Royal Caribbean's The Key

We’re taking a deep dive into Royal Caribbean’s “The Key” to help you decide if this upgrade is something you will find valuable on your next Royal Caribbean cruise. For a less detailed discussion, see A Concise Guide To Royal Caribbean’s “The Key”

Once you’ve booked a cruise and logged into your cruise line’s website, you’ll discover that you have the option of purchasing any number of upgrades that have the potential to make your cruise vacation even more enjoyable. From beverage and dining packages to internet access and shore excursions, it can be difficult to know if certain upgrades will actually enhance your cruise experience and/or whether you will find the expense of the upgrade worth the money. One such upgrade, specific to Royal Caribbean and found in the “Cruise Planner” section of their website, is “The Key”.

First, we’ll look at what The Key is, how much it costs, and what benefits it affords. Next we’ll talk about ways to help you determine if its an upgrade you’d find valuable to your cruise experience.

What is The Key?

The price you pay for any given cruise is largely determined by the type of stateroom you choose. In general, the more expensive the stateroom, the more space, luxury and amenities, or perks, it comes with. In addition, cruise lines usually have loyalty programs that reward their returning guests with benefits not afforded to newer guests. The Key is a package of benefits designed to give cruisers the ability to purchase some of these exclusive perks without having to reserve a top tier cabin or suite, or without having a great deal of loyalty status. Suites can be extremely expensive and it can take years of sailing to reach the status needed for some perks, so in theory, The Key can seem like a good deal.

How Much Does The Key Cost?

Royal Caribbean uses dynamic pricing, which means the price for items such as The Key will be different, and may change, depending on the ship you’re on, the time of year you’re sailing and the current demand for the item. At the time of this post, the cost of The Key is $49.99 per person, per day. However, Royal Caribbean almost always offers it for a discount, so it’s common to find it in the $31.99 to $36.99 range. Please note that all guests staying in the same cabin must purchase The Key, with the exception of children aged 5 and under.

What Does The Key Include?

These are the current benefits of The Key as of the date of this post:

Benefits
Priority access into the terminal (within booked arrival time) on Day 1
Carry-on bag drop off and delivery to stateroom. Drop off your carry-on bags in the Main Dining Room until 1:30 pm.
Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring The Key Signature menu. Enjoy a signature lunch menu, showcasing guest favorites across appetizers, entrees, and desserts.
Priority Booking at some onboard activities and Private Time at the Bumper Cars, Ice Rink and FlowRider®. Activities vary by ship.
Priority departure at tender ports of call from ship to shore.
Dedicated seating section at shows in the Royal Theater, AquaTheater, Studio B and Two70® (reservations required on Quantum and Oasis Class ships).
VOOM® Surf & Stream high-speed internet for 1 device – 1 package per paying guest
On debarkation day, enjoy an exclusive à la carte breakfast and depart at your leisure with Choice Departure.
20% off at all specialty restaurants throughout your cruise when you make your reservations on Day 1 of the sailing. Subject to availability.

What Is The Value?

We’re going to talk about two different ways you can determine if The Key is something you feel would enhance your experience enough to warrant paying for it. The first is a discussion of the pros/cons of each benefit. Then, we’ll talk about how the price of The Key stacks up against the costs of some of the benefits if you were to purchase them individually.

Pros & Cons of Each Benefit

• Priority access into the terminal on Day 1.
  
  Normally, you will be able to check into your cruise about 30 days before sailing, at which point you are given a half hour window of time when you are expected to arrive at the cruise port to board the ship. Generally, the earlier you check in, the earlier your time slot. For instance, you might be given a time to arrive between 11:30 AM and 12:00 PM. When you have The Key, though you will still be given a boarding time, you can basically ignore it. You will receive an email instructing you to arrive at the port as early as 10:00 AM to board the ship. Once you arrive at the port and hand your large bags to the porters, look for the sign for The Key. You will be able to enter the terminal and board the ship right away. It is a good idea to get to the terminal no later than 11:30, so that you will have time to enjoy the exclusive Welcome Lunch, for which seating is available from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM.
• Carry-on bag drop off and delivery to stateroom.
  At the terminal, you will hand off your larger pieces of luggage to the porters. From there they will be taken through security and then delivered to your stateroom a bit later in the day. If your carry-on bags consist of a simple handbag or light backpack, you may not find this benefit all that useful. However, if you’ve been traveling all day, with a ton of luggage for yourself and two kids, and you still have several carry-on sized cases with you, being able to drop those bags off at the Main Dining Room (MDR) may be a huge relief.
  
