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The Key lunch in the MDR


marcg125

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I am reading recent reviews of The Key and noticed that on the certain Oasis class ships, people who purchased The Key are now having the special lunch located in the MDR as opposed to Chops Grille restaurant. Can anyone confirm on recent trips if this is happening? Don't mind but just knowing ahead of time if the MDR is the place to go to have that lunch (I understand that this allows people who are not part of The Key to have the option of eating at Chop's on embarkation day without the extra wait time with the Key).

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25 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

I believe it is happening on Harmony from what I've read.  They have the special Key Chops menu but are seating in the Grande dining room.  Not sure if it's being rolled out everywhere yet.

I read this was happening on Symphony as well.

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

It is likely due to the numbers involved.  Rather than turning people away or telling them to wait by moving lunch to the MDR they can serve the same Chops meal to all Key guests at once.

Is this an indication that The Key is more popular than anticipated? At least with the larger ships, if they are selling The Key only up to a certain percentage of passengers.

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23 minutes ago, FManke said:

Is this an indication that The Key is more popular than anticipated? At least with the larger ships, if they are selling The Key only up to a certain percentage of passengers.

Not sure, possibly.  Or it could be all of them are coming at nearly the same time and the Chops can't properly handle everyone at once.

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56 minutes ago, twangster said:

Not sure, possibly.  Or it could be all of them are coming at nearly the same time and the Chops can't properly handle everyone at once.

Get on board ASAP and head right to eat. Just like the WJ. Only The Key version.

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I thought the whole idea of limiting the number of Key packages was to keep the overcrowding of the restaurant from happening. It sounds to me like they have abandoned the concern with overcrowding and simply chosen to herd everyone into the MDR so they can get sell as many pkgs as possible.  This utterly defeats the concept of an exclusive, leisurely upscale lunch at Chops.  Disappointing,IMO

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On 7/17/2019 at 5:33 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

I thought the whole idea of limiting the number of Key packages was to keep the overcrowding of the restaurant from happening. It sounds to me like they have abandoned the concern with overcrowding and simply chosen to herd everyone into the MDR so they can get sell as many pkgs as possible.  This utterly defeats the concept of an exclusive, leisurely upscale lunch at Chops.  Disappointing,IMO

I would like to know how many they are actually selling per cruise.  We purchased it on our upcoming Liberty cruise and if they are selling as many as possible then Ill cancel it.  Why spend that kind of money if EVERYONE is going to have the same perks?  Makes absolutely no sense.

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5 minutes ago, Yo2slick said:

I would like to know how many they are actually selling per cruise.  We purchased it on our upcoming Liberty cruise and if they are selling as many as possible then Ill cancel it.  Why spend that kind of money if EVERYONE is going to have the same perks?  Makes absolutely no sense.

I was told on Allure (yes its a bigger ship) they sold 250 KEYS.  This is why they are having such issue with the embarkation day dining.  Between CHOPS / GIOVANNIS they cant handle all these KEY members plus the UNLIMITED Dining folks.  

25.00 a day for these perks does seem like a lot, especially when you can get chops lunch for 21.99 on the cruise planner (Yes it comes with Internet but the lunch is only on embarkation day).

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38 minutes ago, marti314 said:

I was told on Allure (yes its a bigger ship) they sold 250 KEYS.  This is why they are having such issue with the embarkation day dining.  Between CHOPS / GIOVANNIS they cant handle all these KEY members plus the UNLIMITED Dining folks.  

25.00 a day for these perks does seem like a lot, especially when you can get chops lunch for 21.99 on the cruise planner (Yes it comes with Internet but the lunch is only on embarkation day).

Honestly, I could care less about the lunch.  Im more interested in not having to wait in line for certain things and having reserved seating for the shows.  If it saves me some time and stress its worth the 25 a day.

 

29 minutes ago, FManke said:

Is a perk still a perk when you have to pay for it?

