A word of caution about those medallions...

[KillerSnake]

4 hours ago, xamsx said:

Where did you get your medallion holder? 

Amazon based on the list from "Life Well Cruised" channel.

 

Cruise On Princess Medallion Accessories Wallet (Women) Leather with Ocean Medallion Holder

 

It does not have an RFID shield over the Medallion

[xamsx]

7 minutes ago, KillerSnake said:

Amazon based on the list from "Life Well Cruised" channel.

 

Cruise On Princess Medallion Accessories Wallet (Women) Leather with Ocean Medallion Holder

 

It does not have an RFID shield over the Medallion

Thank you!

[cruisequeen4ever]

Pre-Pandemic, the Medallion was actually more advanced in respect to this. The bartender or waiter would see your picture on the screen and select you, so someone couldn’t order something unless they matched your identity. Now, they’ve regressed to the cabin # and name and only once in a while using the picture. I don’t know why.

[Tedferg]

5 minutes ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Pre-Pandemic, the Medallion was actually more advanced in respect to this. The bartender or waiter would see your picture on the screen and select you, so someone couldn’t order something unless they matched your identity. Now, they’ve regressed to the cabin # and name and only once in a while using the picture. I don’t know why.

I think there were early problems with the response time for the waiter when scanning Medallion, so cabin # worked better. I don't know if it is faster to input cabin number versus scanning Medalion. In my experience they would ask cabin# and then say "Mr. Edward?'. So, they are seeing ID after inputting cabin#.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

On 7/14/2023 at 7:39 PM, Ellipooh said:

I wonder how widespread the issue of erroneous charges actually is? I’m hoping the experiences described on this thread are magnified by the filter that only those affected are likely to post. 
 

While I do regularly check my account, I don’t relish the idea of repeatedly having to stand in line at Guest Services. 

We just did a 12 day cruise on the Regal with the premium package.  I checked our account on the app daily.  We had no extra charges.  Also you can use the crew chat to get questions answered.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Pre-Pandemic, the Medallion was actually more advanced in respect to this. The bartender or waiter would see your picture on the screen and select you, so someone couldn’t order something unless they matched your identity. Now, they’ve regressed to the cabin # and name and only once in a while using the picture. I don’t know why.

Not what I have experienced.  Waiters will ask for cabin number.  Then they enter the cabin number and select your picture when they enter the order.   When you order at the bar they will ask cabin number then use it to bring up your picture to make sure that they have the right person.  

 

I have noticed error rate has dropped significantly since they have added room number confirmation to the process during the last 6 months or so compared to earlier during the restart.

 

I did ask a bartender why they did that.  He said that with the ships sailing full there might be a hundred or more people close by.  If they did not ask room number they would have to scroll through many sets of pictures until they found yours (more likely to generate an error by picking wrong one).

 

At the IC they have you scan your medallion so the picture pops up on their display and they do not need to ask room number.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

I think there were early problems with the response time for the waiter when scanning Medallion, so cabin # worked better. I don't know if it is faster to input cabin number versus scanning Medalion. In my experience they would ask cabin# and then say "Mr. Edward?'. So, they are seeing ID after inputting cabin#.

If they directly scan the medallion your picture will pop up and not need to confirm.  It is when the system is picking up all of the medallions in the area and they need to find your picture out of everyone in the bar that there are problems.  Using the room number allows them to bring up the pictures of those in that room, instead of slogging through what might be hundreds of pictures.

[heatherb1958]

This has been a very entertaining thread to read , needed a couple of laughs 😃. 

 

This has been our experience on 3 cruises in the last 12 months on Enchanted  and Regal . 

Sitting with new friends  on Enchanted we ordered drinks, all of them went on our account , the other couple did have the plus package but didn't drink alcohol so their drinks didn't get allocated towards the magic 15 number . We found the error as we check our account daily . 

 

On Regal  hubby  ordered drinks from a bar server we knew , hubby went to the loo , drinks were taking a while , I could see the bar server having  animated words with the bar tender.  Because hubby wasn't in the room his medallion wasn't showing up on the POS , bar server was pointing over to me gesticulating to the bar tender that I was sitting there waiting for the drinks !! 

