A word of caution about those medallions...

[9tee2Sea]

54 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Tell us just what things you're afraid of them finding out?

(other than your bathroom visits)

Nothing to hide, not even a ticket.  There is no need for a big corporation ( or anyone else) to know any details about me.  I paid my fare , did all the security pre-checks ( even TSA).  All they need to know is that my credit card is valid for any charges made.  I ALWAYS make sure to unsubscribe from any un-wanted emails, never check the box to share my information with other merchants.  It's just my comfort zone.  As for bathroom visits, I have intestinal issues, so many times after eating, I have to go to the bathroom at least 3 times ( I always think the host thinks I am bulimic).

[MissP22]

33 minutes ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Nothing to hide, not even a ticket.  There is no need for a big corporation ( or anyone else) to know any details about me.  I paid my fare , did all the security pre-checks ( even TSA).  All they need to know is that my credit card is valid for any charges made.  I ALWAYS make sure to unsubscribe from any un-wanted emails, never check the box to share my information with other merchants.  It's just my comfort zone.  As for bathroom visits, I have intestinal issues, so many times after eating, I have to go to the bathroom at least 3 times ( I always think the host thinks I am bulimic).

Do you realize that when you unsubscribe from some emails they sell your email to hundreds of other venders.

Princes is the least of your worries. 

[Outerdog]

17 hours ago, ldtr said:

Same problem used to occur with the old cards.

 

Before medallions, servers would ask for folio numbers instead of cabin numbers when they wanted to take this shortcut. You may recall the folio numbers were printed on the cruise cards, but they were a little more obscure than the obvious cabin numbers.

 

 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, 9tee2Sea said:

Nothing to hide, not even a ticket.  There is no need for a big corporation ( or anyone else) to know any details about me.  I paid my fare , did all the security pre-checks ( even TSA).  All they need to know is that my credit card is valid for any charges made.  I ALWAYS make sure to unsubscribe from any un-wanted emails, never check the box to share my information with other merchants.  It's just my comfort zone.  As for bathroom visits, I have intestinal issues, so many times after eating, I have to go to the bathroom at least 3 times ( I always think the host thinks I am bulimic).

Then why don’t you go to guest services and change your medallion for a cruise card ?

[Buckeye10640]

On 7/12/2023 at 5:24 PM, c25andeb said:

A word of caution about those medallions.  We were on the Regal from June 25 - July 7, apparently, all someone has to do to get free drinks is to tell the waiter a cabin number and it gets charged to whoever is in that cabin!  When we got home I saw our credit card statement and knew it was too high.  Someone had charged drinks and bar charges and our cabin got the bill for them.  Princess says it will take 21 days to be resolved, but be advised, it could happen to you too.  A relative of ours ordered a ginger ale and the waiter simply asked "what cabin number?"  Hopefully this keeps someone else from getting charged for drinks they never ordered.

I dont necessarily consider it a medallion issue.  Before medallions there were cards but still, mistakes happened. It is best to check your charges at least daily. Any incorrect charges I reported were immediately removed. 

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

of course I know there is  on ship tracking via cameras ( I would hope so).  I just have an issue with Big Brother tracking my every movement ( how long I stay in the bathroom, times I leave my state room, what i do on my sea days).  If they can track me, how come I can't track my cabin steward to see where they are?  At least maybe give passengers an option to turn off tracking ( Like on cell phones).  Maybe this technology is the wave of the future ( facial recognition, tracking movements), but if I feel better just trying to hold off as long as I can.  

The cruise line is not interested in tracking you. Except when they need to to execute a service you ordered such as a food and drink delivery. The information they are most interested in they already have access to. They already know what drinks you have ordered, what products you have purchased, if and when you leave ship in port, if you have purchased any excursions.

 

What the medallion does allow them to gather is thing like how many people attend a particular event or activity, and to measure the demographics that are attracted to a particular event. In the past that data would have been collected manually and usually just estimated.