  If you’re wondering what to pack in your carry-on bags, we have the answer. The larger bags that you leave with the porters will usually be delivered to your stateroom by late afternoon to early evening, but sometimes they are delayed until later in the evening. Therefore you should pack whatever you think you might need, be it a swimsuit or change of clothes, or medication or medical devices you may need before bedtime.
• Exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room featuring The Key Signature menu.
  
  There is a lot of food available to you the moment you board the ship, however it is usually in the buffet and other areas of the ship that can often be crowded, chaotic and noisy with other hungry cruisers during those first few hours after boarding. If you want to grab a quick bite at the buffet so you can start exploring the ship ASAP, then you might not care for this welcome lunch. But if you think you’d rather sit down to a nice quiet and relaxed meal with a white table cloth and waiters, you might want this benefit.
• VOOM® Surf & Stream high-speed internet for 1 device.
  
  Some people want to “disconnect” from everyday life as much as possible on a cruise and can wait until they get home to share photos and post to social media. If this is you, then you may not find The Key to be worth the price. However, if you either don’t want to or are unable to be without that connectivity for the duration of your cruise, then you may find The Key to be well worth the cost, because the daily price of The Key may be relatively close to that of internet access, meaning the difference in price is what you would in effect be paying for the other benefits associated with The Key.
• Priority Booking at some onboard activities such as the Zip Line, North Star observation pod, iFly skydiving simulator, Ultimate Abyss dry slide, and Private Time at the Bumper Cars, Ice Rink, Rock Climbing Wall and FlowRider®. Activities vary by ship.
  
  Depending on what is most important to you, this is a benefit that can be very worthwhile. Especially on larger ships with more passengers, these activities can get crowded, with lines to wait through. With The Key, you will be able to access some activities more quickly and more often. For example, if you know you want to use the FlowRider®, there will be a dedicated hour (sometimes two 1/2 hour sessions) where only t hose with The Key will have access. There should be a schedule in your stateroom when you arrive telling you when this time will be. But even without The Key, you will still be able to access all there is to do on the ship with some daily planning and flexibility.
• Priority ship-to-shore departure at tender ports of call.
  
  Check your itinerary to see if any of your ports of call will require tendering. Because everyone cannot get off the ship at the same time, you may need to register for a time slot, or wait for a boat in order to get off the ship. With The Key, you will have priority getting off the ship, but this benefit is only useful if you will be at a port that requires tendering.
• Dedicated seating section at shows in the Royal Theater, AquaTheater, Studio B and Two70® (reservations required on Quantum and Oasis Class ships). Venues vary by ship.
  
  With The Key, you will be able to sit in the space reserved for Suite guests and high-ranking loyalty guests. For very popular shows/times, this can take some of the pressure off “getting a good seat”. However, you would expect that this reserved seating is always in the best location in any given venue, but in our experience/opinion, this is not always the case, as what constitutes “the best” can be subjective. Very often, you can score good (or better!) seats anyway simply by getting to the venue early. As well, keep in mind that if you do not have The Key, there is the possibility of scoring a seat in a reserved section anyway. If there are any unoccupied seats15 minutes before the show starts, they are released and anyone may sit in them.
• 20% off at all specialty restaurants throughout your cruise when you make your reservations on Day 1 of the sailing. Subject to availability.
  
  Your ship will have several dining options included with your basic cruise fare, such as the Main Dining Room and the buffet, along with a few other casual eateries. There will also be several Specialty Restaurants available at an upcharge. If this is your first cruise, you might just want to stick to what’s included, and skip spending any extra money. However, if you love fine dining or you’ve cruised enough that you are getting bored with the included offerings, you might find this benefit valuable.
  
  Please note that although Royal Caribbean does advertise this as a benefit of The Key in Cruise Planner, it is subject to availability. The email you receive before sailing outlining the benefits you can expect on your particular cruise may or may not list this benefit. Our experience has been that it tends to only be available on smaller ships in the Voyager Class, Radiance Class and Vision Class. However, even if it’s not listed as one of your benefits, if you ask about it, saying you were expecting this perk, it’s possible they will allow it. As the saying goes, it never hurts to ask.
• On debarkation day, enjoy an exclusive à la carte breakfast and depart at your leisure with Choice Departure.
  
  Debarkation can be a bit jarring. After days of vacationing, having to pack up and get up early to get off the ship can be a shock. The Key can come in handy here for a couple of reasons.
  
