Medallion vs Cruise Card

[Signet]

Quick question please.  I’ll be taking my 2nd Princess cruise in October. The first Princess Cruise was 14 yrs ago.  I have cruised numerous times on other cruise lines.

 The cruise I’ll be on in October on the Regal is a medallion Cruise. My question is are cruise cards still available on medallion cruises? I collect all my cruise cards and have them all in a nice display. And would like to maintain my cruise card collection. So do you have to have a medallion or can you still get a cruise card. 

On a side note the medallion seems very intrusive to me, tracking your every move. 

[GUT2407]

I haven’t been on a medallion cruise yet, but from what I have read understand you can still get a cruise card.

[Mike45LC]

I have been on a medallion cruise yet -- that is coming up in two months.  From what I have read on this Forum, you can still get a cruise card.

 

Buy an aluminum credit card holder from the 99 Cent Store.  That should block the signals, if you are worried about being tracked.

[vampiress]

they already track your every move, there are cameras and software to do that.  this might be slightly more accurate, but they already know who is looking at pictures and buying and how long you wait in line at places, they do headcounts at activities, they know who gets off the ship and for how long. they know what you buy.

 

what exactly do you find more intrusive about this?

[Lucky TGO]

1 hour ago, Signet said:

Quick question please.  I’ll be taking my 2nd Princess cruise in October. The first Princess Cruise was 14 yrs ago.  I have cruised numerous times on other cruise lines.

 The cruise I’ll be on in October on the Regal is a medallion Cruise. My question is are cruise cards still available on medallion cruises? I collect all my cruise cards and have them all in a nice display. And would like to maintain my cruise card collection. So do you have to have a medallion or can you still get a cruise card. 

On a side note the medallion seems very intrusive to me, tracking your every move. 

On my cruise in January we received the Medallion in the mail. On the cruise my cabin steward gave us the cruise cards. See photo.

Tony

Edited August 31, 2019 by Lucky TGO

[wallyj]

My understanding is while they were working out the kinks with Medallion, you were issued a Medallion and a cruise card. For ships that are fully Ocean Ready, cruise cards are not automatically produced but you can request one at guest services.

[Pam in CA]

If you want to continue to get a cruise card, you can. But, once more ships are Medallion, chances are they won't be an option.

 

You're tracked everywhere whether you're on a ship or land, one way or the other if you have a computer, smart phone or tablet that connects to WiFi. And don't forget your car if you have a newer car with a key fob instead of an actual car key. Turn off "Location Services," "Find my Phone," and "Find my Friends" on your phone, laptop and/or tablet because otherwise, you'll be tracked. And don't use Google, Google Maps, Apple Maps or WAZE. Bad stuff. You'll be tracked.

 

I loved being able to use the Medallion rather than the cruise card. I liked being able to just open my cabin door without fumbling for my cruise card. I liked approaching a bar and not having to produce my cruise card nor Medallion... my face was (among others) on the bartender's screen so he/she knew who to charge. What I REALLY liked was that the Medallion doesn't de-magnetize. Can't tell you how many times I've gone back to my cabin only to find that the dam card wouldn't work and I'd have to traipse back to the Passenger Services Desk, wait in line, and get a new one. (A real PITA.)

[Bwana Tom]

3 hours ago, Signet said:

Quick question please.  I’ll be taking my 2nd Princess cruise in October. The first Princess Cruise was 14 yrs ago.  I have cruised numerous times on other cruise lines.

 The cruise I’ll be on in October on the Regal is a medallion Cruise. My question is are cruise cards still available on medallion cruises? I collect all my cruise cards and have them all in a nice display. And would like to maintain my cruise card collection. So do you have to have a medallion or can you still get a cruise card. 

On a side note the medallion seems very intrusive to me, tracking your every move. 

My wife and I were on the Royal Princess to Alaska this month and like you we also collect the cruise cards. The Royal is a medallion ship and I went down to the customer service desk and asked for a cards. They simply went back in the back and cut us 2 cards within a couple of minutes. No problem at all.

Tom 

[mevs904]

We were just on the Regal and never saw anyone using a cruise card, but at least at this point, I’m sure that you would be able to get one if you asked.  Not sure if this will continue in the future.  We don’t care if we can be located through the medallion.  That could potentially be a good safety feature.  As far as being “tracked”, I’m reasonably sure that Princess is not spending time watching the moves of random passengers.

[satxdiver]

I also collect cruise cards as a souvenir and would be sad if I could not add to my collection.  I have sailed once so far on a medallion ship and loved it.  I have no problem going down to PSD and asking for one.  I have been there many times because I have managed to de-magnetize my card.  I loved using the OM on the last ship and will be on Medallion ships starting next year.  

