The WORST Royal Caribbean Deals
Summary
TLDRMatt from Royal Caribbean Blog shares insights on the cruise experience, highlighting five offerings that may not provide the best value for money. The 'Key' VIP pass, overpriced onboard toiletries, bus tours with limited personal experience, the short-lived thrill of the Crown's Edge, and the exorbitantly priced Coco Beach Club are scrutinized. He suggests alternatives for a more cost-effective and enjoyable cruise vacation.
Takeaways
- 🛳️ The Royal Caribbean blog aims to provide a comprehensive cruise experience, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of the services offered.
- 🔑 The 'Key to the Kingdom' VIP pass is not worth the cost, as many of its benefits can be obtained without extra payment or are not as valuable as advertised.
- 🚶♂️ Early boarding with the Key is not significantly advantageous, as passengers can secure early check-in times through online check-in 45 days prior to the cruise.
- 🍽️ The welcome lunch at Chops Grill included with the Key can be purchased without the Key, and a dining package might offer better value.
- 🎢 Exclusive times for onboard activities with the Key are often inconveniently scheduled and do not apply to the most popular attractions like water slides.
- 🎟️ The Key's show reservations can be made by all passengers through the Royal Caribbean app, negating one of its main perks.
- 🌐 Internet access provided by the Key is also available for individual purchase, often at a discount if bought before the cruise.
- 🧴 Purchasing toiletries onboard is expensive and not recommended; it's better to pack necessary items beforehand or buy them at a port.
- 🚌 Bus tours as shore excursions are often not worth the cost, as they can be slow, restrictive, and provide limited viewing opportunities.
- 🤹♂️ The Crown's Edge experience on Icon of the Seas is short and overpriced, despite being thrilling.
- 🏖️ The Coco Beach Club has seen a significant increase in pricing, making it an expensive option for a day pass or cabana rental, with drinks not included.
Q & A
What is the main goal of the Royal Caribbean blog?
-The main goal of the Royal Caribbean blog is to share as much of the cruise experience as possible, providing insights on what guests should or shouldn't do during their vacation.
What is the 'Key' and why is it considered not worth it by the speaker?
-The 'Key' is a VIP pass advertised to enhance the cruise experience with priority services. However, the speaker finds it not worth the cost because many of its benefits can be obtained in other ways or are not as valuable as they seem.
How can one get an early check-in time without the 'Key'?
-By doing the online check-in exactly 45 days before the cruise and using the Royal Caribbean app, one can secure one of the first check-in times without needing the 'Key'.
What is the issue with the private times for onboard activities provided by the 'Key'?
-The private times are usually at inconvenient hours, such as during dinner or early in the morning, and are limited to a few activities, often not including the most popular ones like water slides or laser tag.
Why does the speaker suggest avoiding purchasing toiletries onboard the cruise?
-Purchasing toiletries onboard is expensive, with prices significantly higher than local pharmacies, making it a poor value for the money.
What is the main drawback of bus tours as a shore excursion according to the speaker?
-Bus tours can be restrictive, offering limited views from the bus window, no stops for personal exploration, and potentially spending time at uninteresting stops due to the tour's itinerary.
What alternative does the speaker suggest to bus tours for a more fulfilling experience?
-The speaker suggests exploring on one's own, using public transportation, or booking smaller group or private tours for a more personalized and enjoyable experience.
What is Crown's Edge and why does the speaker believe it is not worth the cost?
-Crown's Edge is an activity where participants navigate suspended platforms and end with a zipline ride over the ocean. The speaker believes it's not worth the cost due to its high price for the short duration of the experience.
How has the pricing of the Coco Beach Club changed since its opening, according to the speaker?
-The pricing of the Coco Beach Club has significantly increased since its opening, with day passes and cabana rentals becoming much more expensive, making it less of a good value.
What does the speaker recommend as a better alternative to the Coco Beach Club for a cabana experience?
-The speaker recommends Hideaway Beach or other cabanas located elsewhere on the island, such as Chill Island, as better alternatives for a cabana experience due to more reasonable pricing.
What is the speaker's final recommendation regarding the items listed in the script?
-The speaker recommends not booking the items listed in the script due to their poor value for money, and suggests following the tips shared on the blog and channel for a more cost-effective cruise experience.
Outlines
🚢 Evaluating Royal Caribbean's 'The Key' Program
This paragraph discusses the pros and cons of 'The Key,' a VIP pass offered by Royal Caribbean Cruises. It promises priority boarding, internet access, a welcome aboard meal, special times for signature activities, and more. However, the author finds it not worth the cost, as many benefits can be obtained without the extra expense or are not as valuable as advertised. For example, early boarding can be achieved by doing online check-in 45 days before the cruise, and the welcome lunch at Chops Grill can be purchased without 'The Key.' The author suggests that 'The Key' might only be suitable for first-time cruisers with no loyalty program status who are determined to purchase internet access and are on a ship with many shows.
