Regal Princess 12/1-8 Medallion Problems

[jangor]

Let me begin with two statements.  First, I have been on the Regal before and I love this ship.  Second, my husband’s Ocean Medallion worked perfectly throughout the cruise.  

 

Sunday, December 1^st.  We began our journey from West Palm Beach, Florida which is about a one-hour drive to Fort Lauderdale.  We used Park n Go for our car.  We have used them before and are impressed by their efficient and friendly service.  We arrived at the ship around noon and it was, for the most part, a smooth embarkation.  There was a problem when we first presented my medallion, but the clerk was able to fix the problem rather quickly.  Little did I know that this was only the beginning of my Medallion glitches.   We arrived in our cabin, deposited our carry-ons and secured our passports and money in our safe, then headed down to the Concerto Dining Room for lunch.   I had chicken cacciatore and my husband had salmon.  Both meals were delicious and service was friendly and impeccable.   This journey did not have the usual card that needed to be stamped, but we did have some raffle tickets that we dropped off at the spa.   We did some more exploring, even though we have been on both the Regal and her sister ship the Royal previously.  We returned to our cabin and found that our luggage had arrived, so we unpacked.  I had used packing cubes for the first time, which we found made unpacking much easier, since we did not have remove each piece individually.  Before we knew, it was time for muster or as it now called, the Safety Drill.  No life jackets needed and we were checked in quickly.  The drill was scheduled for 3:15, began at 3:28 because of  those who arrived late and was over by 3:36. Pretty efficient in my opinion.  After the muster, we went to the Outrigger Bar.  We had hoped for a Sailaway with CC members, but that did not happen.  However, we did meet two lovely couples, one from Virginia and one from Brazil.   We followed this with dinner at Alfredo’s. We both had the veal pocket.  So yummy!!! Then a cocktail party for Casino VIP’s.  (my husband, not me!)I was organizing our Meet and Mingle.  I had to drop off invitations for Ship Officers and hoped that the Guest Service line would not be too long by that time.   Finally, I returned to our cabin, while my husband decided to spend some time in the casino.  I thought this would be a great time to read on the balcony and check out Ocean Compass and Ocean Now.  However, every time I logged onto Ocean Medallion, I would lose the connection after about five minutes.  I made my first visit to Ocean Now on Deck 6.  A very helpful young man showed me how to easily reconnect and I returned to my cabin blissfully unaware that this was only my first visit to Deck 6.

 

Monday, December 2. Today the ship was visiting Princess Cay.  Because we had been to Princess Cay previously, we opted for a pleasant day on board with fewer passengers.  I have been successfully losing some extra pounds and walk two to three miles early each morning.  To my extreme distress I realized I had left my walking shoes at home and only had sandals and heels.  So no speed walking.  We had breakfast in the Dining Room.  We had Club Class Dining and the special was Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes.  My DH and I both had eggs.  He had bacon; I had sausage.  This was our second experience with Club Class.  We have taken it twice because of the extra balcony room under the Sea Walk or Sea Bar.  I will talk more about this later.  After breakfast, we stopped at the restrooms outside the Dining Room.  Because I took a bit longer than my husband, he passed the time by talking to the DR hostess.  When I came out, he informed me that the shop sold Sketchers which would solve my walking problem.   We then walked around the ship, taking photos and simply enjoying the quiet, relaxed atmosphere of the ship.  We returned to our cabin where we decided to check out Ocean Compass and Ocean Now. My husband is not as computer literate as I am, so I tried his first and we were amazed at what could be done. Order food or drinks, check each other’s locations, play games, check the events for the day and so much more. Then we turned to my phone.  Put in requested information and got the message that OC did not recognize my info.  Hmmmm. Tried again.  Same message. Tried one more time.   My husband went to a lecture and I went to deck 6 Ocean Now, but they were closed,  so I went to the Internet Café.  The gentleman there did what I had done.  Entered the info once, then twice, then three times.  No luck.  We went to the big screen outside.  He checked my info, but this time it showed that I was in a different cabin.  He suggested I see the Ocean Now people, but they were closed so…    We headed up to Horizon Court for lunch.  We really like Horizon Court.  In fact, DH would have every meal there, if I would let him.  Followed that with some swim time, some sun time and, before long, a pleasant afternoon had passed and it was time to get ready for dinner at the Crown Grill.  Although we had tried Sabatini’s and Stone previously, we had never been to the Crown Grill.  I had Filet Mignon and my husband had Lobster Tail.  Because this was an anniversary cruise for us, we were presented with a truly, truly decadent chocolate cake.  I had brought my phone down with me, so we stopped at Ocean Now.  The first staff member tried to log me on twice with no luck; he then passed me on to the next person up the ladder, who also tried with no luck.  She indicated that she would send the information to IT Central and would call me when they had fixed the problem.  We then went up to the shops, where I found Sketcher slip-ons for an outrageous $60, but I needed to walk, so I bit the bullet.  Some time in the casino followed and then time reading on the balcony before turning in for the night.  

I said I would talk about having a cabin under the Sea Walk or Sea Bar.  Five years ago we sailed on the Royal.  Because of my husband’s claustrophobia, we book a mini-suite and I was appalled by the size of the balcony after sailing on more than half a dozen other cruises.  Last year we opted to pay a bit extra for Club Class, under the Sea Walk for the larger balcony (I know there are some other options for larger balconies, but they were already booked).  We actually enjoyed our cabin very much.  Very few people walk on the Sea Walk after the first day, fewer still in the evening and even fewer after the first two days and I never saw anyone linger and stare at the balconies below.  I think I had more fun looking up each evening and watching them venturing hesitantly onto the glass.  This year we were under the Sea Bar and by day 2 had seen only one person walk across the glass.

 

 

Tuesday, December 3^rd.   Today was a sea day, so we knew there would be plenty of activities.  I started the morning by walking the circuit on the Sports Deck (after first getting lost).  I did two miles in my new Sketchers (not ideal, but it worked) and returned to the cabin to shower and dress.  We had breakfast in the Horizon Court.  We then walked through the shops on Deck 7.  Since December is our anniversary month and Christmas, my husband kept urging me to find a gift, but I decided that today was not the day.  A short time in the casino, then line dancing in the Plaza and reading time and before we knew it…lunchtime.  Horizon Court again.  You certainly cannot beat it for choices.  I then returned to Ocean Now, where once again they attempted to fix my OM issues, but with no success and they would send another request to IT Central.  I had organized our CC Meet and Mingle, so I got all our badges and prizes together and at 1:15 headed down to Club 6.  Our signed up 28 turned out to be only 16 and because of an Officer’s Luncheon in Sabatini’s, only our Cruise Director Dan_Falconer_attended, but he entertained us for nearly half an hour answering all of our questions and drawing names for our CC raffle.  We then spent another half hour chatting about ourselves and our favorite ports and cruising ideas.  Special thanks to Ohio Dog Lover!  My husband then headed to the casino and I returned to the cabin, hoping to download another book onto my Kindle, something I have done on every other cruise.  Several attempts, but no luck, so I headed down to the Internet Café.  I was informed that Medallion Net was not compatible with Kindle.  He suggested that I go to an Internet Café in the next port.  Next I headed to the Library hoping to find a book to read. 90% of the books were not in English.  Then back to Ocean Now where the Manager told me that they would try to put a rush on my IT issue.  Needless to say, I was not loving Medallion Net at this point.  Especially since my husband, who is not computer savvy, could do anything he wanted to on his phone.  We had decided to do only one formal night, so we had pizza and MUTS for the evening. Tomorrow we arrive at Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  At about 8:10 I got a call that I had a new password and could access all of the Medallion Net features.  I was so excited and decided to send the first half of my review to CC. Alas, it was not to be.

 

Wednesday, December 4^th.  I again began my day with a two mile walk on the Sun Deck, followed by a shower and then a delicious breakfast in Club Class at the Concerto Dining Room.  Today we are in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, a port we have visited twice before, so we opted just to take a walk.  In Ocho Rios the area right outside the ship is a gauntlet of souvenir stalls with moderately aggressive hawkers.  I made it through unscathed, but my husband ended up buying two small, carved figures with our names painted along the sides.  We left the ship area and walked along to some shops where we found a café with internet service for $3.00.  I quickly accessed our local library and downloaded two books onto my kindle before heading back to the ship.  The afternoon was spent relaxing on our balcony, reading and having room service lunch. We had dinner in the dining room and then we spent a little time in the casino before heading back to our cabin.  Last night, I had been too tired and frustrated with Medallion Net to try to figure out how to get it on my laptop.   Today was a better evening and after a few minutes, realized what I had done wrong the night before and was quickly online!