[dreams_of_travel]

Not medallion related per se, but on the first evening, before dinner I noticed a charge for $108.xx for telephone use.  I went down to Guest Services to get the charge removed b/c why would I use the cabin phone to make a 10min phone call when we were still in port, and I could use my mobile phone.  That was two days ago, they're are still investigating. *rollseyes*  I went to guest services again today, they are still working on it. At least I am on a 10 day cruise. 😛 

[heatherb1958]

On 7/28/2023 at 5:41 AM, dreams_of_travel said:

Not medallion related per se, but on the first evening, before dinner I noticed a charge for $108.xx for telephone use.  I went down to Guest Services to get the charge removed b/c why would I use the cabin phone to make a 10min phone call when we were still in port, and I could use my mobile phone.  That was two days ago, they're are still investigating. *rollseyes*  I went to guest services again today, they are still working on it. At least I am on a 10 day cruise. 😛 

 

 

Wow. Maybe the last occupants of the cabin used it to  confirm their ride home .... 😆.  Hope you get it sorted soon.. 

[dreams_of_travel]

6 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

Wow. Maybe the last occupants of the cabin used it to  confirm their ride home .... 😆.  Hope you get it sorted soon.. 

Yesterday I did finally get this resolved.  The Guest Services person who was working on it called me to let me know it was taken care, and the charge removed.  Still have no idea why it took them almost 4 days to clear it up, but I'm happy they followed up with me. 

[ontheweb]

8 minutes ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Yesterday I did finally get this resolved.  The Guest Services person who was working on it called me to let me know it was taken care, and the charge removed.  Still have no idea why it took them almost 4 days to clear it up, but I'm happy they followed up with me. 

Better late than never.

[heatherb1958]

12 hours ago, dreams_of_travel said:

Yesterday I did finally get this resolved.  The Guest Services person who was working on it called me to let me know it was taken care, and the charge removed.  Still have no idea why it took them almost 4 days to clear it up, but I'm happy they followed up with me. 

 

 

In our experience when there have been issues with charges , unless it is erroneous bar charges , the Guest services staff have no authority just to wipe it off. Investigations have to be made and reported back  finally to be dealt with by GS. 

It would have been so easy for them to see what time the call was made , what time you boarded the ship and with the Medallion exactly when you were in your cabin, heck with that thing when looking for your travel party onboard you can even see when folks visit the bathroom !! I did when looking for my hubby on Regal  one minute he was in a bar next time I looked he showed up on the map in the gents 😂 😂 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, heatherb1958 said:

 

 

In our experience when there have been issues with charges , unless it is erroneous bar charges , the Guest services staff have no authority just to wipe it off. Investigations have to be made and reported back  finally to be dealt with by GS. 

It would have been so easy for them to see what time the call was made , what time you boarded the ship and with the Medallion exactly when you were in your cabin, heck with that thing when looking for your travel party onboard you can even see when folks visit the bathroom !! I did when looking for my hubby on Regal  one minute he was in a bar next time I looked he showed up on the map in the gents 😂 😂 

So, with the wonderful medallion technology, they have in their database how often you go to the bathroom? 🤦‍♂️

[SargassoPirate]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

So, with the wonderful medallion technology, they have in their database how often you go to the bathroom? 🤦‍♂️

Yes, and if you paused long enough to wash your hands.

 

 

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Yes, and if you paused long enough to wash your hands.

 

 

Will they ban you from the dining room and/or buffet if the medallion bathroom technology shows inadequate hand washing?

[dreams_of_travel]

12 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

In our experience when there have been issues with charges , unless it is erroneous bar charges , the Guest services staff have no authority just to wipe it off. Investigations have to be made and reported back  finally to be dealt with by GS. 

It would have been so easy for them to see what time the call was made , what time you boarded the ship and with the Medallion exactly when you were in your cabin, heck with that thing when looking for your travel party onboard you can even see when folks visit the bathroom !! I did when looking for my hubby on Regal  one minute he was in a bar next time I looked he showed up on the map in the gents 😂 😂 

Very true.  I was just annoyed at the snails pace, but yes emails had to be exchanged, and followup with the various departments. It did tie up a bit of OBC money, but in the end all the excursions were full, so a bit of moot point by then. 

yikes, tracking our every movement.  all for the marketing, and monetizing departments. LOL!  

[UK1sttimer]

On our last Princess cruise we had a couple of drinks orders charged to our room number by someone else. The best thing was the charge for 764 coffees at international cafe, when we went to guest services they asked if we were sure that we didn't order them. We didn't even receive an apology despite having to wait for days for the thousands of dollars credit card hold to be released.

My wife noticed the credit card charge and was expecting something nice from the jewellery shop 😂

Edited July 31, 2023 by UK1sttimer

[9tee2Sea]

I purchased an RFID holder for my Meddallion ( it's actually made for your car Key Fob).  I tested it out the other day with my Key Fob, and it really works.  I could not open the car door until I took the Key Fob out of RFID pouch.  I stilll to old school for this ne technology, so when onboard, I will go to guest services and ask for a room key card.  It will be like the old days, present the room card yo the bartender, order my drink.

[jayred1]

2 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

I purchased an RFID holder for my Meddallion ( it's actually made for your car Key Fob).  I tested it out the other day with my Key Fob, and it really works.  I could not open the car door until I took the Key Fob out of RFID pouch.  I stilll to old school for this ne technology, so when onboard, I will go to guest services and ask for a room key card.  It will be like the old days, present the room card yo the bartender, order my drink.

If you are not planning on using your Medallion and just wanting to keep it from connecting, you don't need an expensive RFID holder.  Wrapping it in aluminum foil will do the same thing - it just provides a metallic shield to block RF signals (electrical engineer who worked with RF circuitry/systems).

Edited July 31, 2023 by jayred1

[9tee2Sea]

Just now, jayred1 said:

If you are not planning on using your Medallion and just wanting to keep it from connecting, you don't need an expensive RFID holder.  Wrapping it in aluminum foil will do the same thing - it just provides a metallic shield to block RF signals.

the holder was about 10.00, so I will find other uses.  Maybe hold credit cards and money when onshore.  

[theloo]

My husband walked into a store, near the cash register which registered his medallion.  I guess when the cashier asked the actual buyer if his name was (husband), the person said yes 😕

[Westsail32]

My cruise last year I had a few issues.  The first day I was at Crooners at a table.  The table next to me had five people who all received food from MedallionNet.  I ended up with all their food orders on my bill.  A couple days later I had a couple drinks show up I hadn’t ordered.  
 

Because part of my routine onboard is to visit the kiosk by Guest Services to print out a daily summary I caught these right away.  I went to guest services both times and they resolved it without trouble.  Being nice and polite definitely helps too.  

[Guest ldtr]

41 minutes ago, Westsail32 said:

My cruise last year I had a few issues.  The first day I was at Crooners at a table.  The table next to me had five people who all received food from MedallionNet.  I ended up with all their food orders on my bill.  A couple days later I had a couple drinks show up I hadn’t ordered.  
 

Because part of my routine onboard is to visit the kiosk by Guest Services to print out a daily summary I caught these right away.  I went to guest services both times and they resolved it without trouble.  Being nice and polite definitely helps too.  

Very strange.  If they ordered by App the charge goes to the account of the person who placed the order.  Nothing to do with the Medallion itself or anybody else in the area.  In that case the medallion is only used to get the location of where to deliver the food.

 

Also except for a couple of items  There was no charges for food or delivery.  The only charged for foo then was whole pizza or if they ordered from the specialty restaurant menu.  So drinks yes, but in most cases food no.

 

Now on the Grand last year the system was a bit buggy.  The system placed an order for me for a beer as I was walking by one of the bars.  I only found out about it when the waiter chased me all of the way back to my room to deliver it.  Told him that I had not ordered it.  Not only that I do not drink the type of beer that was ordered but I do not drink beer at all.  So certainly possible it was a bit buggy then

Edited August 6, 2023 by ldtr

[Westsail32]

Just now, ldtr said:

Very strange.  If they ordered by App the charge goes to the account of the person who placed the order.  Nothing to do with the Medallion itself or anybody else in the area.  In that case the medallion is only used to get the location of where to deliver the food.

 

Also except for a couple of items  There was no charges for food or delivery.  The only charged for foo then was whole pizza or if they ordered from the specialty restaurant menu.  So drinks yes, but in most cases food no.

Because that event was the only one that first day where I was around people having food delivered I assume it was them.  Who really knows though.  I was very happy with the way it was resolved though.  Customer service was very good at Guest Services.