[Buckeye10640]

15 hours ago, SCX22 said:

I wish Princess allow guests to program a PIN to go along with the Medallion.  The guest would have to enter their PIN as a verification layer when ever an order or purchase is made.

 

In case you have a lot of time on your hands, here's the link to the patent Carnival filed for the Medallion:

 

https://image-ppubs.uspto.gov/dirsearch-public/print/downloadPdf/10037642

 

Low and behold, John Padgett is first on the list for the inventor. On PDF page 47, Column 33, it basically says the only form of verification for the Medallion is the crew matching the photograph on file with the face of the guest ordering.

Understand your point but that will be even more work for busy bartenders.And they would need to install pin pads or have us entering pins on handheld devices, etc.  I think not....

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Outerdog said:

 

Before medallions, servers would ask for folio numbers instead of cabin numbers when they wanted to take this shortcut. You may recall the folio numbers were printed on the cruise cards, but they were a little more obscure than the obvious cabin numbers.

 

 

Sometimes yes sometimes no. They started with the paper system that you had to sign. Then they went to where you did not have to sign. Then they did away with the paper. the card had a portfolio number which was used to charge, but they could also charge from name and cabin number. So while the portfolio number was on the card it was not the only way to charge to the room.

 

What has also change is the ease with which one can get charges dropped when errors were found. in the old paper days they would actually go through the paper slips to check the signature before correcting.

 

Now they do not bother checking, they just drop the charge if it is just a one off.

 

Cost them less to drop the charge than to spend the labor to actually check.

Edited July 14, 2023 by ldtr

[Buckeye10640]

7 hours ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

In general RFID technology (Medallion) should be more secure than cruise cards (magnetic strips) but either system can be defeated and useless if they are only using room number and name for purchases.  Step 1 for ALL Passengers should be to remove your name from your room. RFID is pretty simple technology - A radio signal is sent out in a short area.  The radio signal powers the RFID chip and the chip sends back a number.  That number is linked to your Folio.

 

RFIDs are much harder to copy/duplicate than a magnetic strip.  Also the RFID system tracks your movements throughout the ship for tracking how often you pass through high revenue areas of the ship - casino, shopping, etc.  Traffic location data feeds into algorithms that helps maximize sailor spend through better ship design and product merchandising.  Now you know why certain events are placed in certain parts of the ship - to drive traffic to high revenue areas.  Other lines use facial recognition from the ships cameras to get similar data, but RFID is more accurate and cheaper in the long run.  Keep in mind the RFID and your folio are synched with PERFECT demographic data - the line knows age, gender, address (zipcode), previous sailing history and now your exact movements on the ship.

 

After a few cruises, the line may know more about you than you do.  Imagine if you received a mailer  or video clip completely customized to you.  A picture of your favorite bartender Marco (AI generated) handing you your favorite drink (AI Generated).  "Marco has a Mai Tai waiting for you on board".  Heck, I can even have the AI Generate voice so AI Marco can look and sound like "Mrs. {insert your name here}, I have a cold, refreshing Mai Tai waiting on Deck 11 for you, won't you join me?"

They can feel free to track my movement on the ship and send me a customized invite to cruise again, as long as they include a discount code!

[Guest ldtr]

5 minutes ago, Buckeye10640 said:

Understand your point but that will be even more work for busy bartenders.And they would need to install pin pads or have us entering pins on handheld devices, etc.  I think not....

Princess as with many other business have decided that a system that gets better than 99% accuracy rate, that requires little manual labor, is worth writing off charges that got billed incorrectly. The key for customers is to understand that is the world we are in and to check bills. Though I expect most have gotten dinged more by pricing errors at their local grocery store than they have in total by cruise lines. Largely because it is much easier to check your cruisevline account then each price at checkout at the grocery store.

[Ellipooh]

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. 

[Doug R.]

