Get ready for Ocean Medallion Class™

[nanabananna]

Why would you lose it? Do you lose your cruise card?

 

It is smaller than a cruise card. That is why I might would loose it, just My opinion.

[cruisingherrons]

LOL!! Like you, I have been around so long that to me technology is sometimes nice, but certainly not a necessity.

 

I remember the phone on the kitchen wall of our house with it's party line. Ours was one long ring, two short rings, and one more long ring. A fun evening was sneaking in on the calls our neighbors got.

 

I remember our first TV was more round than square, deeper than it was wide, and was in all the colors we wanted, as long as they were black, white and shades of gray. And on all three of the channels we could get with out antenna on the roof.

 

I remember the high beam switch on my first car was a button on the floor operated by my foot. The most advanced safety device on it were the drum brakes that usually would stop in time, depending on how hard you stood up on the pedal. The only airbag in it was when Aunt Mildred rode in the back seat. She never could stop talking.

 

I remember air conditioning was opening the windows on a windy day. Heating was dependent on how well we loaded the fireplace and kitchen stove with firewood.

 

I remember cameras were so large that many came with tripods to support them.

 

I remember when social media was an envelope with a hand written letter inside - and in beautiful cursive, not ugly block letters.

 

I remember...... well, I could go on and on, much like we old geezers have a tendency to do.

 

I seriously wonder how many hours these millennials would survive if their smart phones stopped working, or their Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, texts couldn't be accessed. Or if their iPods broke.

 

Me? I would be OK. After all, I was perfectly fine without all of this newfangled technology for decades. I certainly can be again. ;)

 

Well said - BRAVO!!

[Doug R.]

Yes to #1 and 3! I DO NOT like to be photographed, and don't want to be asked to be. I don't want anyone trying to sell me anything other than perhaps a drink. And the wine tasting, I actually don't mind.

 

I don't understand what the big deal is if someone with traditional dining wants to go to the anytime dining room(s). How would you even know, and why would you even care? Someone please explain to me.

 

Traditional diners moving to ATD potentially can cause longer wait times for a table.

 

My other question is, what if you looking at an item in a gift shop, but choose not to purchase it? At what point is your cruise account charged for that item?

 

I think you will still have to check out.

 

I wouldn't worry about losing your cruise medallion and someone finding it and finding your room. Unless it was right outside your room, imagine how difficult it would be to find ONE room, out of thousands, on multiple decks, on both sides of the ship?

 

And if you can get custom colors, will it come in purple?

 

See replies in red

[floridalover5623]

It is smaller than a cruise card. That is why I might would loose it, just My opinion.

 

I'd bet it would be found by someone & returned to your cabin before you even knew it was missing.

[dides]

Nobody will be walking straight on. You will need picture taken and credit card for on board account. They should not be taking all your credit card info prior to getting there.

 

Not according to their promo video - "revolutionizes embarkation day with a streamlined arrival process, waiting in line and checking in is replaced by a welcome greeting that takes only moments and guests can go directly on the ship".

[Cruzin-K]

I wonder how thick the medallion is. I always put my cruise card in a scrapbook and would be bummed if the medallion is too thick to make that work.

 

I'm not a fan of having to look at the Princess Patter on my phone either. I tried that on the last cruise where it was an option and it was awful. No way to get a good overview of everything going on during the day. The phone app only showed activities available for a very short window of time and I had to hunt to find out what was going on later. I just like to be able to look at one piece of paper to see everything. I don't want to have to click 10 things to find out activities, hours, dining options, etc. Just one piece of paper is all I want. Besides, if I have to carry my phone around on the ship, I'm more likely to lose it. At home its in my purse but I don't carry a purse on the ship.

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

Edited January 6, 2017 by Cruzin-K

[khalubear]

Like a new car that comes out....will it be a lemon or a classic. I like tech but will wait till they work the bugs out. As for traditional switching to anytime. It can cause longer wait times if you have too many moving to anytime. The mdr is split between fixed and anytime.it used to be you neededto book fixed early.. now it is the other way around.

 

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[pablo222]

Where does that fit in with you walking straight onboard then? The video showed you doing passport stuff online beforehand

 

Princess can certainly check in advance that you have a passport, etc.

 

But, I don't think they are going to let you board without verifying

that you have it physically with you.

 

They don't today, even if you supply your passport info in the cruise

personalizer.

 

Lots of things are hyped in the promotion, and turn out to

be different in reality.

 

Fondue resturant, curtis stone, etc.

