Why Princess needs to invest more in tech...

[PescadoAmarillo]

On one cruise I finally went to the library, found a Trivial Pursuit game, and brought it to the trivia host to use. The B2B2B2B2B.... couple that had been winning every time did not win again.

What could have possibly been the fun for that B2B2B2B2B2B couple to keep winning that way?? We rarely participate in trivia; our one exception was to play Seinfeld trivia on one cruise (we won). Still, we didn't play the next cruise because we felt we had an unfair advantage. You know, we did what most people would have done.

[Iamcruzin]

On one cruise, there were folks who brought reference books.

 

 

 

They were certainly sports...

 

 

You have to be kidding. They probably had to leave their formal cloths home because of the airlines weight restrictions. All that just to win a lanyard.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cruisequeen4ever]

My husband and I will stop cruising Princess if RFID chips are instituted. They're an invasion of privacy, and they bring with them their own security issues. We will not participate in any activity that requires them. People need to research them more before jumping on the bandwagon of "oh, this is so convenient".

 

I'm young (early 30s), and I love technology, BUT my husband and I LIKE to disconnect for a week. That's something we appreciate about cruises. We do go online a little and like to be able to, but we don't want the "phone head" experience on vacation.

 

Yes, Princess needs to improve their technology in some ways (faster internet, ability to pre-reserve dining, etc.), but I REALLY hope they don't go overboard like RCCL because that will ruin cruising for us.

Edited September 2, 2014 by cruisequeen4ever

[tserface]

We did a B2B cruise this year (our first) and on the second leg I recognized the questions for one of the trivia games. I just told the host I was opting out from that game and had fun trying to remember the answers from the previous week. He was impressed since he knew me from the last week. It wouldn't really be a fair contest if I already knew the questions ahead of time and what's the fun of winning by cheating (certainly the key-chains are not a big enough draw to cheat). I guess there's always the personal notoriety, but isn't that kind of hollow if you have to cheat to look good?

 

There have been times where I've heard a question that was on a cruise from a couple of years ago, but I figure that's just like knowing trivia from other places as well. I watch game shows, play games with friends, etc. If we discounted every place we may have learned answers, well, er, I guess we'd never know any answers. I guess it's up to everyone's conscience to figure it out. I also don't cheat at solitaire... um... anymore. Blush.

 

Tom

 

 

What could have possibly been the fun for that B2B2B2B2B2B couple to keep winning that way?? We rarely participate in trivia; our one exception was to play Seinfeld trivia on one cruise (we won). Still, we didn't play the next cruise because we felt we had an unfair advantage. You know, we did what most people would have done.

[tserface]

I am also a technology guy (computer programmer), but one of my favorite things about cruising is that it's so difficult to get online and/or be connected. I love being able to just say "I'm gone" and not have to constantly check email and take the stress of the job along with me. We pay a lot for vacations and if I had to work through them I'd have a difficult time seeing the point.

 

That said, I really love the technology on some of the new Celebrity ships (yeah, I know this is the Princess forum... this is just a comparison).

 

Running total of charges/ability to pay.

Specialty dining signup/cancellation.

Managing excursions.

OnDemand movies/TV shows (many for free).

Customer service concerns.

Etc.

 

None of this has anything to do with getting email or being on the internet.

 

This is a small thing, but, for example, and I know I may be the only one, but my wife takes longer to get ready in the morning than I do and longer to get ready for bed. So, on our Solstice class cruises I could pick out a movie that I wanted to see that she didn't care about and just watch part of it during those times. The OnDemand systems on those ships kept track of where I'd left off (turned it off) and automatically picks up at that point later. They have many DVR like features like pause and move back, etc.

 

So on a 12 day cruise I actually watched a couple of movies that I'd been wanting to see, but had not gotten around to... I know I could have been reading a book or using my iPad or whatever, but I really liked this feature and it improved my vacation for no additional cost. Would I cruise "just" for this feature... definitely not. But, I thought it was cool!

 

It seems like in our modern day these types of features couldn't be that difficult to implement.