  First, if you have an early flight and are worried about getting off the ship and to the airport on time, The Key can help. There will be a designated area for Key guests to report to, from which you will be escorted off the ship ahead of others. As well, you will receive special luggage tags to use when you put your luggage outside your cabin door the night before departure to be collected and taken to a holding area. The next morning, your luggage will be taken off the ship first and will be waiting for you to collect in the terminal.
  
  Second, if you have the time, The Key will afford you one last relaxing breakfast in the Main Dining Room, sparing you once again from the only other breakfast option, which is the more crowded Windjammer Buffet. From there you can proceed to the area for Key guests and be escorted off the ship.

Cost of The Key Versus Buying Some Add-Ons Outright

Another way to help you decide if The Key will be worth the money is to consider the cost of some of the benefits it covers if you were to buy them outright and then compare that cost against the cost of The Key.

Benefit Equivalent	Cost
Specialty Restaurant Lunch	$29.99 Average/Adult, $12.99/Child
20% Off Specialty Restaurant (Dinner)	$46.99 Average/Adult, $12.99/Child Discount Value = $9.40 & $2.60/Per Person/Per Meal
Internet	$17 - $29 Per Day.
FlowRider® Private Hire/Private Lesson	$340/$524 Per Hour

Prices are for illustration purposes only as the prices will change over time as well as from ship to ship and during sales.

Calculating the Monetary Value of the Key

From a monetary standpoint the Internet is probably the deciding factor as to whether The Key is worth it or not. If you want or need the Internet while on the cruise and the daily price difference between buying VOOM® Surf & Stream or The Key is a few dollars a day then The Key can be a good purchase. If the difference is over $10 dollars a day The Key may be less worthwhile.

If you do not plan to use the Internet during the cruise, and do not want to use the FlowRider®, it is reasonably clear that The Key has limited value and we would not recommend getting it.

Similarly if you want VOOM® Surf & Stream and you’re hoping to spend a lot of time on the FlowRider®, it's a no brainer. We would definitely recommend purchasing The Key.

Let’s Look at Some Price Comparison Examples:

Service	Price
Chops Grill	$29.99 Per Person for Two
Internet	$307.86 @ 21.99 PP/PD For Two
Total	$367.84

If you had The Key, and paid $26.99/Per Person, Per Day, instead of buying the Chops Grille lunch you would have gone to the included Key lunch and the Internet would be included. Your cost for the 7 night cruise would be $377.86 for a difference of $10.02. So in essence, you would be paying $10.02 total or about $.72 per person per day for the other benefits of The Key.

Now let’s say you don't have The Key, you go to Chops Grill for lunch, you buy the Internet and you hire the FlowRider® for a 1 hour Private Lesson during your cruise. This would be your approximate out of pocket expense for a 7 night cruise:

Service	Price
Chops Grill	$29.99 Per Person for Two
Internet	$307.86 @ 21.99 PP/PD For Two
FlowRider® Private Session (1 hour)	$340.00
Total	$707.84

If you had The Key, and paid $26.99/Per Person, Per Day, instead of buying the Chops Grille lunch you would have gone to the included Key lunch and the Internet would be included. You would have taken advantage of the exclusive FlowRider® hour that comes with The Key (though you may have had to share it with other Key guests). Your cost for the 7 night cruise would be $377.86, for a difference of $-329.98. In this example, you would save money and basically get the other benefits of The Key totally free.

What If You Have High Loyalty Status (Diamond + or Pinnacle)

If your loyalty status level has reached Diamond Plus or Pinnacle you will already have some of the benefits of The Key. For most cruisers with this status The Key might have limited value, although for Diamond Plus members that intend to purchase VOOM® Surf & Stream and/or want to use the FlowRider® often, it might still make sense. Pinnacle members receive free Internet on every sailing, as well as access to their own Specialty Restaurant, Coastal Kitchen, so for them, The Key might not be worth it. However, every cruiser’s wants and needs are different. For example, our founder and CEO John enjoys Pinnacle benefits, but still buys The Key if he finds a good price. He’s an avid FlowRider® (see how we turned that into a verb?) and really values the dedicated hour of time The Key gets him. Sometimes he’s the only flowriding Key guest on board, so he get’s it all to himself. As well, his Pinnacle benefits include an internet package, but since he usually must work while on board, he finds being able to connect two devices at once very helpful, so he values the extra VOOM® Surf & Stream that comes with The Key.

As you can see, there are many factors to consider when deciding whether The Key would be a worthwhile addition to your cruise. We hope this post has given you the information necessary to make the determination for your next sailing!

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