Royal Caribbean's The Key: Should You Buy It?

Our in-depth review of Royal Caribbean’s The Key programme from Quantum of the Seas

After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, Royal Caribbean recently brought back The Key programme on Quantum of the Seas - an add-on item to bring more value and fun to your cruise vacation. Basically, it is like VIP access to ‘unlock’ certain benefits, special discounts and exclusive sessions over the duration of your cruise without breaking your piggy bank to book a Star Class cabin (or if it's already sold out!)

Even though this review is based on Quantum of the Seas, guests sailing on other Royal Caribbean ships can take this review as reference as the benefits post-COVID is similar throughout the fleet

Booking & Prices for The Key

Let’s look at the booking process – The Key is categorized in your Cruise Planner under the “Internet & More” section. Prices quoted are per person, per day (pp/pd), and everyone in the stateroom has to purchase the programme.

For our sailing, we saw the price initially at S$38.07 per person/per day, then dropped to S$35.35 pp/pd when we booked. A quick check – prices for the 30 Dec sailing has gone up to S$40.79 per day while being sold out for certain sailings for that month, as there is a limit on the number of Key packages available for sale due to its exclusive nature.

The Cruise Planner for certain sailings showed that it cannot be purchased (not sold out), and referred us to check onboard for any last-minute availability. As The Key will include Voom Surf + Stream Internet Package for 1 device, the additional “cost” of the other benefits are S$15.78 per day (using 30 Dec as an example). As prices for onboard activities fluctuate every now and then, we will not be breaking down the individual prices for each of the benefits. You just have to see if $15 pp/pd is worth it in your case!

The Changes

Due to the pandemic, Royal Caribbean has adjusted certain aspects of the programme. A mail came in a day prior to embarkation to update us with the adjusted benefits and privileges for The Key holders:

Enjoy priority access into the terminal within your arrival time
Drop off your carry-on luggage in the Main Dining Room on Deck 3 by 2:00 PM - your carry-on luggage will be hand-delivered to your stateroom.
Instead of a complimentary embarkation lunch, we'll provide you with complimentary room service for your entire cruise, along with 25% off all onboard dining purchases!
Enjoy exclusive time at some of our onboard activities such as rock climbing, FlowRider, etc.
Priority departure from ship-to-shore at tender ports.
Take advantage of early access at shows in the Main Theater, however, a reservation is needed so don't forget to book in advance!
Enjoy our VOOM Surf & Stream package, now including high-speed internet, for one device (1 package per guest).
On debarkation day, enjoy a private á la carte breakfast and choice departure.

Embarkation: Testing & Check-in

All Key holders will still need to arrive at the terminal according to the pre-booked check-in arrival time stated in their Set Sail Pass selected during Online Check-in via the Royal App.

Here in Singapore, all guests are required to complete an Antigen Rapid Test (ART) before embarking on the ship. This is done at no extra cost to guests. All guests excluding Star Class guests will have to queue for the ART conducted at Level 3 Carpark of the terminal. There is no priority queue for Key holders in the testing area.

Look out for a staff holding The Key signage at the Suites luggage drop area; do sign in with him/her in order to get a laminated pass to guide you through the boarding process.

Only after the sample collection is done, The Key holders will see priority access where after swab we can sit in the next section after the Star Class/Pinnacle seating area while waiting for our test result. Other passengers will go to the other sections according to their arrival order.

Royal Caribbean will shift their ART testing to a separate venue from December. We will update the new flow for KEY guests when the shifting has been completed.
Learn more about the prevailing testing requirements on Quantum of the Seas sailings here.

Once our negative ART results are ready, we head down to the main terminal for check-in. ‘The Key’ laminated pass will allow you to use the special queue to access the check-in area. It is a straight breeze through the whole process. Since we arrived before 2 pm, we had to wait for boarding to commence at 2 pm. We then headed to The Key waiting area. The Key holders will board after Royal Suite Class guests and Pinnacle guests.

For this sailing, we were told that there were 77 The Key holders.

The KEY Onboard

Upon boarding on Deck 5 into the Royal Esplanade, we were supposed to head straight to the Shore Excursion area (opposite Wonderland) to do our additional “check-in” (however, there is no signage to guide us, we only found out later). This is where you can leave your hand luggage for delivery to your cabins, latest by 3.45 pm (The original email stated luggage drop by 2 pm at the Main Dining Room).

Remember to quickly book all the shows you want to catch as the reservation is not covered under this program. Only upon confirmed show reservations, will you then have priority access.

At the additional “check-in” booth, we got a letter outlining all the benefits (again) and the exclusive sessions for The Key holders. We also got a special wrist band to wear to identify us as The Key holders (on top of the key icon printed on our Sea Pass). There are 2 crew members to answer any queries plus a booth to make speciality dining reservations (hey, you get 25% off with the Key).

There was no longer a boarding day lunch at Chops Grille, even though this benefit is seen to be back on other ships in the fleet

Sports & Activities

On our 4-night cruise, we get exclusive sessions for 3 activities; the FlowRider, Rock Wall Climbing and Bumper Car.

Our exclusive sessions were as follows. No additional advance reservations are required!

FlowRider exclusive session (2-hour exclusive session on Day 2 at 8-10am)
Rock Wall Climbing Session (Day 3 at 9am - 10am)
3x Bumper Car exclusive session (Day 3 - 8.45pm, 9pm, 9.15pm)

It was not crowded at the FlowRider, probably because it was too early in the morning. We could easily do three rounds. Unfortunately, on Day 3 morning, it was raining, thus Rock Wall Climbing was cancelled but there was no plan to replace the session when we checked with the crew. If Bumper Car is your favourite activity, getting the Key is a must as we had so much fun by fitting 5 rounds of car crashing within the exclusive session (Pro Tip – have an early dinner or risk turning into a Merlion at SeaPlex).

Entertainment & Shows

With The Key priority access privilege, we can enter the theatre approximately 30 minutes before the show commences to get the better seats in the theatre. An entertainment team member will walk around with The Key signage and we just have to approach her and be immediately taken to the front of the queue where the others were waiting for their turn to enter.

Other guests residing in Sky and Star suites - and Crown and Anchor Diamond & above guests would have the same priority in accessing the theatre. Sky/Star might also have your Concierge/Genie assisting with your reservations.

Dine with KEY

Besides the 25%-off speciality dining, Key holders can order (unlimited times) from the Room Services menu without incurring the delivery charge of US$7.95 plus 18% for each delivery anytime around the clock (Continental Breakfast delivery is complimentary for everyone). This is great for the occasional late-night snacks you may have after your adventures.

It should be noted that guests residing in Sky Class suites and above already have complimentary room service as part of the Royal Suite Class.

Also, you should be comparing the Key to the Ultimate Dining Package (UDP) which averages about SGD$39 per night. If your preference is dining, then the 25% off dining onboard may not be much of a better deal for you. Unless you decide to get both, in which case - you should be looking to upgrade for a suite…

Port Calls?

For our international readers, Royal Caribbean currently only sails their Ocean Getaway voyages from Singapore - offering 3/4 nights high seas cruises with no port calls. Hence, there was no opportunity to try the touted priority tendering at destinations the ship calls at.

End your cruise in style

The departure private a la carte breakfast was fabulous. We have 2 special choices – Royal VIP Steak & Eggs: and Royal VIP Signature. We got a nice juicy petit filet mignon done medium topped with a sunny side up plus yummy confit Idaho potato on a portobello mushroom for the Steak & Eggs choice. While the Signature choice came with a Crab Benedict (crab cake) topped with a poached egg plus an open face crushed avocado sourdough muffin.

The venue for the private breakfast was at Deck 3 - Grande Main Dining Room.

The Verdict?

Overall Summary:

Pros –

Good value as it includes Surf + Stream internet package plus 25% discount for speciality dining, free unlimited Room Service and the yummy departure private breakfast
Exclusive activities sessions and priority access allow you to do more and queue less when the cruise is crowded, with the added benefit of forgoing the hassle of making reservations at the activities.

Cons –

For high tier members/suite guests, priority access to shows and included internet actually overlap with the existing Crown & Anchor & Royal Suite Class benefits.
Does not include advanced reservations for the popular shows
No backup plan for outdoor activities if disrupted by bad weather
We had to wear 2 wristbands, one for The Key, the other purple wristband to show our vaccination status. Hopefully, Royal Caribbean can come out with a better solution soon to show either status or remove one of them.