Over the years, I’ve had several different types of room keys on cruise ships. Some were actual metal keys. Most were credit-card type keys that you either slide through a side slot in the door or hold in front of the lock.

Once I even had a velvet knot that I was to loop on the outside of my door to let room service or others know that someone in the cabin didn’t want to be disturbed. Otherwise, the door was unlocked when I was not in the cabin. No cabin keys were necessary.

However, the key I was handed when I boarded the Amadeus Silver II cruise ship was unlike any other I’ve had. The Silver II uses an impressive old-fashioned tasseled chunk of silver with a piece of yellow plastic attached to it. The yellow plastic contains a magnetic opening device which I hold against my door lock to open.

I knew it would be hard to explain so I took a photo of the stateroom “key.”

The door opener is quite heavy and not easy to lose. It has the name Amadeus Silver II on the silver metal along with my room number. The tassel is a deep mauve color. The dominant décor colors on the ship are deep mauve and ivory.

The key is also used to let the staff know when we are on the ship or off. Whenever we leave the ship, we are supposed to stop by the front desk and pick up a plastic boarding pass. Then when we return to the ship, we turn in the pass and get back our key. It’s a very easy system and it seems to work because few of us forget to leave that heavy key when we leave the Silver II.

Another little tidbit about my Silver II stateroom door. It does not slam behind me when I open it. Instead, it stays open until I close it. That is quite handy for moving suitcases or carrying in a drink and it is only one of the thoughtful extras I have discovered aboard the Amadeus Silver II.

Story and photo by Jackie Sheckler Finch