Ocean Medallion...The Ultimate Data-Mining Tool.

[cruisedoctor]

I just returned from a 15-night Transatlantic cruise on the Regal Princess.  This was my first experience with the Ocean Medallion.  Prior to the cruise, I read hundreds of postings here on CruiseCritic.  There were reports from passengers who had already experienced the program, and commentary from passengers who had yet to experience it (and were giving their opinion about the technology).

One of the more prevalent lines of thought that ran through those postings, was that the medallions were just "glorified cruise cards" and that the Carnival Corporation had wasted tens of millions of dollars developing and implementing this program.  I though about this a lot during this extended cruise, while observing how I was using the Medallion, as well as how the other passengers were using theirs, and hearing verbal comments made about them.

 

I came to the realization they are FAR more than "glorified cruise cards".  While they do provide some passenger benefits, the real beneficiary is the cruise line.  Those tens of millions of dollars were actually a fabulous investment, in a program to gather tons of information about what each and every passenger is doing (and has done) every minute of the day, from the second you board the ship, till the moment you disembark.  Every dollar they spent, will yield significant multiples of value in the long run.    

 

Here's how.  Each medallion is a GPS unit linked to your identity.  Somewhere on the ship is a computer that knows where every passenger is located every minute of the day.  And, depending on where you are, they have a pretty good idea as to what you are doing every minute of the day.  Now, armed with terabytes of data (information) they never had before, the data-mining begins to feed the statistical analyses of a myriad number of management and sales programs.  DATA = GOLD

 

I seemed to have a lot extra time to kill, so I decided to see how many different ways I could come up with, to monetize all this data.  I'd love to test my hypotheses.  Maybe Mr. Donald (CEO of Carnival Corp.) would let me play with his data, if I ask nicely.  

 

Dr. J

 

[antsp]

The medallion does not have gps.  

[Ep010835]

Someone I know extremely well who is a acknowledged expert on this very subject shared with me just a couple of weeks ago how far the cruise industry is behind the rest of the world in their collective quest to mine data. 

 

You are spot on, Dr. J. 

[steamboats]

31 minutes ago, antsp said:

The medallion does not have gps.  

 

That´s correct but Medallion has Bluetooth and there are beacons all over the ship which are locating the Medallion devices so they are definitely able to locate you. Bluetooth is used by other cruise lines too as by MSC for the Family and Friends locator (locating your kids as an example).

 

steamboats

[Papa Yoda]

Yep... 

 

The sensors ("beacons") are all over, they are little 3" beige covered dinguses on the ceiling or walls.  You'll find one in the cabin bath and others in the living area.

[Micahs Grandad]

Big brother is watching you.

 

Will experience this in August and note sure how I feel about all the info about me they will collect.

 

Other than opening cabin door when we get close not sure how much benefit we will get from it

[richmke]

The data mining becomes particularly helpful to "enhance the customer experience" over multiple cruises. When a waiter or bar tender gets to know you, they start bringing you coffee or drinks without you having to order. On future cruises, the waiter/bar tender will have that info.

 

It can also learn your tipping habits. If you are known to be a good tipper, then staff may respond to you accordingly to earn the generous tip. Or, if you tend to remove the automatic gratuities ....

[mevs904]

We experienced our first Medallion cruise on the Caribbean Princess in March and overall it was a positive experience.  We appreciated the door opening feature as well as the ability to locate each other on the ship.  We were not troubled by the fact that our cabin steward knew when we were in or out of our cabin.  Between that and using the little door hanger signs we were never bothered by housekeeping services when we were in the cabin.  As far as data mining is concerned I’m not too worried that Princess knows where I go on the ship.  They probably learned that the shops, bingo, and the casino hold no attraction for us and that yes, there are still passengers who love to walk the promenade deck.  

[MissP22]

11 minutes ago, richmke said:

The data mining becomes particularly helpful to "enhance the customer experience" over multiple cruises. When a waiter or bar tender gets to know you, they start bringing you coffee or drinks without you having to order. On future cruises, the waiter/bar tender will have that info.