🛍 Avoiding Overpriced Onboard Toiletries and Bus Tours
The second paragraph warns against purchasing toiletries onboard due to their high cost, suggesting that travelers pack all necessary items beforehand. If an essential item is forgotten, it's recommended to buy it at a pharmacy or shop in the port instead. The paragraph also criticizes bus tours as a shore excursion option, as they are often slow, provide limited views from the bus window, and may not allow for stops at points of interest. The author advises considering smaller group tours or independent exploration as better alternatives to the standard bus tours offered by Royal Caribbean.
🎢 The Thrills and Costs of Crown's Edge and Coco Beach Club
This paragraph addresses two specific Royal Caribbean offerings: Crown's Edge, a short but thrilling zipline experience, and the Coco Beach Club, a more relaxed beach area. The author argues that Crown's Edge is overpriced for the brief duration of the activity, with a cost that could be better spent on longer-lasting experiences like escape rooms or the Northstar observation pod. The Coco Beach Club, once a great value, has seen its prices skyrocket, making it no longer a recommended option. The author suggests that the high cost of day passes and cabanas does not justify the experience, especially when considering the availability of drinks and food are not included in the price.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Royal Caribbean
💡Cruise Experience
💡Value
💡VIP Pass
💡Priority Embarcation
💡Internet Access
💡Shore Excursions
💡Bus Tours
💡Coco Beach Club
💡Cabana
💡Price Increase
Highlights
The Royal Caribbean blog aims to provide insights on the cruise experience to help passengers decide what to do or avoid.
The 'Key' is advertised as a VIP pass offering priority access and benefits, but it may not be worth the extra cost.
Early check-in benefits of the 'Key' can be obtained without extra cost by doing online check-in 45 days in advance.
The welcome lunch at Chops Grill can be purchased without the 'Key' and offers more value with a dining package.
Private times for onboard activities with the 'Key' are often at inconvenient times and not for the most popular attractions.
The 'Key' includes internet access, but this can often be purchased separately at a better price before the cruise.
Priority tendering and reserved seating benefits of the 'Key' may not be as valuable due to their limited applicability.
Purchasing toiletries onboard is expensive and not recommended; it's better to pack essentials beforehand or buy at the port.
Bus tours are often not the best value for shore excursions due to their limited and rushed nature.
Small group or private tours offer a better experience than bus tours for those wanting a more personalized shore excursion.
The Crown's Edge experience on the Icon of the Seas is short and expensive, not offering good value for its price.
Alternative activities to Crown's Edge, such as escape rooms or the Northstar observation pod, offer longer experiences for a similar or lower price.
The Coco Beach Club has seen a significant increase in pricing, making it less of a value compared to its initial offerings.
Over-the-water cabanas at the Coco Beach Club can cost up to $5,000, which is considered overpriced for the experience.
For a more affordable cabana experience, consider Hideaway Beach or other options on the island instead of the Coco Beach Club.
Matt from Royal Caribbean blog.com encourages passengers to consider the value of onboard offerings and make informed decisions to enhance their cruise experience.
Transcripts
I love many things about a royal K
cruise but not everything they offer is
necessarily rainbows and unicorns
especially when it comes to the value it
provides our goal here at Royal crean
blog is to share with you as much of the
cruise experience as possible to give
you an idea of what you should or
shouldn't do most of the things Royal
caran offers we love but there are a few
things that I think might be a bad deal
for your upcoming vacation so how can
you avoid losing money on these Duds
I've got a list of which extras are so
not worth it up
[Music]
next hey everyone it's Matt from Roan
blog.com even before you step foot on a
cruise ship there are a smattering of
purchases that you can make these extras
offer experiences and upgrades that are
aimed at enhancing your cruise but be
warned not everything realin pitches to
you is necessarily worth that cost even
if it's listed as something more
convenient or going to enhance your trip
so how do you know you're not buying
something that's going to end in regret
that's why I want to share with you
today since our team has tried all these
things number one is the key the key is
advertised as a VIP pass your Fastpass
if you will to be able to experience
Royal Caribbean Cruises without as much
of a weight as somebody else it seems
really appealing it allows you to get
priority embarcation internet access a
welcome aboard Meal special time to
Signature activities and more on paper
this all sounds great but in practice I
find the key is simply not worth it
because the benefits sound better than
they really are many benefits can be
obtained in a different way without
having to spend extra for it or the
benefits are simply not as lucrative as
it sounds as an example let start with
the early checking which is usually the
biggest selling point of the key you get
to board the ship first right well if
you do your online check-in exactly 45
days before you Cruise you are going to
get one of the first times and while the
key people might beat you on board by
like I don't know a minute you're going
to be right behind them it's really not