[Perserva]

I like techy stuff. I think whether this flies or not will depend on a comfort level of most people. I would like the choice of being able to track your cabin mates or family members using the Medallion. Perhaps by going to a kiosk and swiping your medallion you could find out where grandma's gone off to !

 

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[SteveH2508]

Does it have a 'summon a drinks waiter' button or function (say a double-tap on your table and a waiter magically appears)?:cool:

[Thrak]

You can always place it in a RFID blocking wallet and temporarily go off the radar.:D

 

After working many years in IT I find that maybe 99% of the people out there wouldn't even understand what I said if I told them that. :) Most folks simply don't "do" tech.

 

I've had a number of folks who thought their monitor was their computer and their computer was their "modem". Sometimes they called their computer their "hard drive". I spent 16 years with one woman trying to teach her to put a known address into her browser's address bar rather than into the Google search bar. She never did get it.

[Thrak]

Does it have a 'summon a drinks waiter' button or function (say a double-tap on your table and a waiter magically appears)?:cool:

 

Not the medallion itself but with your phone you can (supposedly) do exactly that. Order a drink and have it delivered to you at the pool, in the theater, etc. Supposedly you can order a drink while getting ready in your cabin and have it waiting for you when you get to where you are going. I wonder if that means one could finally get a drink delivered to their cabin? I doubt that will happen. Far too much running around compared to delivering to a public area.

Edited January 6, 2017 by Thrak

[floridalover5623]

After working many years in IT I find that maybe 99% of the people out there wouldn't even understand what I said if I told them that. :) Most folks simply don't "do" tech.

 

I've had a number of folks who thought their monitor was their computer and their computer was their "modem". Sometimes they called their computer their "hard drive". I spent 16 years with one woman trying to teach her to put a known address into her browser's address bar rather than into the Google search bar. She never did get it.

 

I currently belong to a computer club here in Fl with many retired folks & I know what you're talking about. We have members of ever level from IT guys to beginners. One woman last week was under the impression that when she enters questions into Google it's like a posting to a board since there's always a response that answers her question. :rolleyes:

 

I just listened to the whole CES talk and it was very enlightening.

I can't wait to be on a ship using one.

I know, people are going to be paranoid about their personal information or mistakes being made but I'll take my chances with that any day. They've made mistakes with charges over the years & I expect it to be much more accurate.

[jeromep]

I just listened to the whole CES talk and it was very enlightening.

I can't wait to be on a ship using one.

I know, people are going to be paranoid about their personal information or mistakes being made but I'll take my chances with that any day. They've made mistakes with charges over the years & I expect it to be much more accurate.

 

I also watched the CES presentation. I felt it was light on technical specifics, but it did cover the whole spirit of the system very distinctly. It was a long keynote, not long by keynote standards, but felt a little long as there were lots of promotional videos and Arnold Donald spent about 15 minutes covering the Carnival Corp. market position at the beginning of the presentation. The whole presentation was very much a corporate "cheer leading" presentation with a product reveal.

 

Anyway, my take away is that Medallion is going to be the Princess/Carnival equivalent to Disney's Magic Pass. I suspect that in 10 years we'll see things like Magic Pass and OCEAN Medallion style of identification when visiting resorts to be a lot more common. The resort style vacation industry is very competitive and anything that gives a provider an edge in creating an "experience" with a customer which will create further loyalty is something they will invest in and gamble upon.

 

The funny thing about claims of intrusion of privacy is that I'm not exactly in a fully private environment when I'm aboard ship. My cabin might be for my exclusive use while on my vacation, but it is still a rental and I'm still entrusting my life and safety to the cruise line. It is in their best interest to have a clue as to where their passengers are on board from a safety perspective, and their additional gain by knowing where pax are is being able to more directly target service opportunities to passengers based upon where they physically are on board.

 

If I want to be totally private I will sit at home with the blinds closed. However, if I use the Internet, watch Netflix, even post here at Cruise Critic, I'm giving up a certain amount of my privacy to communicate and engage with others. If I go out in public I certainly will end up being recorded by the surveillance cameras at my local grocery store, the ATM at the bank, and by the traffic cameras installed in my city. Privacy is not the same as anonymity. I think that most folks can retain their privacy, but anonymity is essentially dead.

 

But as far as OCEAN Medalion is concerned I'm excited to see it launch.

[floridalover5623]

Princess can certainly check in advance that you have a passport, etc.

 

But, I don't think they are going to let you board without verifying

that you have it physically with you.

