Medallion question. Feeling really, really dumb.....

[svend52]

OK, please don't flame me. I got through 18 of the 59 pages of the Medallion thread and 9 of the 34 pages of the Ocean Ready thread before I gave up trying to find an answer to my question.

Our last Princess cruise in 2017 was "pre-Medallion" but have been trying to keep up with the progress of the rollout of this new cruising experience.

We will be on the Emerald for the 4/14/20 Hawaiian round trip. I know that the Emerald isn't scheduled to be upgraded to MedallionClass until 8/16/20 so our cruise will not be a     MedallionClass cruise. But on the Princess website for this booking it has a banner that notes "MedallionNet Wi-Fi Available". I realize that MedallionClass and MedallionNet are not the same but are intertwined. All the MedallionNet videos show passengers wearing Medallions.

So, now to my dumb question. Will we need to sign up for and use Medallions for this cruise for the MedallionNet and the other things a cruise card use to do(open our cabin, buying drinks, etc.) or will we still be issued a cruise card at embarkation like we were on our previous cruises?

Again, I feel like I should have been able to figure this out without asking but have always relied on CC friends to know the answers to things that have stumped me.

      Thanks ahead.....

            Virgil

[knotheadken]

They are two separate things. MedallionNet connects to satellites so you can have WiFI at sea. You pay for it, log in from your phone, computer or some other wifi devise and use the internet, facebook. emails....

[masterty]

You will have the luxury of the new much faster internet connectivity of MedallionNet. You will not be on a MedallionClass ready ship. Therefore no Medallions or the Medallion apps. You will use traditional cruise cards and the princess@sea app.  Much like every other Princess cruise you have been on. The only MedallionClass feature you will enjoy is the improved MedallionNet fast internet system. 

Edited November 3, 2019 by masterty

[Haboob]

The only connection between "MedallionNet" and "Medallion Class Cruise" is that Princess' Marketing Dept named them about the same time.

 

MedallionNet refers to internet uplinked through SES' "O3b" satellites in MEO (Medium Earth Orbit).  Since they are in MEO rather than GEO (Geosynchronous Earth Orbit) they move across the sky and require new antennae-mounting hardware, which is why a ship is or is not rated for MedallionNet.

 

The big deal about the O3b's is they orbit with 10 dish antennae, and can sell the same bandwidth to 10 different ships (as long as they aren't too close to each other), significantly lowering the cost of bandwidth via the O3b's.  The cash we pay for a MedallionNet internet package buys a lot more bandwidth.

 

One caveat:  Being in a lower orbit than the GEOs, the O3b's drop below the southern horizon when you sail north of about Seattle or Southampton, and "MedallionNet" or not, our cash doesn't buy all that lovely extra bandwidth any more.

[svend52]

5 hours ago, masterty said:

You will have the luxury of the new much faster internet connectivity of MedallionNet. You will not be on a MedallionClass ready ship. Therefore no Medallions or the Medallion apps. You will use traditional cruise cards and the princess@sea app.  Much like every other Princess cruise you have been on. The only MedallionClass feature you will enjoy is the improved MedallionNet fast internet system. 

Thank you.

[AF-1]

I can tell you the medallion net was blazing fast on our cruise.  I could stream netflix.  I run a family blog/vlog when I travel so internet, especially fast internet is very useful for me.  Have fun.  

[Georgeny]

Believe me hard to understand many of these tech changes now a days. You can blame marketing for that. Take the Medallion thing. For June cruise on Caribbean Princess we were advised that was a Medallion cruise. We read everything and still were confused as were friends cruising with us. Both couples have cruised in access of 75 cruises each, many on Princess ships, yet I could get the concept of the medallion. Having sailed the RCL Quantum class with their alternative wrist bands I both couple were not happy about medallions.

 

We literally made asses out of ourselves demanding cruise cards versus medallions at check in. Were told could get a cruise card instead at the guest services once onboard. Don't bother, can't! One thing I do know, land cruise offices, check in at ports, and staff at sea, none have the same answer about almost anything.