that important as long as you get one of
those early check-in times which you can
absolutely do 45 days pull up the real
kby appp get your time and you're good
to go how about the welcome lunch at
chops Grill sounds like a great idea as
well except you can also buy the chops
Grill lunch on embarcation day on your
own without the key heck you can buy a
dining package for even more days and be
able to really get much more value out
of the whole thing those private times
at the onboard activities sound like a
great idea except they're usually at
only a couple of activities not the
water slides by the way usually it's
things like the floor Rider or the rock
climbing wall or maybe the zipline the
problem with this perk is that it's
usually at times that are inconvenient
either it's during dinner hours like 400
or 5:00 in which by the way there aren't
lines for these things anyway or they're
early in the morning like 9:00 a.m. 8:00
a.m. on a c day which is probably a time
that you want to I don't know sleep in
it's not available for the most
important things like maybe laser tag or
water slides which develop really long
lines and of course the key also
provides reservations for shows but you
can make reservations for shows on your
own via the Royal carbine app of course
the key does include internet access but
you can purchase internet access on its
own and often times at a good discount
if you purchase it before the cruise
there's other benefits which I think are
not nearly as lucrative at all there's
priority tendering which is nice but
it's pretty rare these days to go on a
realing cruise actually has tendering
because most ships dock at a particular
Pier having reserved seats for the key
is also nice at certain shows on the big
roing cruise ships like the icon or
Oasis or Quantum class ships until you
read the fine print that they want you
to arrive 45 minutes early to the
theater which to me kind of negates the
whole point of having Reserve seting in
the first place the key could be a good
choice for someone who has absolutely no
experience with Royal Caribbean and has
no status within the company's Customer
Loyalty program is going to buy the
internet access no matter what and is
selling on a ship with a lot of shows
they want to see it certainly is the
easy button but I'm telling you it's
simply not worth the money follow some
of the tips that we share here on our
Channel and over at Roy blog.com and you
can get most of the perks on your own
without paying for the key itself number
two on my list are purchasing any
toiletries on board unfortunately from
time to time you might forget something
that you need to bring on board your
cruise whether it's a razor or shaving
cream or shampoo or or maybe Tylenol
you'll be able to purchase these items
on your real green cruise but it's
definitely not going to come cheap it's
not unheard of to pay $10 for a small
bottle of Advil or $8 for a tub of
toothpaste on board and these are the
travel sizes by the way unfortunately
shopping options are limited while
you're in the middle of the ocean real
KY knows that desperate passengers will
pay whatever the price is listed if they
find themselves in need of these items
So to avoid paying high prices for basic
necessities really try to remember to
pack everything in the first place if
you do for getet an important toiletry
item see if you can find it at a
pharmacy or a shop in Port before you
buy it on board the bottom line is while
they do stock these items they're not
cheap and they're actually terrible
values I mean if you know the pricing of
your local pharmacy versus what's on
board you're going to pay double if not
triple that I mean you're basically
paying like the full retail price the
prices you see like on the prices right
that like who pays that price it's
usually on sale anyway that's going to
be you so avoid that number three on the
list are bus tours so there are a
variety of shore excursions you can do
in almost any port you visit right and
there are amazing things you can do and
more subtle things you can do and for a
lot of people when they're new to a
particular Port they want to get like a
sense of it a taste of something and it
seems like a great idea to take a bus
tour because it provides you an easy way
to see the area around you bus tours
usually just end in regret because while
they do provide actually access to being
able to see certain things it's not the
way that most people intend to see it
the primary problem with a bus tours
number one you're on a large bus with a
lot of other people so you're going to
be already moving at a slower Pace
second of all in a lot of cases you're
only going to be allowed to see these
venues from the window of your bus now
in some cases that's fine because some
of these places are like oh look it's
nice passing by but in a lot of cases
you might actually want to I don't know
stop and get out and see something and
you really can't do that plus which side
of the bus you're sitting on will depend
on what you actually can see and in a
lot of cases you may end up on the quote
unquote wrong side of the bus or there's
something on the other side of the bus
you want to see but you're on one side
bus tours are attractive because they're
usually priced low and offer an easy way
to see an area this is attractive to
somebody who's unfamiliar with the port
and might be hesitant to go on their own
but the reality is a bus tour may leave
you feeling constricted and not enough
time to properly enjoy any One Stop
moreover you may spend more time at a
stop that you don't care for but the bus
tour must go to anyway so an alternative
is to foro organized tours and explore