 

They don't today, even if you supply your passport info in the cruise

personalizer.

 

Lots of things are hyped in the promotion, and turn out to

be different in reality.

 

Fondue resturant, curtis stone, etc.

 

Yea I saw that about photoing the passport. Looks interesting even if they check it when you arrive.

 

On a side note a friend of mine recently took a cruise (I forgot to ask what cruise line) and it was a closed loop Caribbean trip from Ft Lauderdale. He forgot his passports BUT he did have his birth certificate stored in Google docs. They let him print copies & it was acceptable along with drivers license's.

Hard to believe.

I was trying to cash about $60 worth of dividend checks in my local bank last week & forgot my ID and they wouldn't accept my passport from Google docs. :( They claimed it could be to easily be photo shopped.

[Thrak]

My wife and her sisters spent a week or so at a large resort in Mexico this summer. They had wristbands that identified which areas they could visit (all of them :)) and it was used to open the room doors, order drinks, etc. Worked well for them.

[Loonbeam]

18 pages was TL/DR even for me, but if anyone is familiar with Disney?

 

These are Magic Bands. Same system in use at Disney to handle room keys, shopping, location and yes, tracking. May not be exactly the same tech but close enough.

 

I am certain Princess has looked at the costs/benefits/concerns that Disney had and also the amount of money it has made them plus the usable flow data they got (for example, Princess will be able to easily tell what venues get the most use when, how specific events are attended, etc - these are GOOD things). One example I could think of is this is an easy way for them to monitor dining room usage for AD by those in TD and get a real picture of the situation? Also, for medical emergencies, allergies etc can be read real time by the doctor.

 

There are of course security and privacy implications which we will need to see how things are handled, and will there be charges for some features, etc?

 

And for those who don't want the medallion, Princess, like Disney can print cards with the same chip inside - technically its exactly the same thing, but most people will think they are different.

[ProfessorandtheGeek]

Once I slip onto the ship with the new quick process, I think I'll leave mine in the cabin.

 

Could not have said it better myself.

[caribill]

Also, for medical emergencies, allergies etc can be read real time by the doctor.

 

 

Unless a passenger has notified Princess of a severe allergy (such as to peanuts or gluten), the system will have no record of or access to the passenger's medical records and other allergies.

[caribill]

I'm still entrusting my life and safety to the cruise line. It is in their best interest to have a clue as to where their passengers are on board from a safety perspective, and their additional gain by knowing where pax are is being able to more directly target service opportunities to passengers based upon where they physically are on board.

 

 

That's like saying since the local police are responsible for your safety, they should have 24-hours a day access to knowing where you are.

 

Sorry. I do not agree. Neither Princess nor the police should be tracking my every movement.

[Cruiser411]

That's like saying since the local police are responsible for your safety, they should have 24-hours a day access to knowing where you are.

 

Sorry. I do not agree. Neither Princess nor the police should be tracking my every movement.

 

I don't think the system will be doing real-time tracking of everyone onboard. That would need a lot of computing power. Instead, when you request something, then the system will determine where you are. Or if you enter a venue, it may note your entrance for crowd control purposes. It's not going to be a virtual Marauder's Map.

[GUT2407]

My wife and her sisters spent a week or so at a large resort in Mexico this summer. They had wristbands that identified which areas they could visit (all of them :)) and it was used to open the room doors, order drinks, etc. Worked well for them.

 

I hope that Princess don't spot an opportunity to limit access to more areas.

[caribill]

Not according to their promo video - "revolutionizes embarkation day with a streamlined arrival process, waiting in line and checking in is replaced by a welcome greeting that takes only moments and guests can go directly on the ship".

 

And on the web site

 

A Faster Start To Your Vacation With Ocean Ready™

 

Upload your documentation and set your preferences ahead of time so you can just walk on board and communicate everything your ship needs to know about you.

[Steelers0854]

I don't think the system will be doing real-time tracking of everyone onboard. That would need a lot of computing power. Instead, when you request something, then the system will determine where you are. Or if you enter a venue, it may note your entrance for crowd control purposes. It's not going to be a virtual Marauder's Map.

 

 

 

On the contrary, I think it will. It's a huge marketing tool for the company to analyze where you are spending your time. They of course will monetize anything they can and you can bet they will monitored this too.

 

I'm privacy conscious myself, but on a cruise I don't really care if princess knows I take naps most days or hang out at the IC stalking the chocolate mousse desserts [emoji51]

[easyboy]

Similar to what my car does?

Have to push the button for mine.