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Back in March 2023 shortly after we booked this cruise we also purchased "The Key" package for $489.86 (with a pre-cruise savings of 15%) and the "3 Night Dining Package" for $266.64 (which was up to 40% off with the pre-cruise discount). "The Key" package included the "VOOM SURF + Stream Internet" for each of us which saved us $279.86 if we had purchased it separately. Since we would have purchased the "VOOM SURF + Stream Internet" anyway, "The Key" package only cost us an additional $210 above what we would have paid anyway. Well worth it! Dining in the Main Restaurant, the buffet and a few other places is always free. But, there are a few upscale specialty restaurants on the ship with special features that cost between $34 and $69 extra per person. Being our first time on this ship, we did want to try a few of those. The "3 Night Dining Package" made the cost of dining at those restaurants much cheaper.
The Key Guests will enjoy the following exclusinve and special amenities during their cruise vacation:
When you receive your SeaPass card, it will have an icon confirming your purchase of The Key. If you don't see it, ask your Stateroom Attendant or go to Guest Services to apply the icon.
* Priority access will not be offered in Vancouver, Canada or at any ports in Australia. There is no priority queue in the ART test area, for Singapore.
** Carry-on luggage drop-off service is limited to two pieces per guest and can weigh no more than 25 pounds per carry-on.
Please Note: The Key may not be available during all sailings, and some amenities/benefits may vary by ship and destination, and may be subject to change without notice.
**** Onboard activities included in private time vary by ship and sailing. Schedule of private time will be delivered onboard with welcome letter on Day 1.
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As we arrived at the port there were clear signs all along the road telling us that The Wonder Of The Seas was at Terminal 1. The process was well organized. We were able to drive right up and hand our checked luggage to a porter. There was little traffic and no waiting at all.
We arrived at 11am, about at early as they allowed passengers to arrive. The line into the terminal wasn't too long, but with our "Key" program card, they sent us to the head of the line entering the terminal. Once inside the terminal there was a bit of a longer line of people waiting to be checked-in. But with our "Key" program, they sent us to a different line where there was nobody in front of us and we were checked in immediately! Once checked in, they sent us to another desk where we were able to book each of our three pre-paid dinner reservations for our "3 Night Dining Package." We were able to make reservations for all 3 of the upscale restaurants we wanted for the exact days and times that we had wanted.
Next, we just headed right onto the ship. The first thing we did was to book all the shows that we wanted to see for the rest of the week. This can be done right on the Royal Caribbean Mobile Phone App, but you can't do it until you are on the ship and connect to the onboard WiFi. Though the internet costs extra, at no charge you can always connect to the ship's WiFi to view the calendar of events, book events and dinner reservations, and make other purchases. We were able too book all of the shows that we wanted to see on the days and times that we desired.
So, we had used "The Key" program "Priority access into the terminal" to greatly expedite our boarding process and now it was time for the "Exclusive Welcome Lunch" benefit. This lunch was served only from Noon to 1:30 PM. This time actually conflicted with some of the wording of "The Key" program which said we got priority boarding if we arrived within our booked arrival time. Our booked arrival time was 1:30pm to 2:00pm. If we had arrived at that time, the lunch would already have been over! But another notice from "The Key" program said that we should arrive at the port by 11:30 AM so that we could take advantage of the exclusive lunch benefit. We found there are a lot of conflicting instructions regarding boarding and other event booking instructions. Sometimes it is like solving a puzzle.
We did not use the carry-on bag drop off in the Main Dining Room with stateroom delivery benefit. We had already checked the 3 suitcases that we wanted them to bring to our room. The remaining 2 backpacks and small carry-on wheeled suitcase we wanted to stay with us as we wanted access to them as soon as we got to our cabin. From past cruises we have found it can sometimes take a long time before checked luggage will get to your cabin. That is not good if there are things in it that you plan to use right away when you get to your cabin.
So here we are in the Main Dining Room prepared to enjoy the next Key package exclusive benefit.
Since this was featuring items from the Chopps Grille menu, we both select the 6 OZ Angus Filet Mignon.
For Appetizers, Barbara ordered the Colossal Shrimp Cocktail and I ordered the Wild Mushroom Soup. Both were very good. We ordered coffee and glasses of ice water for our beverages and the waiter also brought a basket of bread to the table.
Since this was featuring items from the Chopps Grille menu, we both select the 6 OZ Angus Filet Mignon. We had it prepared Medium Well. We've often found that ordering Filet Mignon usually comes out Medium Rare when we order it Medium Well since it is such a thick steak. It was still quite pink inside but we are OK with it that way. Ordering it Medium or Medium Rare and it usually comes out still very red inside. The steak was excellent, though it didn't say and we didn't expect it to come with French Fries. We each left half of those behind. We skipped ordering deserts. Some sacrifices have to be made to avoid putting on a lot of weight on a cruise as you are constantly surrpounded by free tempting food!
We started playing with the Royal Caribbean Mobile Phone App to find the map of the ship and the events of the day. While waiting for our food to arrive we also watched the mandatory safety video on the App. After lunch we checked in at our Muster Station. On the way to our Muster Station we had to walk through "The Boardwalk" section of the ship and took the above photos of the carousel and the indoor balcony cabins that are a special feature of this ship.
