expedited boarding

[hootmon]

What exactly is expedited boarding with the Medallion ? We are elite and the last two cruises we were told to stand in until priority boarding started. They said we would be notified but they did not. On the next cruise the door for suite and elite boarding was not being used and again go wait in line. We hope Medallion will  end this nonsense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

37 minutes ago, hootmon said:

What exactly is expedited boarding with the Medallion ? We are elite and the last two cruises we were told to stand in until priority boarding started. They said we would be notified but they did not. On the next cruise the door for suite and elite boarding was not being used and again go wait in line. We hope Medallion will  end this nonsense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is supposed to speed up check in because everything is preloaded by the passenger in the Medallion Class app.

[Pam in CA]

When you go to check in, you hold your Medallion up to a tablet and you’re checked in. Quick and easy. Same when boarding the ship: hold your Medallion to a handheld tablet. Makes checking in and boarding a lot faster. Also faster when disembarking and re-embarking in ports. 

[Haboob]

9 hours ago, hootmon said:

What exactly is expedited boarding with the Medallion ? We are elite and the last two cruises we were told to stand in until priority boarding started. They said we would be notified but they did not. On the next cruise the door for suite and elite boarding was not being used and again go wait in line. We hope Medallion will  end this nonsense.

 

On our one Medallion voyage (from FLL), a stutter-step to take the "Medallion" lane instead of the "Priority" lane, then the only time we broke stride was at the carry-on luggage scanning.

 

We had fought through the OceanReady app ahead of time.  Total time spent might have been less if we'd skipped the app, the Medallion lane, and the Priority lane.  😞

[TwoCruisers]

8 hours ago, Pam in CA said:

When you go to check in, you hold your Medallion up to a tablet and you’re checked in. Quick and easy. Same when boarding the ship: hold your Medallion to a handheld tablet. Makes checking in and boarding a lot faster. Also faster when disembarking and re-embarking in ports. 

OK, I’m totally new to the Medallion usage. If you check in by holding your Medallion up to a tablet, where do we get our Medallion? It sounds like we have to have it before we check in.

[JoRoy218]

Our last two cruises were on Medallion ships. We were encouraged to skip the priority boarding lane, were the only ones in Medallion Lane (there were 6 staff there with tablets), scanned our Medallions and were on our way in under 5 min. Yes, the scans for carry-ones slowed us down a bit, but not by much. 

[AF-1]

TwoCruisers,  you have a choice of either download the medallion class app on your smartphone. Create a account for the app and then fill in all the info. Take a security photo with your phone and passport info. Option two is fill out cruise personalizer on Princess website and when you arrive at port to check in Princess  will issue you a medallion at the port

[pris993]

We do not use smart phones, so guess we will pass on the medallion entirely... our line will probably get shorter soon - LOL

 

[masterty]

37 minutes ago, pris993 said:

We do not use smart phones, so guess we will pass on the medallion entirely... our line will probably get shorter soon - LOL

 

Without a smartphone. Your boarding experience will virtually exactly the same as you have done in the past. You show up, deliver passport and credit card to agent. She will hand you a medallion (instead of the old cruise card) and direct you to your boarding group. Not much will be different for you. 

I remember cabin keys with holes in them.

 

Medallions without a smartphone do not change a cruising experience much. Just a way to identify you are you. 

[Mud_Shark]

Is it still true that only those residing in America can use the app pre-cruise and receive the medallions in advance?

 

I assume for the rest of us we just show up at the pier as per the traditional way?

 

Don

[TwoCruisers]

2 hours ago, AF-1 said:

TwoCruisers,  you have a choice of either download the medallion class app on your smartphone. Create a account for the app and then fill in all the info. Take a security photo with your phone and passport info. Option two is fill out cruise personalizer on Princess website and when you arrive at port to check in Princess  will issue you a medallion at the port

AF-1, thank you. Just like pris993, we don’t have a smart phone so we will be checking in the old way.

[DougH]

I'm sailing on the Sky Princess shortly. Can I still get a cruise card as I have been collecting them from all my cruises?

