No hole punch in sea pass?

[sweetpea2]

Hi, 

I haven’t sailed since 2018. I just read on another site that they don’t allow your sea pass to have a hole punch anymore? Is this true? I usually connect my sea pass to a bracelet through a hole punch so if this is true I guess I’ll have to resort to a lanyard. Sailing Anthem in February.

thank you.

[firefly333]

There may be some new ships that you cant punch a hole but most do. I just did allure and you can punch a hole in those cards.

[Missusdubbya]

Just off Quantum and they were pre punched 

[LilBlackDress]

You can get a sleeve for it and still attach it to a bracelet 

[BND]

On Jewel in Nov, they were pre punched (b2b).  On EN in Apr and Jul and HOTS in Nov 21, they were not pre punched.  We don't care because we don't use lanyards.  Prior to restart, I don't remember any being pre punched.

[Biker19]

4 hours ago, sweetpea2 said:

Sailing Anthem in February.

It is very unlikely the staff will punch a hole in your Seapass card - you punch in the wrong location and brick the card. Card stock determines whether the card will be punched and Oasis plus all new ships since 2014 use the new RFID card stock which usually won't be punched by staff.

Edited January 3, 2023 by Biker19

[twangster]

Within RFID cards used on newer ships are a chip and wires woven in a pattern.  The wires are a critical part of how RFID cards work.  If your attempt to punch a hole and you hit either the RFID chip or the wires it renders the card useless.  

 

Shining a high power LED flashlight through a card can reveal the shadow of the wires and the chip.

 

 

Sometimes a ship will offer pre-punched RFID cards. 

 

 

In this case the manufacturer of the card stock has purposely run the wires to leave an area that is clear to punch.  Sometimes it's like this card which leaves the bottom area clear to punch but in other cases the wires avoid one corner or one end of the card.  Different manufacturers do it differently.

 

 

They can't always source pre-punched card stock and it may cost more since the manufacturer has had to put more effort into the process. 

 

Some suggest that the smaller coil pattern of the wires makes the card less effective causing it to take longer to activate or the need to place the card physically closer to the reader.  Given a ship can use dozens of different readers at doors, security check points and point of sale terminals there is some variability when it comes to reading RFID cards.  Pre-punched may sound like a great idea but it may come at a cost beyond the actual price of card stock.

[firefly333]

50 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

It is very unlikely the staff will punch a hole in your Seapass card - you punch in the wrong location and brick the card. Card stock determines whether the card will be punched and Oasis plus all new ships since 2014 use the new RFID card stock which usually won't be punched by staff.

Seems odd then allure would have a hole punch desk set off from customer service for a do it yourself hole punch. We just punched our own. 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Seems odd then allure would have a hole punch desk set off from customer service for a do it yourself hole punch. We just punched our own. 

Allure is the only O class to still use the old non-RFID card stock (because she wasn't AMPed).

[Joseph2017China]

Well, you can't hole punch a credit card, you passport card, your global entry card, your drivers license, and we live in a society now, where, we handle, multiple touchless cards with RFID chips in it.....so it's a surprise that the seapass card, which acts as a credit card, and on some ships, a touchless room key you can't hole punch?  (Note the pandemic has nothing to do with technology).  So some ships are still using older technology, the new ships are not.  They do sell clear plastic sleeves you can use. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Seems odd then allure would have a hole punch desk set off from customer service for a do it yourself hole punch. We just punched our own. 

Allure does not use RFID cards, hence hole punching is not an issue. 

[HappyTexan44]

Before our first trip to Universal in Florida, from Amazon I bought a package of plastic sleeves for a lanyard.   It had a a ziploc top so was secure.    There isn't any reason you couldn't use the same sleeve on your bracelet.   

[not-enough-cruising]

4 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

Before our first trip to Universal in Florida, from Amazon I bought a package of plastic sleeves for a lanyard.   It had a a ziploc top so was secure.    There isn't any reason you couldn't use the same sleeve on your bracelet.   

Great thing about the RFID technology is the card never needs removed from the sleeve 

[moonjelly]

Good morning,

would anyone mind providing a link to a RFID card sleeve that you have successfully used in this manner and that can be attached to a bracelet or lanyard?

 

[HappyTexan44]

This is what I'd bought.    You can also get them going the other direction if you want.   The plastic doesn't block the RFID, so is fine.   

https://www.amazon.com/Vertical-Badge-Holder-Waterproof-Resealable/dp/B07LB3DYX9/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?keywords=lanyard+sleeve+for+id&qid=1672758777&sprefix=lanyard+sl%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExTkZMWjFRT0dTUEtLJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTkwOTMyU0g4WU8zR1hHMlMmZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDYzNDI2MzNUWTc4S0tXS0ZMWlkmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGYmYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

[LilBlackDress]

5 minutes ago, moonjelly said:

Good morning,

would anyone mind providing a link to a RFID card sleeve that you have successfully used in this manner and that can be attached to a bracelet or lanyard?

 

SeaPass Holder
You can use a keyring or a Stainless Steel Wire Ring or even something like a quick release ring to attach it to anything, 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

We used these for our last cruise: https://www.amazon.com/Gripper-Holder-Plastic-Standard-Thickness/dp/B0B4VP78PV/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2H5NHX1PF02X7&keywords=id%2Bcard%2Bgripper&qid=1672761378&sprefix=id%2Bcard%2Bgrip%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-5&th=1 

Put them off of center so we could slide the cards through readers.  I did have two times in the 8 day cruise where my card got snagged and pulled out (once I recovered the card, the second time I didn't even know it had happened until later... retraced my steps and couldn't find it.  Went to GS and they replaced it no issues). 

[neverbeenhere]

I use one of these or at least similar.

[BecciBoo]

Indeed as others said, the blue cards with all the electronics in it CANNOT be punched, I just used my plastic sleeve again put on my scrunchie wrist holder.

[skittl1321]

On 1/3/2023 at 10:04 AM, neverbeenhere said:

I use one of these or at least similar.

 

I have nothing like this on a cruise.  The vast majority of what I wear on a cruise (sundresses) doesn't have pockets, hence the issue with keeping my card...

[Mum2Mercury]

On 1/3/2023 at 3:23 AM, LilBlackDress said:

You can get a sleeve for it and still attach it to a bracelet 

I was going to suggest the same thing. 

On 1/3/2023 at 10:11 AM, moonjelly said:

Good morning,

would anyone mind providing a link to a RFID card sleeve that you have successfully used in this manner and that can be attached to a bracelet or lanyard?

You can go to Walmart's sports department /buy a plastic sleeve that's meant for fishermen to carry their fishing licenses.  Or you can order them off Amazon; I ordered some about a year ago for our vaccine cards.  When I was teaching, the sleeves were available to us for holding our IDs on lanyards.  Really, they're everywhere.   

On 1/3/2023 at 11:04 AM, neverbeenhere said:

I use one of these or at least similar.

That's my plan too. 

[orville99]

On 1/3/2023 at 9:16 AM, not-enough-cruising said:

Great thing about the RFID technology is the card never needs removed from the sleeve 

And keeping it in the sleeve keeps it from delaminating😇.

[pcur]

On 1/3/2023 at 3:13 AM, Biker19 said:

It is very unlikely the staff will punch a hole in your Seapass card - you punch in the wrong location and brick the card. Card stock determines whether the card will be punched and Oasis plus all new ships since 2014 use the new RFID card stock which usually won't be punched by staff.

When I get my card punched I point to where I want the punch to go. 

 

I wear a lanyard everywhere with a slim card-sized wallet on it.  I take these on cruises with me, but sometimes on board a ship I just want the room card with me, and not the wallet (which goes in the cabin safe).  

 

At home it's great to wear my car keys, as I have banished purses from my life. These mini-wallets are great for DL, and about 3 cards.  The side zipper pocket can hold 10 bills folded in half.

 

[RogueMonk]

No hole punch permitted on the Anthem — currently on the ship and asked at guest services.

[pcur]

2 minutes ago, RogueMonk said:

No hole punch permitted on the Anthem — currently on the ship and asked at guest services.

Thank you!  I am on the Anthem in a few months, and won't bother to ask; I'll just put it in the mini-wallet.