Barbara thought the cabin was a bit small, especially the closet space, but I thought it was a good size, especially the size of the balcony itself. We had been booking Deluxe Balcony Cabins and Mini-Suites on some of our more recent cruises so that may be why this regular balcony seemed a bit smaller to her. We did allow Royal Caribbean to pick the cabin for us so long as it was a Balcony Cabin with no view obstructions. That saved us quite a bit in the cost over picking the exact cabin ourselves. Noise and location on the ship isn't a problem for us, even if we are directly below or above a venue such as the buffet or the pool. They did assign us to a cabin almost at the very back of the ship under either the buffet or a children's play area. Our only complaint was that it was a pretty long walk to the nearest elevator or stairs, but we needed to get our exercise anyway.
We wanted to see what the offerings in the lunch buffet might be and wandered up a floor to take a look. The buffet seating area wraps around the entire aft end of the ship. I took this photo from one of the seating areas in the buffet that has a great view of The Boardwalk below as well as all the indoor balcony cabins.
I did not realize that this ship has converted to Elon Musk's SpaceX StarLink internet! I did not see that mentioned in any of the literature or information about the cruise. If I had, I would have really been looking forward to it. This is the same satellite internet service that I use at my Vancouver home. I was already aware that StarLink would mean very fast and reliable internet service on this cruise, something much better than I had ever experienced on any prior cruise. At this time most ships are still using the old satellite service for internet. The old satellites are in higher earth orbit and there are not very many of them. This means there are a lot of gaps in coverage areas and the speed is slower. Starlink, on the other hand, has hundreds of satellites in low earth orbit which eliminates the transmission delays and eliminates the gaps in coverage. Most of the earth has coverage from StarLink and more satellites are being launched every month. So far the speed, reliablity, and coverage has been excellent.
This is going to be one of our favorite venues on the ship. Since the ship has so many young people and families, only a few seem to like the same venues that we like. We like mostly jazz, piano bars, classic rock, and other live music. The piano bar and the jazz event were almost empty. But anywhere with lively dance music or Karaoke was totally packed with noplace to sit unless you arrive early.
This particular piano player did not sing but they have another piano player that does sing as well as play. He also takes requests, has a tip jar, and is more what you think of when you think of a "piano man."
We didn't purchase a drinks package. Each passenger is allowed to bring one bottle of wine onboard so we did bring two bottles of our finer wines from the OC Wine Mart Insider Wine Club. While we were at this piano bar we did purchase an inexpensive bottle of wine, 2020 Castle Rock WInery Cabernet Sauvignon from Columbia Valley, Washington, for $33. The wine was good. Not as good as the wines we brought on board, but good enough. Their wine list is not too bad and we might try some of the other wines on it. When we ordered the bottle of wine, he said they had no full unopened bottles of wine at that bar, but he was nice enough to go to another bar and get the bottle we wanted. We didn't finish the bottle at that bar but just carted it around with us along with our wine glasses for the rest of the day until we finished the bottle. That is a lot less expensive than buying individual glasses of wine each time as one bottle has 4 and 1/2 glasses of wine.
As I've mentioned in prior cruise travel reports, a drinks package is never worth it for us. You need to have at least 4 or 5 alcoholic drinks each every day, even on shore days, in order for the cost to be worth it. We just don't drink enough to justify the cost. For our alcohol consumption we bring on whatever number of bottles of wine that are allowed (which for Princess is unlimited as long as you pay the $15 corkage fee for each bottle beyond the first two.) We also go to most of the wine tasting and spirits tasting events that are not included in the drinks packages. If you buy a bottle of wine the drinks package usually gives you a 20% discount at most. The only time we ever get the drinks package is if it is included with some other major discount pacage, such as the Princess Plus package. The Princess Plus package includes all gratuities and internet which we would pre-pay anyway. By booking early, the Princess Plus package can often be purchased at a good discount. It also includes the drinks package which is just a little more than paying for gratuities and buying the internet separately.
After the piano performance ended, a jazz band started playing next to The Schooner Bar. We moved from facing the piano over to railing facing the walkway below. We could easily watch and hear the jazz band next door as well as do some people watching of the people below. Above are two photos of The Rising Tied Bar. From time to time they will close the gates and this entire bar will rise up 2 or 3 levels.
The buffet was good. Maybe not as good as Princess or Carnival, but not bad. It didn't have as many healthy vegetarian items as we would have liked, but had some. I did like that it seemed to always have 2 or 3 Indian items, though most were always meat rather than vegetable dishes. Definitely more oriented to Muslim or Pakistani type Indian cuisine as some of the dishes were beef type curry and Hindu Indians do not eat beef. There is an Asian section that had some vegetarian items.
We stopped and listened to more live music.
Since we have "The Key" package, we were directed to special seating when we arrived at The Royal Theater. The directed us upstairs to the balcony and Barbara and I went to the front row where we had a great view with nobody sitting in front of us. Barbara and I had seen this show on another cruise, but not on a Royal Caribbean ship as this is our first cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship.
The singer and band were excellent, but the room was almost empty. I guess not that many people on this ship interested in jazz.
Click on each photo above for a larger image,
or
CLICK HERE
for a slideshow of all the above photos.
If in this report you see any typos, misspellings, factual errors or other types of errors, please let me know.
Please include the web address (URL) of the report in which you found the error. Thank you! Send your email to:
