Ocean Medallion App - Part 3

[Thrak]

30 minutes ago, desertdwellingsailor said:

They could make a more meaningful message than "invalid card number". How about, "card number already in use by another member of your party" or something like that?

 

Kind of like Microsoft. Arcane error messages that are distinctly unhelpful. (I got gigged in a programming class for using the error, "Byte Me".

[jsn55]

7 hours ago, txauntiemame said:

Security and Privacy of Medallion
I have a lot of questions / concerns about how well our personal information is protected, the measures they have in place for theft, and so on.  I spent many years of my career in IT Security, so my default is 'distrust'.  Plus, all the problems reported with this App don't inspire confidence.  I'm struggling with it now.
Some specific questions.  What is the effective range?  When people crowd around a retail cash register, how does the staff know which person's account is being charged?  If it's stolen, how does the cruise line prevent spurious charges? 

I hear you and I too am super-careful about my personal information.  I wouldn't dream of doing any financial transactions on a phone or an internet connection that isn't secure, for example.  One would assume that the medallion itself doesn't contain any more information than your name and cabin number.  But Princess' IT is so incredibly bad that nothing would surprise me.  I do think if there's a 'crowd' around a terminal that the staff would verbally verify your cabin number.  

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

I hear you and I too am super-careful about my personal information.  I wouldn't dream of doing any financial transactions on a phone or an internet connection that isn't secure, for example.  One would assume that the medallion itself doesn't contain any more information than your name and cabin number.  But Princess' IT is so incredibly bad that nothing would surprise me.  I do think if there's a 'crowd' around a terminal that the staff would verbally verify your cabin number.  

Guest name is etched on the Medallion, but the interior circuit board only contains technical connection info for the ship network and an ID number.  The ID number is a key to the passenger database info that is stored on a server computer.

[memoak]

48 minutes ago, jsn55 said:

I hear you and I too am super-careful about my personal information.  I wouldn't dream of doing any financial transactions on a phone or an internet connection that isn't secure, for example.  One would assume that the medallion itself doesn't contain any more information than your name and cabin number.  But Princess' IT is so incredibly bad that nothing would surprise me.  I do think if there's a 'crowd' around a terminal that the staff would verbally verify your cabin number.  

So when you are on a cruise how do you pay your bills ?  Don’t you go on unknown Wi-Fi connections to pay them ?”

 

[Thrak]

32 minutes ago, memoak said:

So when you are on a cruise how do you pay your bills ?  Don’t you go on unknown Wi-Fi connections to pay them ?”

 

 

We're booked for 63 days. We will have to do some financial jive while cruising. I have no idea if my VPN will work on the ship but will give it a try. I will have to pay my utility bill and my credit card bill at the bare minimum. I'm not happy about it but that's what will have to be done.

[julie3fan]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

We're booked for 63 days. We will have to do some financial jive while cruising. I have no idea if my VPN will work on the ship but will give it a try. I will have to pay my utility bill and my credit card bill at the bare minimum. I'm not happy about it but that's what will have to be done.

 

I've read that VPN doesn't work onboard, but YMMV. 

 

You might consider setting your bills up for auto pay, at least for the duration of the cruise.  I know the CC bill should be OK, and if the utility bill doesn't have that function, you can always just prepay what amount you think you'll be billed, plus a little extra just in case.  Then you can just run on the credit balance for the billing cycles you'll be gone.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

We're booked for 63 days. We will have to do some financial jive while cruising. I have no idea if my VPN will work on the ship but will give it a try. I will have to pay my utility bill and my credit card bill at the bare minimum. I'm not happy about it but that's what will have to be done.

I have had no problem in the past

[jsn55]

10 hours ago, memoak said:

So when you are on a cruise how do you pay your bills ?  Don’t you go on unknown Wi-Fi connections to pay them ?”

 

Good question.  Haven't ever been gone longer than 3 weeks.  It would be simple to prepay certain things.  We use one credit card consistently, I'd pay everything else before we left and prepay any automatic monthly charges.  If no other choice, I think I'd set up a separate bank account, then change the password and clear out the a/c when I got to a secure connection.  

[rogueriver]

15 hours ago, memoak said:

So when you are on a cruise how do you pay your bills ?  Don’t you go on unknown Wi-Fi connections to pay them ?”

 

We were on the 29 day trans Pacific cruise in April and set up all of our utility and credit card bills to be auto pay.  We made sure there was enough funds in our account so there wouldn't be any problems.  Worked like a charm!

[WAvoyager]

I can’t image worry about bills being paid anymore.  Every account of mine is set to autopay minimum payments, so I’m never late.  Every month when I pay bills I just update the amount of the scheduled payment to pay whatever I want.  If something comes up, or I forget about a payment, at least the minimum is payed, so there’s no issues.  there are a couple of accounts which can only be set to pay in full, so those just get payed.

 

one of my least favorite banks did mess me up last month.  They sent out “replacement” cards, and didn’t make it very clear they were actually changing accounts.  They sent out a mail a couple of weeks later to remind people that all auto payments needed to be redone on the new accounts.  Guess who didn’t see the reminder!  😥
 

 

[memoak]

13 minutes ago, WAvoyager said:

I can’t image worry about bills being paid anymore.  Every account of mine is set to autopay minimum payments, so I’m never late.  Every month when I pay bills I just update the amount of the scheduled payment to pay whatever I want.  If something comes up, or I forget about a payment, at least the minimum is payed, so there’s no issues.  there are a couple of accounts which can only be set to pay in full, so those just get payed.

 

one of my least favorite banks did mess me up last month.  They sent out “replacement” cards, and didn’t make it very clear they were actually changing accounts.  They sent out a mail a couple of weeks later to remind people that all auto payments needed to be redone on the new accounts.  Guess who didn’t see the reminder!  😥
 

 

By paying minimum payments aren’t you setting yourself up for a lot of extra interest charges ?  

[WAvoyager]

4 hours ago, memoak said:

By paying minimum payments aren’t you setting yourself up for a lot of extra interest charges ?  

No - I modify the automatic payment every month when I go to pay my bills.  I set up the minimum automatic payment just in case for some reason I can’t go in and make (modify) the payment.  It’s only happened a few times, but sometimes life gets in the way, and I’ve forgotten to go in and pay the bill - so the minimum payment is the backstop for that happening.  

[HiCCCs]

Given all this, can I please see a show of hands who needs me to set up autopayments for you so you don't miss monthly payments for my upcoming Princess cruises? I'd hate for anyone to miss these payments while you're away on extended cruises. I'm happy to take the monthly minimum or you can pay off more if you prefer. Every bit helps!   🤪

 

Have a fun start to your week!!! And happy sailing to those hitting the high seas this week!!!

[kamelia]

2 hours ago, HiCCCs said:

Given all this, can I please see a show of hands who needs me to set up autopayments for you so you don't miss monthly payments for my upcoming Princess cruises? I'd hate for anyone to miss these payments while you're away on extended cruises. I'm happy to take the monthly minimum or you can pay off more if you prefer. Every bit helps!   🤪

Hey, now there's a Radiqal concept.  🙄

[damiross]

Both credit cards are set up to pay off the balance each month (no need to adjust the payment amount).  Other bills are automatically paid checking account.  Of course, my Social Security and retirement income are both directly deposited into my credit union. 

 

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw they inside of a financial institution.😃

[memoak]

9 minutes ago, damiross said:

Both credit cards are set up to pay off the balance each month (no need to adjust the payment amount).  Other bills are automatically paid checking account.  Of course, my Social Security and retirement income are both directly deposited into my credit union. 

 

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw they inside of a financial institution.😃

I haven’t written more than 10 checks on the last 2 years if that many but I do use ATM machines at banks

[Thrak]

12 minutes ago, damiross said:

Both credit cards are set up to pay off the balance each month (no need to adjust the payment amount).  Other bills are automatically paid checking account.  Of course, my Social Security and retirement income are both directly deposited into my credit union. 

 

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw they inside of a financial institution.😃

 

I last went inside a bank when my wife sold a car and I had a stack of $100 bills to deposit. (They did ask why I had the cash and were satisfied with my answer.) Before that it was maybe another 10 years prior. I found a $100 bill that I determined was bogus and I turned it in at the bank.

 

I use ATMs from time to time.

 

Everything but utilities and credit card are on auto pay. I've told my wife I will likely setup auto pay for the time we will be gone rather than pay over the ship's WiFi/Internet connection. Hopefully our daughter will collect our mail and keep an eye on our house.

[damiross]

3 minutes ago, memoak said:

I haven’t written more than 10 checks on the last 2 years if that many but I do use ATM machines at banks

I do have one check I need to write monthly because the government charges a "convenience" for credit cards.  I rarely use ATMs; instead, I get cash back.

 

Due to me being bored, I guess I should go into Grammar *** Mode:

ATM Machine is redundant (ATM means Automatic Teller Machine

PIN number is also redundant (PIN means Personal Identification Number)

 

 

[Thrak]

5 minutes ago, damiross said:

I rarely use ATMs; instead, I get cash back.

 

Doesn't work for us as we pay for everything with the credit card and cash back is a "cash advance" which incurs a fee.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, Thrak said:

I last went inside a bank when my wife sold a car and I had a stack of $100 bills to deposit. (They did ask why I had the cash and were satisfied with my answer.)

If this happens in future and they give you a hassle, I promise I won't ask a single question if you hand me a stack of Benjamin's.

[damiross]

5 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Doesn't work for us as we pay for everything with the credit card and cash back is a "cash advance" which incurs a fee.

I should have said I use my debit card to get cash back when making a purchase.

[NMG318]

On 8/3/2023 at 8:08 AM, NMG318 said:

My cruise mysteriously disappeared off the app 6 weeks ago. When we try to "+ Add Journey" it tells me the cruise does not exist. The cruise still shows up on the Princess web site and they assure me I am still booked. The funny part is that it happened to my sister as well who is on the same cruise. Numerous phone calls and waiting (a number of 3-5 business days) with no resolution from their techies.  Last time we called, they seemed frustrated with us because we called back on the 5th business day to check on the status. I guess they needed a couple more hours... on top of the six weeks... and it still isn't fixed... so another 3-5 business days.  Good news, we still have some time before the cruise. 

Two more weeks and two more 3-5 business days have gone by with no resolution.  Now waiting another 3-5 business days for them to respond...except they never do, I have to call them.  They (for the 4th or 5th time) have escalated (what ever that means) the issue.

[WAvoyager]

Never really had a problem with the app - any issues have been short lived.  But now, I cannot log in to the app, and our cruise is in 13 days.  Trying to get in and order medallions (for pick up) for my mom and daughter.  But when I try to log in, all I get is “We’re sorry, our servers are having problems.  Please try again later.”

 

”Later” apparently means more than three days…. 😞

[Astro Flyer]

Apple iOS update

 

[Steelers36]

Android version 3.0.108214 dated 8/11/23. 

Same generic statements about the update.