 

If you have a cellphone (who doesn't), the cellphone is always sending signals to the nearest cell tower so that when anyone tries to call you, the cell system knows how to route the signal to your cellphone no matter where you are.  The cell phone location records are saved and can be accessed by the police with a warrant.  They do this all the time.  You are not able to turn this off.  The ship has cameras everywhere which is recorded.  I am not worried about some person sitting down below in a small no window room following me around the ship that has over 3000 aboard.  

[caribill]

47 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

 

 

If you have a cellphone (who doesn't)

 

Me

[Grego]

10 hours ago, Pam in CA said:

If you want to continue to get a cruise card, you can. But, once more ships are Medallion, chances are they won't be an option.

 

You're tracked everywhere whether you're on a ship or land, one way or the other if you have a computer, smart phone or tablet that connects to WiFi. And don't forget your car if you have a newer car with a key fob instead of an actual car key. Turn off "Location Services," "Find my Phone," and "Find my Friends" on your phone, laptop and/or tablet because otherwise, you'll be tracked. And don't use Google, Google Maps, Apple Maps or WAZE. Bad stuff. You'll be tracked.

 

I loved being able to use the Medallion rather than the cruise card. I liked being able to just open my cabin door without fumbling for my cruise card. I liked approaching a bar and not having to produce my cruise card nor Medallion... my face was (among others) on the bartender's screen so he/she knew who to charge. What I REALLY liked was that the Medallion doesn't de-magnetize. Can't tell you how many times I've gone back to my cabin only to find that the dam card wouldn't work and I'd have to traipse back to the Passenger Services Desk, wait in line, and get a new one. (A real PITA.)

I totally agree with you.......what a surprise!  It's amazing that the same folks that do connect to all those things you mention in your first paragraph and think nothing of it make a big deal of the workings of the medallion.

 

As a Princess stakeholder and Carnival shareholder, I like seeing them leading the way to, not just monitor passenger activity, but use the information to improve the product.  We have enjoyed our previous Ocean Medallion voyage and look forward to the upcoming four voyages and seeing the improvement in the features of the technology.

[CruisinFinsUp]

14 hours ago, Signet said:

 

 The cruise I’ll be on in October on the Regal is a medallion Cruise. My question is are cruise cards still available on medallion cruises? I collect all my cruise cards and have them all in a nice display. And would like to maintain my cruise card collection. So do you have to have a medallion or can you still get a cruise card. 

On a side note the medallion seems very intrusive to me, tracking your every move. 

 

There is another thread going about "hole in the card". 

 

The new cruise cards are RFID type which have the chip in them and can't be punched.  They look the same as the old ones but are different inside.  

 

 

[vampiress]

you probably can punch the card, but there is an antenna inside you have to avoid so they don't.  if you look on amazon, the pouched to hold a key card that attach to a lanyard are very inexpensive.

[Daniel A]

16 hours ago, Signet said:

On a side note the medallion seems very intrusive to me, tracking your every move. 

An item called a Faraday Bag will block the signal.  They sell Faraday Bags for key fobs and credit cards on Amazon.  Here's a sample of what is available:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Faraday-Protector-Different-Kuject-Blocking/dp/B07T4FYR54/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=2GXI6XKQ2BOKH&keywords=faraday+bags&qid=1567267001&s=gateway&sprefix=farady+bag%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFaNVhFODkxUzg3QzkmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAwMDM5MDkxMzlIWE5MWUtXOUhUJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3MjQwODM3SklHN0U4NlI2U04md2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

 

I hope this won't violate CC's rules...

[satxdiver]

4 hours ago, Grego said:

I totally agree with you.......what a surprise!  It's amazing that the same folks that do connect to all those things you mention in your first paragraph and think nothing of it make a big deal of the workings of the medallion.

 

As a Princess stakeholder and Carnival shareholder, I like seeing them leading the way to, not just monitor passenger activity, but use the information to improve the product.  We have enjoyed our previous Ocean Medallion voyage and look forward to the upcoming four voyages and seeing the improvement in the features of the technology.

Building large data bases containing the patterns of the pax will be beneficial to determining new ship designs to reduce congestion making our lives better.  Every one is using this data mining to make their product more appealing to their client base and life better for us.  I love the OM and understand what they are trying to do.  My next cruise is not a Medallion cruise but the 4 following are on Medallion ships and I am looking forward to them.  I do need to change my picture on Ocean Ready however.  

