Does it worry anyone else that...

[Gil T. Azell]

Agree with everybody else, I do not worry about this. I would be far more concerned about the line up at Guest Services if there were NO numbers on the card. "I don't know my room number" :(

 

If you read the reviews, you will see a lot of people don't even know what ship they are on. " I just had a terrible cruise on Carnival's Freedom of the Seas....:rolleyes:"

 

Hahaha.......so true.

[JasonTehGreat]

This is exactly what I would do if I found a SeaPass card lying around or on the floor somewhere:

 

I would pick it up and take it to the purser's desk or at least to a crew member and turn it in.

[dz9yvr]

Do you really know that RCCL isn't using the computer system to check on people using the card in the wrong door? RCCL's on-line system knows everytime that our card is inserted in any door. Perhaps their system alerts security if your card is inserted in 3 incorrect doors (or some other number).

[Mark_K]

Don't they change your code to get into the cabin when your card is "lost"?

 

LuLu

~~~~

Only after you notice and tell them, which potentially could be quite a while.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[griffy116]

Just like hotel cards, they are programmed automatically for each guest. No need to worry about something like this. If you lose your card, your old card will no longer work.

 

I know this from experience as I locked myself out of my room on the Allure and they gave me a new card. When I tried the old card, it did not work.

 

Same experience here, which is why after a couple of cruises, we went to a lanyard. We kept having the "lost" keys show up, got them mixed up and our teens kept getting themselves locked out...okay, and I did the same thing as the teens.

[papaflamingo]

As everyone pointed out it's unlikely that someone would go through the trouble of going deck to deck to try and break into a room that someone could be in, that would be noticed on camera, and that would likely find all valuables locked in a safe. Plus there is no escape. I would, as one poster stated, be more concerned about "buying someone a drink" before the card was shut down.

[reedl]

Not only is the old card disabled, but you are issued a new folio number so that somebody can't use your lost card to purchase anything onboard, either (I'd be more concerned about that). So no, don't worry about it. Touch wood, I haven't lost my card but I demagnetize it frequently and the old card is useless.

 

OK, this requires the old joke:

 

"Is it because of your magnetic personality?"

[reedl]

On the Allure that I was on recently, when you used your Seapass card in the onboard shops, your security picture shows up on the register as a further verification of your identity. So if someone finds a card and tries to purchase a $1000 watch, the store will see your picture and most likely deny the purchase.

 

I have to do more research on the room door keyslots. Most hotel keyslots do not receive data from a central server. They only know that they can open based on specific codes, and the device that programs the keys also knows those codes. So it is security through obscurity. If you create an additional card that opens that door, the old one can also open the door.

 

Next cruise, I have some questions to ask someone about this. I am a techie, and love to know how everything works.

[Thetrail]

The seapass cards are very insecure in terms of your cabin number being printed right on the front of the card? In the lower left corner is a number that is your cabin number. Anyone who finds this seapass could merely try that cabin number of the cabins on each floor until they enter the cabin you have.

 

For example I was in cabin 7130 on the Allure last week, and the lower left corner says 130.

 

So all someone would have to try is cabin 130 on each floor and would probably be able to get into my room quite quickly.

 

I know this is the worst kept secret on the ship since every time I was asked for my card to purchase something where they could not scan it, they only asked for my deck number.

 

Also I do not know how well the door system works, but if it works like most hotels, the card is programmed to open that door from date x to date y. The door cannot be programmed to ignore the old card. In hotels it is not an issue since there is no identifying information on the card. But on a ship, your name is on the card also. So even if you get a new seapass card, the old one might be able to open your door.

If you lose your card and someone finds it ok they could try this. If you get a new card the old one is deactivated right away. Try not to lose your seapass card and try not to carry an umbrella in a thunderstorm...:rolleyes:

[ryano]

Why in the world would you "lose" your seapass? Do you routinely lose your housekey...or your car keys...or hotel key?

 

Ive found several laying around various places on every cruise Ive been on. Its a LOT more common than you think.

 

I just take them to Guest Services and turn them in.

[bmac1]

My occupation is security and I can tell you that most card access systems use an access issue number on the card so when you get your original seapass card for example the card number would be 12345-0. If you lost your card the new one would be 12345-1 so the original number would not work. If you lost the card again the next one would be 12345-2 and so on for as many new cards as you need so there is no problem with old cards working as long as they have been replaced with new ones.

[sailingawaysoon]

Interesting question, thanks for posting!

[maureencruiser]

I would think a much bigger security risk would be all those suitcases out in the hallways on the final night. But, besides a few stories, you don't hear much about people being robbed that way. On the Jewel, when I packed up, I noticed one of those juice boxes of wine that I forgot I had brought with me. I didn't want it at that point, so, I sat it on top of my suitcase in the hallway so someone could have it. No one took it, in the morning, it was on the floor outside my cabin.

 

On a side note, my personal luggage tag is my business card, which says Robertson Drug Co on it. On the Allure, I put my luggage out and something made me look at the card. I said, Hmmm let's not tempt fate that someone might think there was something "interesting" in my suitcase and I flipped the card over so it couldn't be seen. ;)

[Langley Cruisers]

nvm.

[CruisinCrow]

I've been careful about putting things in the safe since I came back to our cabin on one cruise and found the door propped open with cleaning supplies and the room steward nowhere to be found. She came back about 5 minutes later. Who knows how many people could have walked into the room during that time and taken things.

 

It's not something that worries me, just something I'm aware can happen. Use the safe, use the deadbolt at night.

[Cigar King]

The seapass cards are very insecure in terms of your cabin number being printed right on the front of the card? In the lower left corner is a number that is your cabin number. Anyone who finds this seapass could merely try that cabin number of the cabins on each floor until they enter the cabin you have.

 

I don't think you are correct, in your general statement that the "Seapass cards are very insecure". I'd love to see what facts you have to back that statement up.

 

While it's true that if somebody acquired your card, they could try all the possible rooms, it's also true that they would be on multiple video cameras when they did so. I suspect this risk is much lower that you assume it to be.

 

BTW, wouldn't it be easier to just buy things with your card instead of trying to figure out your room?

[ahecht]

Also I do not know how well the door system works, but if it works like most hotels, the card is programmed to open that door from date x to date y. The door cannot be programmed to ignore the old card. In hotels it is not an issue since there is no identifying information on the card. But on a ship, your name is on the card also. So even if you get a new seapass card, the old one might be able to open your door.

I have to do more research on the room door keyslots. Most hotel keyslots do not receive data from a central server. They only know that they can open based on specific codes, and the device that programs the keys also knows those codes. So it is security through obscurity. If you create an additional card that opens that door, the old one can also open the door.

 

Next cruise, I have some questions to ask someone about this. I am a techie, and love to know how everything works.

That's not how the card readers in hotels work (or at least not since the punch-card days). The cards are programmed with three pieces of information by the machine at the front desk: The current unlock code, the expiration of that unlock code, and what the next code will be.

 

When you swipe your card in the door, the reader first checks to see if you are using the current code and, if you are, it unlocks the door and stores the next code in memory.

 

If you lose your card, or if a new person checks in, the front desk will create a new card with the current next code as the unlock code and a new next code. When you use that card in the door, the door sees that you are using the next code, disables the current unlock code, uses the next code as its current unlock code, and stores the new next code from the new card in memory. Therefore, as soon as a new key is used in the door, the old keys no longer work. A similar thing happened when the unlock code expires.

 

Some doors systems, like those on the ship, can keep track of different unlock and next codes for multiple cards, but for the ones that don't if you replace one key card none of the others will work. Also, the doors will sometimes get out of sync with the machine at the front desk (for example if a new card is issued but lost before it is used in the door), requiring the staff to use a special override card to reset the codes in the reader.

[cruisenfever]

Not only is the old card disabled, but you are issued a new folio number so that somebody can't use your lost card to purchase anything onboard, either (I'd be more concerned about that). So no, don't worry about it. Touch wood, I haven't lost my card but I demagnetize it frequently and the old card is useless.

 

OK, this requires the old joke:

 

"Is it because of your magnetic personality?"

I can honestly say that she does have a magnetic personality, but if you put your SeaPass card against a credit card or anything else that has a magnet on it, you will demagnetize the card which will make your SeaPass card useless in trying to get into your cabin.