 

Tom

 

My husband and I will stop cruising Princess if RFID chips are instituted. They're an invasion of privacy, and they bring with them their own security issues. We will not participate in any activity that requires them. People need to research them more before jumping on the bandwagon of "oh, this is so convenient".

 

I'm young (early 30s), and I love technology, BUT my husband and I LIKE to disconnect for a week. That's something we appreciate about cruises. We do go online a little and like to be able to, but we don't want the "phone head" experience on vacation.

 

Yes, Princess needs to improve their technology in some ways (faster internet, ability to pre-reserve dining, etc.), but I REALLY hope they don't go overboard like RCCL because that will ruin cruising for us.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

...I'm young (early 30s), and I love technology, BUT my husband and I LIKE to disconnect for a week. That's something we appreciate about cruises. We do go online a little and like to be able to, but we don't want the "phone head" experience on vacation.

 

Yes, Princess needs to improve their technology in some ways (faster internet, ability to pre-reserve dining, etc.), but I REALLY hope they don't go overboard like RCCL because that will ruin cruising for us.

 

Well said!

[caribill]

So, on our Solstice class cruises I could pick out a movie that I wanted to see that she didn't care about and just watch part of it during those times. The OnDemand systems on those ships kept track of where I'd left off (turned it off) and automatically picks up at that point later. They have many DVR like features like pause and move back, etc

 

It seems like in our modern day these types of features couldn't be that difficult to implement.

 

 

 

Princess has exactly that on the two newest ships and is retrofitting the on demand movies (no charge) to most of the older ships. (Not sure of the pause and move back feature.)

[pablo222]

It's a new app that noone has reported using on Princess. For 2 x $.99 I am willing to try it out. here is a review from someone who used it on another cruise line.

 

I tried two similar peer-to-peer messaging apps last week on caribbean.

 

You can only 'see' the udp broadcast message.

 

There is no routing between individual IPs.

For instance, you can't ping another node on the network, other

than the router. And, you can't route a udp message to a particular ip.

 

I would be really interested if you get the app you wish to try to work!

[flamomo]

PLEASE ..... let the "younger cruisers" who can't stand to be disconnected for 5 minutes, let alone the duration of a cruise, and require all the latest tech junk the moment it becomes available, take their business to tech crazy RCCL, and leave supposedly technology-impaired Princess to us Senior Cruisers! We're the ones who take the longer, more costly cruises, providing Princess with a revenue source on an ongoing basis. Many of us satisfied to be able to stay in touch via slowpoke internet, and we'd prefer to be served by real people, not some weird technological creation.

 

Bigger is not necessarily better, and neither is having all the latest technology. It's not a one size (or cruise line style) fits all.

[billco]

PLEASE ..... let the "younger cruisers" who can't stand to be disconnected for 5 minutes, let alone the duration of a cruise, and require all the latest tech junk the moment it becomes available, take their business to tech crazy RCCL, and leave supposedly technology-impaired Princess to us Senior Cruisers! We're the ones who take the longer, more costly cruises, providing Princess with a revenue source on an ongoing basis. Many of us satisfied to be able to stay in touch via slowpoke internet, and we'd prefer to be served by real people, not some weird technological creation.

 

Bigger is not necessarily better, and neither is having all the latest technology. It's not a one size (or cruise line style) fits all.

Speak for yourself. I'm a senior cruiser who takes longer, more costly cruises and I like the latest technology, especially high speed internet. I'm not going to any other cruise line as I am sure Princess will continue to update to stay competitive.

[billco]

 

I would be really interested if you get the app you wish to try to work!

 

I saw a report in the technology forum that the app didn't work on the Majesty of the Seas, so I am not optimistic. I'll report my experience on October 25.

[flamomo]

Speak for yourself. I'm a senior cruiser who takes longer, more costly cruises and I like the latest technology, especially high speed internet. I'm not going to any other cruise line as I am sure Princess will continue to update to stay competitive.

 

I appreciate high speed internet access at home and would not be sorry if Princess' access got faster, but the current slowpoke access allows me to stay in touch with family and friends while at sea, and that's what is important to me.

[Sincity]

I just wish we had a faster internet connection for personal and work (wife sometimes needs to do a little work while on vacation).

Edited September 8, 2014 by Sincity