 

Anyway LOVED the medallions once we had them. Medallion class is nothing more than replacing standard cruise cards with a medallion. The medallion contains a rfd chip. This allows ship to know where you are at any moment. You will see rfd readers everywhere ( look like mini smoke alarms ) including your room. When you approach a bar your picture and name will pop up on a screen allowing the bartender to greet you by name and even know what you have been drinking. Hi George, double Dewars/rocks 🙂 for you today. I am sure Princess compiles nice stats about us, how much we spend, how much time we spend at pool versus lounge etc etc. But same thing done on your cell phones on land. Yes if have bluetooth enabled on your phone with a Bed Bath Beyond app BB knows you have entered a store etc, like Kohl's, or Home Depot. Same thing only bluetooth for them an RFD chip for cruiseline.

 

Plus lucky us Medallion comes in neck holder but you can BUY all kinds of wrist bands and necklaces to wear in with. Some major jewelry purchase.

 

Again that said, we found it very convenient because it actually worked unlike the ones we had on RCL. Also no receipts or price just goes on account when you buy a drink etc ust flashing medallion. Have to look on app or TV to see charges. Promotes people buying more since less aware what you are paying. A plus, plus, plus for line but of course they do this for YOUR convenience. LOL

 

George in NY

[Bgwest]

Was on a Barcelona to Rome mediterranean cruise last month. On the Emerald with MedallionNet. It was terrible.

 

I did periodic Speedtest.net checks on the download speeds. Never got above 1.75 mbps for the entire 11 days. Was nominally around 0.75 mbps. 

 

Compare this to the CB with nominal download speeds in excess of 75-100 mbps. 

 

The internet manager on board was of no help whatsoever. His explanation was that MEO satellites covered North America and GEO satellites covered Europe. I showed him and the Guest Relations Manager to whom I complained that Princess own website shows a graphic disputing his silly notion. 

 

In any case, do not have any explanation as to why the download speeds were so crappy on this sailing. They just were. 

[Haboob]

47 minutes ago, Bgwest said:

Was on a Barcelona to Rome mediterranean cruise last month. On the Emerald with MedallionNet. It was terrible.

 

I did periodic Speedtest.net checks on the download speeds. Never got above 1.75 mbps for the entire 11 days. Was nominally around 0.75 mbps. 

 

Compare this to the CB with nominal download speeds in excess of 75-100 mbps. 

 

The internet manager on board was of no help whatsoever. His explanation was that MEO satellites covered North America and GEO satellites covered Europe. I showed him and the Guest Relations Manager to whom I complained that Princess own website shows a graphic disputing his silly notion. 

 

In any case, do not have any explanation as to why the download speeds were so crappy on this sailing. They just were. 

Emerald is developing a reputation for not using the O3b constellation even when it's in range.  She got MEO-capable antennae back in summer of '18, but was still using GEO satellites LA/Hawai'i in Dec '18, posting the sign below.

 

Someone needs to take a clue-bat to her IT operation, I will not sail on her again until then.

[donaldsc]

I have not sailed on a Medallion ship so this is criticizing from ignorance.  However it appears that half the posts on the Princess board are either for  Medallion problems, how I carry my Medallion thing or how I use Medallion.  I just seems to me that the things are more trouble than they are worth.  We never had all these problems or issues with the old fashioned cruise cards.

 

DON

[mamkmm2]

I'll be interested to see on our coming Feb and Jul 2020 cruises the difference, if there is any which what we've already experience this year with MedallionNet/Class

 

In Oc '18 we had one of the beta testing cruises on the medallion stuff … both the internet connection and the medallions themselves.  It was a Canada/New England itinerary.  Nothing phased it but the weather but we still used the old princess@sea app.  In Oct '19 we did the same itinerary but it had gone the entire shebang with the new Medallion app as the way you connected.  Meh.  The app was glitchy and it wasn't just the weather.

 

In Feb '20 we are doing a South American/Cape Horn cruise.  Our current understanding is that internet connection will be medallion but unknown at this time if we will be using the medallion app or the princess@sea app.  Also don't think the ship will be fully medallion capable yet (meaning using the physical medallions).  On the other hand our Jul '20 sailing in the Baltic will be the entire shebang.  Will be interesting to see how the internet works compared to other itineraries if it is a case of satellites not working well above or below a certain latitude.