[pris993]

2 hours ago, masterty said:

Without a smartphone. Your boarding experience will virtually exactly the same as you have done in the past. You show up, deliver passport and credit card to agent. She will hand you a medallion (instead of the old cruise card) and direct you to your boarding group. Not much will be different for you. 

I remember cabin keys with holes in them.

 

Medallions without a smartphone do not change a cruising experience much. Just a way to identify you are you. 

Thanks, that is good to know... I avoid technology I don't need to use. 

[caribill]

17 hours ago, hootmon said:

What exactly is expedited boarding with the Medallion ? We are elite and the last two cruises we were told to stand in until priority boarding started. They said we would be notified but they did not. On the next cruise the door for suite and elite boarding was not being used and again go wait in line. We hope Medallion will  end this nonsense.

 

 

A number of the responses mentioned the check-in procedure. Bit I think the OP is asking about after the check-in part.

 

Yes, if boarding has not yet started, you should have been among the first groups to board on those past cruises when you had elite status. Whether sitting in a separate room or just on different benches in the big pre-board area if there were no special rooms, you should have been among the first to board.

 

With the Medallion, you should have the same priority for boarding as you should have had in the past.

 

Of course once boarding has started, once checked in you can go straight to the ship.

[Ombud]

5 hours ago, DougH said:

I'm sailing on the Sky Princess shortly. Can I still get a cruise card as I have been collecting them from all my cruises?

I erroneously left my medallion in my room on the Caribbean  Princess in August so the PSD gave me a regular card with my name on it

[kitty2264]

7 hours ago, TwoCruisers said:

AF-1, thank you. Just like pris993, we don’t have a smart phone so we will be checking in the old way.

We didn't have a smart phone when we completed Ocean Ready either. I used my pc to complete cruise personalizer and downloaded the Ocean Apps to my pc and completed all the check steps and ordered our medallions. 

[1965]

I have downloaded app to smart phone, filled in all info, downloaded photos. We should get our medallions in a couple of weeks for our cruise. Am I correct that there is no need to get out smart phone for checkin? Still a bit confused. Thanks!

[skynight]

21 hours ago, hootmon said:

What exactly is expedited boarding with the Medallion? We are elite and the last two cruises we were told to stand in until priority boarding started. They said we would be notified but they did not. On the next cruise the door for suite and elite boarding was not being used and again go wait in line. We hope Medallion will  end this nonsense.

Your question is really not related to the medallion. When you arrive at the pier prior to the beginning of the boarding process you have to wait. New passengers will not be allowed to board until all disembarking passengers have exited the ship. This is standard procedure. At U.S. ports it is law and includes b2b passengers.

So yes, there are waits.  Once boarding begins Elites are then supposed to be one of the first groups. In all my Princess cruises maybe it has happened, but I have never seen a special entrance for priority boarders.

The medallion will not change actual boarding procedures. It does allow you to basically check in and receive the medallion at home before the cruise. Thus you can bypass the check in. If you arrive before boarding has started you will still be required to wait.

[MissP22]

21 minutes ago, skynight said:

Your question is really not related to the medallion. When you arrive at the pier prior to the beginning of the boarding process you have to wait. New passengers will not be allowed to board until all disembarking passengers have exited the ship. This is standard procedure. At U.S. ports it is law and includes b2b passengers.

So yes, there are waits.  Once boarding begins Elites are then supposed to be one of the first groups. In all my Princess cruises maybe it has happened, but I have never seen a special entrance for priority boarders.

The medallion will not change actual boarding procedures. It does allow you to basically check in and receive the medallion at home before the cruise. Thus you can bypass the check in. If you arrive before boarding has started you will still be required to wait.

We have never had a Medallion prior to check in but the only time is seems to save people is stopping at the check-in desk to verify your documents & receive your Medallions. 

At that point everyone still has to wait (queued) in either the priority boarding area or regular boarding section to board as soon as the ship is cleared. 