[JimmyVWine]

Is it just the app that is not working, or is it your Medallion as well?  Can your open your cabin door and tap in to charge things to your account?

[skynight]

What was not working? The medallion itself, or the programs where you do all that extra stuff? 

[jangor]

Only the door opener was working.  There was even a problem at check-in when it did not recognize my medallion.  The clerk had to type in our cabin number to find me.  All was good for my DH.

[jangor]

2 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

Is it just the app that is not working, or is it your Medallion as well?  Can your open your cabin door and tap in to charge things to your account?

I could open my door.  Full stop on all other functions.

[Re-tired]

When mine didn't work I went to the pursers desk and got another one.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

15 hours ago, Re-tired said:

When mine didn't work I went to the pursers desk and got another one.

 I did that a few times but mine never worked.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

16 hours ago, jangor said:

I could open my door.  Full stop on all other functions.

 I had the exact same problems as you on both of my cruises on the royal princess. I have another one coming up soon. I was told that the medallion functions do not work with the iPhone 6. Which phone do you have? Just curious if we’re having the same problems because of our phones. They need to put something on their website telling that  there are issues with certain phones instead of showing the perfect vacation  experience that you will be having because it’s frustrating when it doesn’t work. I could never find my friends but they could find me. If I clicked on take me there for directions on the ship or to find my friends the app would crash and close each and every time. The lead navigator tried repeatedly to fix it and she also sent a message shore side but no one could fix it...  frustrating. I finally gave up. We will see what happens next time. 

[Shaver John]

I also had a problem on the Sky on the 11-4 crossing. I had to resign in each time I wanted to use the internet and I could order breakfast but nothing else. In 28 days the problem never solved itself. Oh well, guess that is technology for you. I could open the door, but not order a drink, or see what was happening around the ship or other things that my husband was able to do.

[cruisequeen4ever]

1 hour ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

 I had the exact same problems as you on both of my cruises on the royal princess. I have another one coming up soon. I was told that the medallion functions do not work with the iPhone 6. Which phone do you have? Just curious if we’re having the same problems because of our phones. They need to put something on their website telling that  there are issues with certain phones instead of showing the perfect vacation  experience that you will be having because it’s frustrating when it doesn’t work. I could never find my friends but they could find me. If I clicked on take me there for directions on the ship or to find my friends the app would crash and close each and every time. The lead navigator tried repeatedly to fix it and she also sent a message shore side but no one could fix it...  frustrating. I finally gave up. We will see what happens next time. 

I used the Medallion apps with an iPhone 6S last summer without issues, so I think that person was wrong. 

[hobbyfarmer2]

OM would do everthing on our recent Sky TA including ordering a drink.  It would just spin, however, when I asked it to locate DW.  The elevator located screens solved that so no big deal.

 

OM is still a bit buggy and will most likely improve with time.

[JimmyVWine]

8 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I used the Medallion apps with an iPhone 6S last summer without issues, so I think that person was wrong. 

There are differences between the 6 and the 6S. So it is possible for you both to be right. 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

12 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I used the Medallion apps with an iPhone 6S last summer without issues, so I think that person was wrong. 

I think the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s have different chips...  am I saying that correctly? 

[caribill]

4 hours ago, JimmyVWine said:

There are differences between the 6 and the 6S. So it is possible for you both to be right. 

 

And Princess may have changed their software in the interval, breaking what once worked.

[Haboob]

It's been a long while since I've used a real Kindle, but I had no problems downloading to the Kindle app on my smartphone last spring on Regal.

 

The issue might be your Kindle has been trying to download via cellular data rather than WiFi (yeah, now I tell ya), and the fact that my smartphone was logged onto Regal's MedallionNet.

[jangor]

Hi,  Just to clarify.  My medallion did open the door, but I had to touch it to the screen.  My husband's medallion would unlock the door as he approached.  My medallion usually worked for purchases, but sometimes I had to do it twice for it to register and, yes, I did check my bill to be sure that I wasn't charged twice for the same purchase.  None of the apps worked on my phone, until the evening of day 3.  I had had problems initially getting our information onto the app (You can find some of my issues on the other Ocean Medallion threads) and I was in contact with OM several times before our cruise.  I have an iPhone SE and my husband has an iPhone 7. I don't know if that was part of the problem or not.  One problem that was discovered is that it thought I was in a different cabin, even though we had always been booked for the same cabin; we had not made any changes from our original booking.  The OM staff on the ship could not find a way to override this.  Still a work in progress.