I dont see how its not.  People receive perks for booking suites right???  

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11 minutes ago, Yo2slick said:

I dont see how its not.  People receive perks for booking suites right???  

If that's the case, is complimentary dining in the WJ, MDR and such a perk of booking a cruise?

Maybe we just have a different definition of a perk. I'm fine with that.

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7 minutes ago, Pen said:

I wonder if the food is being served in the MDR...will it be warm?  Every meal we had in the MDR on Anthem was lukewarm at best  ?

From what I read in reviews even though the Key lunch is moved to the MDR, people still loved the meal. I believe in what Twangster stated earlier in this thread as many people are probably showing up around the same time (probably between 11:30-12 pm) to have this lunch and the seating capacity of the restaurant is only 100 so the move to the larger venue.

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1 minute ago, marcg125 said:

From what I read in reviews even though the Key lunch is moved to the MDR, people still loved the meal. I believe in what Twangster stated earlier in this thread as many people are probably showing up around the same time (probably between 11:30-12 pm) to have this lunch and the seating capacity of the restaurant is only 100 so the move to the larger venue.

So glad to hear that the food was enjoyed  :)  Thanks for the feedback!

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6 minutes ago, marcg125 said:

NP, also the UDP may play are part in this too as some people who bought UDP and not The Key will want CG for lunch on Day 1.

Can you specialty dine lunch on sail away day with the Unlimited Dining Package?  I know you get lunch in a specialty restaurant on sea days...but didn't know it included day1.

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6 minutes ago, Pen said:

Can you specialty dine lunch on sail away day with the Unlimited Dining Package?  I know you get lunch in a specialty restaurant on sea days...but didn't know it included day1.

This varies by ship.  Some take the position that lunch is included on sea days and day one is not a sea day. Some ships have allowed it as reported by users on these boards.  

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3 minutes ago, twangster said:

This varies by ship.  Some take the position that lunch is included on sea days and day one is not a sea day. Some ships have allowed it as reported by users on these boards.  

Thanks for the info!

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1 hour ago, Pen said:

Thanks for the info!

I buy the Unlimited package for every cruise as I don't like the MDR food at all.. I have always been allowed to eat in a specialty restaurant for lunch on day 1.. Now since the Key started they have not let me use it at chops but I have been able to go to Jamie's or Giovani's depending on what ship I am on.. 

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17 hours ago, AGSLC5 said:

I buy the Unlimited package for every cruise as I don't like the MDR food at all.. I have always been allowed to eat in a specialty restaurant for lunch on day 1.. Now since the Key started they have not let me use it at chops but I have been able to go to Jamie's or Giovani's depending on what ship I am on.. 

This is our experience as well.  Only on NAV have we been denied eating lunch in Chops on embarkation day.  We were allowed to eat at Jamie's (not a fan but it was better than the WJ !).  I hope that NAV is the only one who has banned the UDP people from Chops on embarkation day.  Will know soon.  Heading to LIB at the end of August.  We will always ask for Chops first and settle for whatever they offer.  

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53 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is our experience as well.  Only on NAV have we been denied eating lunch in Chops on embarkation day.  We were allowed to eat at Jamie's (not a fan but it was better than the WJ !).  I hope that NAV is the only one who has banned the UDP people from Chops on embarkation day.  Will know soon.  Heading to LIB at the end of August.  We will always ask for Chops first and settle for whatever they offer.  

This has also been my exact experience but I have only been on NAV since they started the Key so its the only thing I have to reference. Please report back because I am hoping with them moving Key people to MDR it frees up Chops for everyone else. Also, aren't you happy they aren't putting Jamie's on Allure? I am and I am hoping Jamie's starts to fade away. 