There isn't any special entrance for priority boarding to get on the ship. It only applies to entering the terminal (which has been eliminated last year) and now is only to designate which area you'll be waiting in. 

[Fat Tuesday]

10 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

Is it still true that only those residing in America can use the app pre-cruise and receive the medallions in advance?

 

I assume for the rest of us we just show up at the pier as per the traditional way?

 

Don

You can complete the pre-cruise app so everything is ready but when u get to the port you follow instructions on where to get your medallions which will be ready and waiting.

[Steelers36]

11 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

Is it still true that only those residing in America can use the app pre-cruise and receive the medallions in advance?

 

I assume for the rest of us we just show up at the pier as per the traditional way?

 

Don

Sadly this is true.  IMO no excuse anymore not to be mailing them to Canada.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

There isn't any special entrance for priority boarding to get on the ship. It only applies to entering the terminal (which has been eliminated last year) and now is only to designate which area you'll be waiting in. 

Wait just a minute.  Assuming we are talking about PE here since you are in SW FL, and let's even use Terminal 2 as an example.  Are you saying there is no priority boarding once the ship has cleared?  Doesn't make sense to me.  This is a long-standing benefit for Suites, Elites and Platinums.  We have been Platinum a long time and had to queue up for boarding after Suites & Elites and our next cruise, my wife is Elite now and I am expecting to be on the ship first or close to it.  I also recall a priority door entrance to the terminal building, so one would still expect that to exist, but doesn't mean as much if arrive at Terminal early.  There was also a separate room upstairs for Suite and Elite guests, but I have only ever peeked in the door early in the morning and never been in there. 

Edited September 22, 2019 by steelers36

[Haboob]

8 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Wait just a minute.  Assuming we are talking about PE here since you are in SW FL, and let's even use Terminal 2 as an example.  Are you saying there is no priority boarding once the ship has cleared?  Doesn't make sense to me.  This is a long-standing benefit for Suites, Elites and Platinums.  We have been Platinum a long time and had to queue up for boarding after Suites & Elites and our next cruise, my wife is Elite now and I am expecting to be on the ship first or close to it.  I also recall a priority door entrance to the terminal building, so one would still expect that to exist, but doesn't mean as much if arrive at Terminal early.  There was also a separate room upstairs for Suite and Elite guests, but I have only ever peeked in the door early in the morning and never been in there. 

 

Once boarding is in progress, there were 3 lanes instead of 2: "Medallion", "Priority", and ..."steerage". 

 

The "Medallion" lane free-flowed directly to carry-on inspection and then onto the ship, with no stops at any counter.

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, Haboob said:

 

Once boarding is in progress, there were 3 lanes instead of 2: "Medallion", "Priority", and ..."steerage". 

 

The "Medallion" lane free-flowed directly to carry-on inspection and then onto the ship, with no stops at any counter.

I am used to having bag scan before check-in and proceeding to the waiting/holding area before the ship has cleared for new passengers to board.  Find it hard to believe they hold up bag scans until the boarding commences as it would be very inefficient.  Perhaps your comment applies to the time period after boarding has commenced? 

[MissP22]

37 minutes ago, steelers36 said:

Wait just a minute.  Assuming we are talking about PE here since you are in SW FL, and let's even use Terminal 2 as an example.  Are you saying there is no priority boarding once the ship has cleared?  Doesn't make sense to me.  This is a long-standing benefit for Suites, Elites and Platinums.  We have been Platinum a long time and had to queue up for boarding after Suites & Elites and our next cruise, my wife is Elite now and I am expecting to be on the ship first or close to it.  I also recall a priority door entrance to the terminal building, so one would still expect that to exist, but doesn't mean as much if arrive at Terminal early.  There was also a separate room upstairs for Suite and Elite guests, but I have only ever peeked in the door early in the morning and never been in there. 

For boarding once seated in the terminal there is priority boarding. 

I meant that there is no priority line to enter the terminal any longer. They've eliminated the shorter line just to get in the door.

In general it does get people seated faster even though boarding isn't much better. At least people can sit down & relax rather than standing there on line.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.