on your own especially when your ship is
visiting a city or town if your ship
docks near downtown you you can walk on
your own or even use a public
transportation option to easily get
around another option if you're not that
Keen on going out on your own is to book
a smaller group tour or a private tour
Royal caran sometimes offer small group
tours or you can book through a
thirdparty provider but Royal Caribbean
bus tours are usually not priced at a
great value and I just don't think
they're worth it and they're usually
going to result in a lot of regret let's
move over to Royal Coran's brand new
icon of the Seas and share with you one
thing I think is totally not worth the
money and that is the crab Crown's Edge
marketed as a mix between an obstacle
course and ropes course participants of
Crown's Edge navigate a series of
suspended platforms that hang off the
side of the ship at the end of the
course the platform below their feet
drops sending guests flying on a zipline
over the ocean and back to the ship
sounds like a great idea sounds like a
lot of fun maybe exhilarating to you not
to me anyway but some people are far
less scared than I am but the reality of
this experience is that it is extremely
short and pretty darn pricey now when
icon of the Seas first came out now the
price of this was
$90 per person that price has come down
to about $45 a person I still think
that's way too much money for an
experience that lasts just about 60
seconds it's certainly a thrilling
experience there's no doubt about that
but for such a short ride it comes with
a really Hefty price Crown's Edge given
that it's charging even 50 bucks or $45
is still not worth it because of how
short the experience is how much time it
requires for you to get ready and the
lack of really being able to quote
unquote enjoy it before it you know it
it's already over let's also consider
that for that price you can get a lot
more bang for your buck as an example
Escape rooms which usually cost $40 a
person last an hour the Northstar
observation pod which goes about for $30
for 15minute ride on Cay and free on
ports is going to last a lot longer than
60 seconds even the rip cord by iFly
which is the indoor skydiving simulator
on the quantum Cloud ships cost $50 for
a two-minute rise that's an extra ex
minute of time for the same price look
it's neat it's cool it's kind of a fun
photo op I get all that but I just don't
think it's really worth it and you won't
be missing out on much by truly skipping
it and number five on my list is the
Coco Beach Club when the Coco Beach Club
opened in 2020 it was a revelation being
able to pay a little bit more to be able
to go to a reserved area that was far
less crowded than the rest of the island
I kind of like this a lot it offers an
infinity pool its own Beach area and if
you'd like to you could also rent a
cabana and some of the over thewater
Cabanas by the way are absolutely
fantastic the Amplified service dining
and seating it did not disappoint and it
really lived up to a lot of the hype and
I think at the time it was so worth it
the problem with the Coco Beach Club and
the reason why I don't think it's worth
the value at all is because the pricing
Has Gone Bananas at this place for a day
pass which used to cost I don't know
like less than you know $80 a person
you're not going to be spending like2
200 to $300 a person just to get into
the beach club the over-the-water
Cabanas can sometimes go as much as
$5,000 for one Cabana I mean I love
Cabanas and I love the food at the Coco
Beach Club and I love that infinity pool
but nothing is worth that much money for
a pair of people to go into the Coco
Beach Club with just a day pass and
spending almost
$1,000 that's a lot and the Cabanas are
ridiculous I mean to spend even $3
$4,000 for Cabana I love Cabanas but
that is just way too much money for what
you get certainly whether you get a day
pass or you rent a cabana drinks are not
included by the way unless you have a
drink package so it's not like you're
getting that kind of value out of it and
the food is really good and the lack of
crowds is fantastic but demand for the
Coco Beach Club has resulted in pricing
really going up the initial pricing that
we saw when the Coco Beach Club first
opened at $40 to $80 a person those are
way behind us for my upcoming icon of
the Seas and Utopia the Seas cruises the
per person price is $180 for the over
thewater Cabana it's
$3,198 and for the regular Coco Beach
Club Beach cabana it's
$2,958 these things are nice and I've
experienced them and I enjoyed them but
I experienced and enjoyed them when the
pricing was about half of that and at
those prices it was good but these days
I just don't recommend the Coco Beach
Club instead if you want a cabana
experience I think the money is much
better spent at Hideway Beach or even in
one of the other candas located
Elsewhere on the island like chill
island or even through a water park so
there's my list of five things that I
can think off the top of my head that
are not worth it to book on a real green
Cruise I'm not saying if you book it
it's necessarily bad but I certainly
don't recommend it and you won't see me
booking them unless of course the
pricing of these things changes let me
know in the comments below what do you
think are the worst values out there on
a realan cruise and which of these do
you agree or disagree with let me know
in the comments below while you're below
our video hit the like button subscribe
to our Channel and turn on notifications
that way YouTube Let have a brand new
video to share this has been Matt from
Royal Caribbean blog.com and we'll talk
again real soon
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