Grand Princess, Photos & Upcoming Medallion?

[MarkBearSF]

There is a little construction project going on right now on the Grand Princess on Deck 7, amidst the Photo area, at the end of the corridor, just short of the aft elevators and Vista Lounge entrance. I was wondering if they are going to change to one of those face recognition kiosks instead of the display boards.

- I assume Princess has been using that type of system on their newer ships.
- Could this be related to the upcoming Medallion conversion?  (Is that a feature of Medallion ships?)

On a side note, the door locks have already been installed. (You tap your card to open the door) One thing I noticed is that there is no longer a holder for the Princess Patters and other paper odds-and-ends. Which is less convenient and can potentially lead to mess. Do any of the medallion ships have a "mail caddy" any more?

Edited January 25, 2020 by MarkBearSF

[snoozecrooze]

Just like on the Crown and Ruby (which is slated to become fully "Medallionized" in just 3 days on 1/27), the construction project on Deck 7 by the Photo Gallery should be for OceanFront, an area that comes with every Medallion ship that houses a front desk for all Medallion-related questions, large portal screens, and Medallion accessory displays.

 

There should be another OceanFront station by the Lido deck near one of the main pools, shielded from the elements, like this: 

 

Here is an example of an inside OceanFront (albeit on a different ship): 

 

 

Face recognition kiosks for the photo gallery will likely not be happening, as even the Royal and Regal Princess have not converted to that and they've been "Medallionized" for almost a year now. This would likely require the entire photo gallery area to be shut down for construction as the existing photo walls would need to be ripped out. 

 

As for your other inquiry: yes, all Medallion ships will no longer have a mailbox, as the new panels replace the older mailbox with the room numbers and deck names. During evening turndown service, your room stewards will either: (A) placing the next day's patters and other materials on top of your bed, (B) slipping it under your door so it's on the floor and you could step on it, so be careful [this tends to happen if you have your Privacy sign on], or (C) casually rolling it so it is sitting/hooked atop your door handle. If you have a preference/mind how it is delivered, just let them know. You should also be able to request that no papers be delivered to you at the front desk, if you choose to go the electronic way (as per another poster here on CC mentioned months before). Hope this helps!

 

Edited January 25, 2020 by snoozecrooze

[MarkBearSF]

Thanks for all the info. Yeah, that OceanFront desk looks likely for that spot. 

I must say I'm surprised that Princess hasn't gone for the facial recognition approach on any of their ships yet. ..The QM2 got it a couple of years ago and Cunard is waaaaay behind Princess in onboard (and website) technology.  ...Of course, they had motivation in that they took most of the photo gallery and put in four single cabins. I also assume that removing the display boards would be pretty simple to accomplish. 

...and yeah, our cabin steward has used a couple of approaches - leaving papers on the bed and rolling the patters and putting  in the door handle. It's sad though - those paper holders worked great. 

[caribill]

2 hours ago, MarkBearSF said:

 It's sad though - those paper holders worked great. 

 

There have been posts on other threads that some people bring their own holders and attach them outside the cabin with magnets.

[MarkBearSF]

And they finished last night. It is, indeed a Medallion Ocean View display.
 

[Cruise Raider]

3 minutes ago, MarkBearSF said:

And they finished last night. It is, indeed a Medallion Ocean View display.
 

 

Nicely done!!  Especially on the Grand, that doesn't have that middle (passenger) staircase up to the passenger decks!!   This will not only save all that photo paper being used but will cut down on the crowds in that bottleneck.  Kudos!  

 

[Chipster2]

9 minutes ago, MarkBearSF said:

And they finished last night. It is, indeed a Medallion Ocean View display.
 

Thanks for the update. Hoping they have it all done by March 29th!

Edited January 26, 2020 by Chipster2

[MarkBearSF]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

 

Nicely done!!  Especially on the Grand, that doesn't have that middle (passenger) staircase up to the passenger decks!!   This will not only save all that photo paper being used but will cut down on the crowds in that bottleneck.  Kudos!  

 

Not necessarily used for a photo kiosk. It likely will be for other Medallion stuff as mentioned above. We'll see!

[Cruise Raider]

2 minutes ago, MarkBearSF said:

Not necessarily used for a photo kiosk. It likely will be for other Medallion stuff as mentioned above. We'll see!

 

Oh ... I see.  We've seen them on the Royal so know exactly what you are talking about.  

I've probably seen my last days on the Grand ... as I was on your roll call but was one of the ones that took the move over offer.   Hope you are all having a great time!