Medallion

[camper49]

What is a Medallion cruise?

[Mike45LC]

Princess is slowly implementing a new gizmo called a Medallion.  It is essentially a Radio Frequency/Blue Tooth replacement for your cruise card.  It unlocks your cabin door, it is used for purchasing drinks and merchandise, all without having to swipe your cruise card.  It transmits your identity to receivers located all around the ship, so it tracks you.  Supposedly, this is a good thing.  I have not yet heard anything good about it.

 

A "Medallion Cruise" would be a cruise on one of the medallion-enabled ships.  Over time, all of the Princess ships supposedly will become medallion-enabled.

 

[Hlitner]

Agree with Mike.  We cannot think of anything positive for the passenger with the Medallion...although there are lots of folks who love anything new.  Princess has installed sensors all over the ship (including inside passenger cabin bathroom) which can track your every movement (or lack thereof).  Princess will have the ability to use your movement habits to personalize marketing which can be sent to your cabin screen or even to your phone.  Some of this might be helpful to the passenger but we think Princess is spending the big bucks hoping to get a good return on investment from very pro-active marketing.  Perhaps this is a bit tongue in cheek, but imagine somebody who spends a lot of time in their bathroom and suddenly gets some marketing of Pepto Bismol!    Or perhaps you decide to browse in one of the shops and then find yourself getting hourly marketing pushes....about items for sale in that same shop.  

 

What are they offering passengers as a benefit?  The Medallion will unlock your cabin door. WOW....I truly cannot wait :).  Imagine not having to use your cruise card to get into your cabin.  This certainly seems like something worth millions of dollars.  With the Medallion a bar waiter should be able to handle your order without asking to see your cruise card.  I understand its a major inconvenience for cruisers to present their card...so this is another major plus (do you sense my sarcasm).  Oh, and you will be able to use the Medallion when you enter and leave the ship at ports.  WOW!  This means I do not have to pull out my cruise card and have it quickly scanned by security.  Another plus worth millions of dollars?

 

Lets be honest about the Medallion....it is a brilliant marketing campaign by Princess...but unfortunately it has backfired because they could not deliver the Medallion service on time.  In fact, the Regal is now a year behind schedule.

 

On our recent Regal cruise (we just disembarked this past Sunday) the few passengers in cabins that actually had Medallion locks..could be seen carrying around both their Medallion and cruise cards.   Many had that Medallion displayed on a neck lanyard (perhaps to boast that "I have a Medallion").   But they still had to use their cruise card for anything other then opening their door lock.  Go figure.  

 

We think the Medallion might make some sense if its on a new build ship.  But spending millions to retro-fit the existing fleet for this technology seems like an amazing waste of financial resources.  Whether Princess can actually get a return on their investment remains to be seen.  Speaking of Princess shops, I did stop in the shop to look at the "duty free" liquor prices.  A liter of Remy Martin VSOP Cognac actually cost about the same price as buying the same product in Pennsylvania (where we have high liquor prices because of a special tax).  Sure, the shop does not pay Duty....but they must sure inflate the price in a big way to match PA prices.  DW looked at a Chico top...which she wanted to buy as a gift for DD.  DW asked if it was possible to return to the item (to a shoreside Chico store) if it did not fit.  The store manager actually had to check...and later told us, NO.    you cannot return the item.   So much for that purchase (which did not happen).

 

Hank

[Seadog & Sea Hag]

It’s Princess ‘s money and I 100% guarantee that they will get a return on their investment. Let’s just be patient and wait and see how it plays out when it’s fully operational down the track. 

RFID cards & medallions have been around for some time and aren’t going anywhere.

[mikjr]

Not sure about the benefits, or down size to the Medallion...  but during our last cruise on the Star, we had TWO charges applied to our account that were not ours!  One from Sabatinis for $60, and one at the Wheelhouse Bar.   

I can understand it happening maybe once... but twice??  Of course, the Front Desk took the charges off after the "Supervisor investigated" the charges, but it was still a pain and a bit annoying!! 

So maybe the Medallion system can help to eliminate issues like that.  

[skynight]

I'm sure you have seen younger people glued to their smart phones or tablets. These are the future cruise vacation customers. That's the advantage for the cruise line and for the younger demographic. They are able to take a cruise vacation and still remain in their comfort zone.

As far as real tangible benefits, there may be a few small ones, but can you really see many over the current system?

Personally, when I'm on the ship I enjoy not having to carry anything around, especially a phone, laptop or tablet. We use the tried and true, meet you at 10am by the pool near the ice cream bar method.

[MissP22]

So far the medallion benefits have been OK BUT there is one very big downfall in the design of their program that Princess security doesn't seem to think is any problem.

If you lose your cruise card there's not much concern about anyone accessing your room since there's no cabin number printed on your card.

The medallion is a different story altogether. If you should lose it, anyone that finds it can immediately find your room with specific directions on any of their boards around the ship. They even know if your partner is in the cabin & where they are at that particular moment.

Talking to security this morning, they don't perceive it as any problem since when you discover it missing they'll cancel the medallion & reissue a new one or locate your old one for you. 

I asked if they're going to print the cabin number on the cruise cards going forward and they said NO since if lost anyone who finds it would have access to your room. 

Motto of this rant is don't lose your medallion. Sometimes the perceived benefits are good but until they iron our the software there are going to be some major concerns.

Oh, btw the Princess rep at our CC meet & greet said only 5 people so far on the CB since it's inception, opted out of using the medallions so far.