 

It can also learn your tipping habits. If you are known to be a good tipper, then staff may respond to you accordingly to earn the generous tip. Or, if you tend to remove the automatic gratuities ....

I think your reading a little to much into the intended data collection function of the medallions.

Yes, I believe it'll give them the opportunity to tailor the ships timing & offering of programs being offered on future trips but not to the degree of service provided by waiters/bartenders based on your past tipping history. 

 

ie- types of movies/shows people attend on MUTS, attendance of people during bingo or specific shows, attendance of specific dining venue's and time of arrival, etc.

[kywildcatfanone]

This has been discussed many times, but yes, the reason they are spending all that money on this system is to determine your movements and habits on the ship to better extract more money from your pocket. 

 

That is the goal of every for profit business in any industry.  How do people not know this? 

[rebeltech8]

3 hours ago, cruisedoctor said:

 And, depending on where you are, they have a pretty good idea as to what you are doing every minute of the day.  

 

 

I think you are exactly right.  Here’s how I think they could easily monetize their investment.

 

Since they know where you are and how long you were in a location, they can tell you were in the photo gallery looking at the photos they took of you and your party.  They can also tell that you have not purchased any photos yet.  Later that day, because you purchased MedallionNet, you start getting emails letting you know that there were new photos added to your portfolio. And for a limited time, if you buy four photos, you can get one free by just presenting the attached coupon. 

 

Then the next day, immediately after the machine beeps when you are returning from your long hot day on the beach, you get another email asking “doesn’t a nice cold beer sound good right now?  Here are three bars that are conveniently located on your walk back to your cabin.”

 

i hate spam when I am not on vacation and will hate it even more when I am trying to relax on my cruise.  I am wondering, how many times you can get the Medallion to skip across the wake when thrown from the pool at the back of the ship . 😀 

 

[rebeltech8]

Oh and one more thing...think I have finally found a way to easily carry my new Medallion around the ship.  Amazon has these amazing pouches for your phone and key fobs that act as a Faraday cage which blocks radio signals to and from the device inside the pouch.  I just need to take it out to unlock the cabin door.

 

When I showed this great idea to my wife, she asked if it comes in a metallic aluminum  color to match my tinfoil hat.

 

She knows me too well😀.

[Cruising TBD]

I would ensure the Medallion is disabled via pouches or other methods.

 

it is not Princess's business what I do so long as I follow the code of conduct.

 

This is one reason that our large group is hesitant to book Princess.

[DDG 41]

2 minutes ago, Cruising TBD said:

I would ensure the Medallion is disabled via pouches or other methods.

 

it is not Princess's business what I do so long as I follow the code of conduct.

 

This is one reason that our large group is hesitant to book Princess.

If Your're hesitant to book Princess then you shouldn't book the whole of Carnival Corp. as they will all be implementing the tech.

RCI, MSC and DCL all have similar tech. Enjoy finding a cruise line which doesn't use the tech. Also if you don't like people knowing where you are i presume you have now credit cards or phones.

[happy cruzer]

Do you carry a phone?  No surprises about the Medallion.

[CineGraphic]

Phones and television sets also provide info and stats to various entities. This is nothing new.

[skynight]

While I agree with the OP, I don't know if data mining is the primary goal. And while bartenders may bring your favorite drink, they better ask first, otherwise they can end up dumping profits. Certainly those glued to their phones and loving it will receive advertising and other information messages throughout the day. Broadcast announcements may someday actually disappear. People are obsessed with carrying around their phones and tablets, looking at messages that pop up, taking photos, paying with the phone, and everything else. You have all seen it and can expand the use whichever way you like.

 

I think the main reason is just to allow passengers to be "on line" all the time. Faster internet, expansion of electronic options.

I believe if the cruise line does not offer this kind of on board service, over time they will lose their base of customers. Potential customers will choose cruise lines that have all of this instant service. That is what I believe is the primary reason for the Medallion. Watch for Medallion 2.0, 3.0 and so on. It will be coming. 

[dearinger]

As a former engineer for a large "fruit" electronics company who developed retail spaces using Beacon technology (low power bluetooth), the amount of data that we were able to collect on users was astounding. If a user had our app installed on their phone, we could tell how long they spent in front of a particular product and if they spent a large amount of time looking at accessories. Later after ML spent time crunching the data, we would then send them notification pop-ups on their phone to let them know if they returned to the store we would give them a 10% off coupon. 