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On LOS last week, Key lunch was in the MDR. It was a Chops menu, but it was MDR temp food. I was disappointed. I've come to realize I don't want my food under a cloche. I ordered the burger and the bun was crunchy and the burger itself was dried out and meh. The final breakfast, also in the MDR, was ok. I had the french toast and it was soggy. These were the only two meals we had in the MDR and it reinforced my #NoMDR philosophy. #don'tclochemyfood #nobanquetfood #Iwanthot&freshfood

However, the rest of the Key perks were well worth the purchase of it at 19.99 a day. Our disembark process wasn't as smooth as others have reported only because they only had one person escorting people off and we got lumped in with a family of 20 who had a few members that had not settled their accounts. Once we got through the sea pass scan point, it was very smooth. 

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7 minutes ago, kadmgs said:

On LOS last week, Key lunch was in the MDR. It was a Chops menu, but it was MDR temp food. I was disappointed. I've come to realize I don't want my food under a cloche. I ordered the burger and the bun was crunchy and the burger itself was dried out and meh. The final breakfast, also in the MDR, was ok. I had the french toast and it was soggy. These were the only two meals we had in the MDR and it reinforced my #NoMDR philosophy. #don'tclochemyfood #nobanquetfood #Iwanthot&freshfood

However, the rest of the Key perks were well worth the purchase of it at 19.99 a day. Our disembark process wasn't as smooth as others have reported only because they only had one person escorting people off and we got lumped in with a family of 20 who had a few members that had not settled their accounts. Once we got through the sea pass scan point, it was very smooth. 

I was worried about that  :(  We too had only lukewarm meals when we ate in the MDR on Anthem.  With eating specialty dining for all our dinners, it was very obvious that the food wasn't up to standard.

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Just now, Pen said:

I was worried about that  ? We too had only lukewarm meals when we ate in the MDR on Anthem.  With eating specialty dining for all our dinners, it was very obvious that the food wasn't up to standard.

Yes, we are now UDP people for sure and the Key meals in the MDR reinforced that mindset. A "meh" burger in the MDR was still better than fighting the madhouse that the WJ is on embarkation day. My wife had the branzino and really enjoyed it. Our salads were good and the cheesecake was good. The couple next to us ordered the filet and said it was good. However, I don't know how the temp was on it of course. With so few tables, I don't get why they didn't have food runners. As a former server and front manager, it drives me nuts when I get food that I can tell has been sitting. 

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6 hours ago, AGSLC5 said:

This has also been my exact experience but I have only been on NAV since they started the Key so its the only thing I have to reference. Please report back because I am hoping with them moving Key people to MDR it frees up Chops for everyone else. Also, aren't you happy they aren't putting Jamie's on Allure? I am and I am hoping Jamie's starts to fade away. 

Yes, I am happy that Jamie’s isn’t going on Allure. The only thing that would make me happier would be to hear that they are putting Portofinos back in. ?. Of course I already know that it will be Giovanni’s with an expanded wine bar. Not a wine drinker but I think this sounds like a good design. Getting rid of  Vintages which is nearly always empty.  

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12 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, I am happy that Jamie’s isn’t going on Allure. The only thing that would make me happier would be to hear that they are putting Portofinos back in. ?. Of course I already know that it will be Giovanni’s with an expanded wine bar. Not a wine drinker but I think this sounds like a good design. Getting rid of  Vintages which is nearly always empty.  

Seems like a good idea for Giovanni's. They are just incorporating the wine bar concept of Vintages, into the new design. As @WAAAYTOOOmentioned, Vintages in the past was a waste of space. We did find on Serenade that Vintages was a nice quiet, comfortable spot to relax and read awhile.

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16 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Yes, I am happy that Jamie’s isn’t going on Allure. The only thing that would make me happier would be to hear that they are putting Portofinos back in. ?. Of course I already know that it will be Giovanni’s with an expanded wine bar. Not a wine drinker but I think this sounds like a good design. Getting rid of  Vintages which is nearly always empty.  

My sister like you isn't fond of Jamie's.  We will be checking out Giovanni's next year on our cruise on Oasis  :)

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