thanks Skid. This is our first Royal cruise and I am finding it a bit confusing. We will be on the Freedom of the Seas.  My biggest confusion right now is whether or not to get the drink package. ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, pezgirl said:

Thanks Skid. This is our first Royal cruise and I am finding it a bit confusing. We will be on the Freedom of the Seas.  My biggest confusion right now is whether or not to get the drink package. ?

Ask as many questions as necessary. Everyone on this blog is happy to help. I am pinging @JLMoran..I'm pretty sure he has sailed on Freedom and think he mentioned that there may be show reservations for that ship also. I'm sure he will reply when he sees this.

As far as the drink package, know that if one person buys the deluxe package (alcoholic), everyone over 21 in the same cabin must also buy it. Sometimes you can call and get that waived, but trying that cannot be done on the cruise planner. You just need to do the math and think about how much you may drink on the cruise. My wife and I are not big drinkers, so the refreshment package usually works out better for us and we just buy an alcoholic drink here or there. The refreshment package includes just about everything you can think of other than alcohol such as bottled water, specialty coffees, virgin frozen drinks, etc. 

Also know that you should keep checking the cruise planner for sales. If you buy a package and see it for less at a later date, you can cancel it and rebuy it at the lower price. It will take 3 or 4 days to credit your account, but they will do it, no questions asked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, pezgirl said:

As a followup, how do you make reservations for the shows? 

Hi there, Pezgirl! On Freedom, as @Skid noted there are no reservations for the shows. All shows, including the headliner acts are typically done twice in the evening and times around the two traditional dinner slots. I want to say it's typically 7:00 and 9:30 show times, but might be 7:30 and 10:00; where the dining times are 5:30 and 8:00. If they have a comedian on board, the early performance will be a "family friendly" version while the later one is adults only; they don't enforce the latter, but I've heard about parents who brought young teenage kids with them to that later showing got a hard lesson in taking that disclaimer seriously.

Freedom's shows tend more towards the old-style "Broadway Revue" and variety show format, rather than actual Broadway shows, and this is why no reservations are needed. Each show runs about 45 minutes.

As far as the drink package, a member here put up a very handy calculator tool that can help you figure out if buying the Refreshment or Deluxe package will be worth it. Just plug in the duration of your trip, number of port days, and estimated number of each kind of drink you think you'll have on a sea day, and you'll get back a number that you can use as a guideline for what price will work with the drink package.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...