Grocery stores (particularly Target) are currently working to install similar technology using the loyalty card app you keep on your iPhone or Android device. I don't necessarily agree with this tech, but at the time it was my assigned project. Thankfully I no longer work on any of the big brother tech.. 

If you are interested in learning more, there are lots of articles on passive beacon technology called Goggle Beacon or Apple iBeacon. Tons of different companies are now jumping on this bandwagon to collect spending habits on users. 

 

[land lover]

 Gosh now they we'll know when I hid out in my cabin for muster....😉

oh 

 that's right they already know that or do they?🙄

 

So how does the technology work if the ship is sinking or a person goes overboard wearing their medallion? Advantage? I'd say yes.

Edited May 3, 2019 by land lover

[meatloafsfan]

Why wouldn't I want to provide them with Data that will help enhance my personal experience?

 

My medallion (and me) went from the cabin to the MDR, to the casino to the IC (rinse, repeat) with the occasional trivia thrown in and a little bit of onboard shopping. Why wouldn't I want to know that the casino would be offering a smoke free night? Or that lunch was being served today in the MDR from 12-1:30 so I have 25 mins left if I'd like to attend? Or that there's a sale in the shops for 10% off so I can decide to make that purchase I've been looking at?

 

Right now I get emails and papers in the cabins "excursions, excursions, excursions". There are so few fully accessible excursions that we just toss that stuff. The medallion means that we won't get excursion notices, we'll get casino notices, shopping notices, trivia notices - stuff we actually use and may want to know about.

 

That's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

[dearinger]

20 minutes ago, land lover said:

 Gosh now they we'll know when I hid out in my cabin for muster....😉

oh 

 that's right they already know that or do they?🙄

 

So how does the technology work if the ship is sinking or a person goes overboard wearing their medallion? Advantage? I'd say yes.

This tech isn't 100%, so you will drop on and off the "radar" quite a bit. I've read other people asking the question about going overboard, I seriously hope Princess isn't relying on medallions for that. The tech isn't reliable enough to ensure someone safety..

[skynight]

8 minutes ago, dearinger said:

This tech isn't 100%, so you will drop on and off the "radar" quite a bit. I've read other people asking the question about going overboard, I seriously hope Princess isn't relying on medallions for that. The tech isn't reliable enough to ensure someone safety..

I t could help in locating those passengers that fail to show for immigration on b2b cruises.

[rebeltech8]

22 minutes ago, meatloafsfan said:

Why wouldn't I want to provide them with Data that will help enhance my personal experience?

 

I think that the problem arises when the company collecting the data begins using it for other purposes than just what we have been discussing so far.  For example, how does Facebook make as much money as it does?  By selling its users data to other companies which gets bundled and resold a myriad of times to other companies to do whatever they see fit to do with it.

 

whats the saying?  If you didn’t buy the product you are using, you are the product.

 

don’t get me wrong, I love technology and looking forward to playing with the new toy when I am on the ship. But I am going in with my eyes wide open to what that all means.

[MixerDave]

It happens all the time.  I parked in a parking lot to wait for my wife.  When I got home Google asked me how my visit to Petsmart was, although I never left my car.  We took a month long rad trip last summer, and when we returned home, I received an email asking if I wanted to see where I had been.  Scary!!!

[dearinger]

1 minute ago, MixerDave said:

It happens all the time.  I parked in a parking lot to wait for my wife.  When I got home Google asked me how my visit to Petsmart was, although I never left my car.  We took a month long rad trip last summer, and when we returned home, I received an email asking if I wanted to see where I had been.  Scary!!!

 

Good point! Keep in mind that for those of you who are going to put your medallions in a bag but keep your smartphone on (not even connected to the internet) and using any of the ocean apps, they will still be collecting analytics data on where you are at on the ship. Even without an internet connection they can still locate you based on your proximity to an access point. If you really want to wear the tin foil hat, keep your phone off and the medallion in a tiny faraday cage.