[AF-1]

Have fun out there gang.  I have used the ocean medallion along with medallion net.  Both are good products and Princess will continue to improve them.  Have a great time out there.

p.s. we did get both medallions and cruise cards on our trip in Feb

Edited August 31, 2019 by AF-1
added txt

[Signet]

Thanks for all the information.. Glad they will still issue a card if requested.   Reading about the app Oceans Ready, it has very poor reviews, seems lots of people are having all kinds of issues.  Hopefully they will work out all the bugs.

In the mean time I'll be happy with my cruise card. 

Medallion, or Cruise card, its all good I'm a vacationing passenger on a ship cruising the seas. 🙂

 

[EddieCruzer]

13 hours ago, satxdiver said:

I also collect cruise cards as a souvenir and would be sad if I could not add to my collection.  I have sailed once so far on a medallion ship and loved it.  I have no problem going down to PSD and asking for one.  I have been there many times because I have managed to de-magnetize my card.  I loved using the OM on the last ship and will be on Medallion ships starting next year.  

 

If you have a cellphone (who doesn't), the cellphone is always sending signals to the nearest cell tower so that when anyone tries to call you, the cell system knows how to route the signal to your cellphone no matter where you are.  The cell phone location records are saved and can be accessed by the police with a warrant.  They do this all the time.  You are not able to turn this off.  The ship has cameras everywhere which is recorded.  I am not worried about some person sitting down below in a small no window room following me around the ship that has over 3000 aboard.  

I hate that tracking feature of the cellphone.  Whenever I arrive home, I get questions like, "How was your trip to the WalMart?, Did you enjoy eating at Bob's Diner?  Tell us about Furry Tail Groomers!!"   

Seems like there is no way to avoid that now unless you shut your cell phone off while out running errands. 😒

[cruisequeen4ever]

You can ask Guest Services to print a card for you. They don’t like to do it because they really want people to use the Medallions, but they will.

[TheRabbit]

23 hours ago, Signet said:

On a side note the medallion seems very intrusive to me, tracking your every move. 

Tacking your every move is time consuming. They now have a whole department with several hundred if not a thousand staff member down in the bowels of the ship to track our every move. They used to have 1 for each 5 cruisers, but they couldn't keep up with us busy bees, so they had to go to 1 to every 3. Who knew we would avoid the stairs and take elevators or walk right past a store on board! OMG!!! Then you switch to a cruise card to prevent it only to find out it does the same thing! Go figure. I hear the RandD department has figured out a way to read brain waves with all those idle sensors on board, so now they can predict that we are going to the pool and mark chairs for three hours later. Where do I find the tin foil hats along with the Faraday Bags!

 

All I can say is the person down stairs tracking me must be very board trying to keep up with my reading, naps, pool/hot tub time, walks, meals,  and occasional stops at the bar for my margarita! LOL

 

Only about three people can even get on a computer to look up where you are at, and they are all security supervisors. Not even the captain and get on line and look up where you are at. All this work to block the dang card or medallion only to give you more work every time you need it. Then you have to stop and take it out of the cover to get into your room. So why are you worried and giving yourself more work along with a 10 minute wait in the purser's line?

[satxdiver]

8 hours ago, EddieCruzer said:

I hate that tracking feature of the cellphone.  Whenever I arrive home, I get questions like, "How was your trip to the WalMart?, Did you enjoy eating at Bob's Diner?  Tell us about Furry Tail Groomers!!"   

Seems like there is no way to avoid that now unless you shut your cell phone off while out running errands. 😒

You can turn that ability of family to track you wanderings.  AT&T charges a fee to locate cell phones on your account. 

[Grego]

16 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

You can ask Guest Services to print a card for you. They don’t like to do it because they really want people to use the Medallions, but they will.

A thought occurred to me and that is if people don't want the medallion because they fear all the information about themselves is out there now and by going to the cruise card they are now safe.  Well if the cruise card has RFID technology built in and the card is produced by Passenger Services, won't the passenger information be imbedded in the card so it can open the door and be used to do purchases on the ship?  If that is true, then what's the difference between the medallion and the card other than the range?  Just wondering.

If you are also wondering, read Rabbit's post above.

Edited September 1, 2019 by Grego
Added information

[J&Dhighdesert]

Two families are scheduled for a Christmas cruise on the Royal.  I like the ideas of the medallion locating members of your party.  My question is, do you gave to carry a phone to locate them? 

Thanks in advance.

[Pierlesscruisers]

Wow, are some people spending a lot of time dreaming up wild scenarios and ascribing them to the medallion program!! Y'all must be really imaginative or on some really strong meds.

 

Tom