For all of you rushing to get RFID pouches, lining you hats with extra aluminum foil and considering disguising yourselves from the cameras, Princess does not care where you go or what you do unless you are doing something against the rules. They are collecting metadata which gives them an idea of venue attendance, etc. I believe that is how dining venues like Bistro Sur La Mer are removed. I also think that it is used in decisions on stocking provisions and drinks. Trust me, there isn't a secret deck where thousands of employees are sitting in front of computers watching your every move/

Edited July 15, 2023 by Doug R.
Bad gramer and spelun.

[Guest ldtr]

37 minutes ago, 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. 

I have not seen an error in my last 6 cruises.

 

Had 1 my first cruise after startup. 4 on the second including the system deciding to place a beer order in a bar I was walking past. The delivery portion worked well since the waiter followed me to my room to hand it to me.  

 

1 on each of the 2 cruises after that.

 

Seems that they are getting more experience with it.

[cr8tiv1]

Let's balance this out.  I have not had any problems with something added to my account which I did not purchase (5 cruises).  But then again, I have not ordered a drink at a crowded venue.  I have ordered drinks in the MDR.  I have asked for bottled water from the bars.  

 

Could it happen?  Yes

Does it happen?  Yes

Is it malicious (some random person using your name and cabin number by walk up?  Rare/none

Could it happen that you were not charged and someone else was?  Yes

Does this happen ONLY to people who do not have a beverage package?

Does this happen ONLY to people who have beverage package?

 

Bottom line...check your onboard folio frequently.  

[SCX22]

52 minutes ago, Doug R. said:

For all of you rushing to get RFID pouches, lining you hats with extra aluminum foil and considering disguising yourselves from the cameras, Princess does not care where you go or what you do unless you are doing something against the rules. They are collecting metadata which gives them an idea of venue attendance, etc. I believe that is how dining venues like Bistro Sur La Mer are removed. I also think that it is used in decisions on stocking provisions and drinks. Trust me, there isn't a secret deck where thousands of employees are sitting in front of computers watching your every move/

 

But there is...not a deck, but a room.  On Royal class ships, the surveillance room is on Deck 6 underneath the tiered seating of Princess Theatre.  The monitors for the CCTVs on the ship and the security crew who monitor them are located here.  We were shown this area on the All Access Tours when they were still offered.  Like has been stated before, as long as you haven't done anything wrong, nothing to worry about.

[sable1]

In Jan to Hawaii, someone charged drinks to our cabin three times.  Went to guest services and they removed the charges.  

Be vigilant.

Joanne

[suzyed]

29 minutes ago, sable1 said:

In Jan to Hawaii, someone charged drinks to our cabin three times.  Went to guest services and they removed the charges.  

Be vigilant.

Joanne

Hmmm? If you have your medallion on you, as you approach a bar your photo pops up on the computer screen.

[cr8tiv1]

41 minutes ago, sable1 said:

In Jan to Hawaii, someone charged drinks to our cabin three times.  Went to guest services and they removed the charges.  

Be vigilant.

Joanne

 

I wonder if "they" ever got caught or stopped?  

Edited July 15, 2023 by cr8tiv1

[sable1]

Suzyed, we don't drink so never approached any bars.

Don't know if Princess figured out who it was.

[Guest ldtr]

13 minutes ago, sable1 said:

Suzyed, we don't drink so never approached any bars.

Don't know if Princess figured out who it was.

Depends upon definition of approach. On one ship I was walking to the main pool and passed by the bar located at the end of the pool.  An order for a bucket of beers got charged to my account. That was in the early days and at that time the bartender would look at his device and then would give there first name. when the person confirmed they would charge that account  Problem was first names are common and two people with the same first bame could be in the area. Now they ask for room number and match that to the display before charging. less chance of error.

 

Still some chance for waiters away from a device where they also ask for name and room number but cannot immediately check the device  In those cases they are supposed to enter the room number and then make sure the picture is correct for the person placing the order.

 

Some chance for error but should catch someone systematically trying to defraud.

Edited July 15, 2023 by ldtr

[Kellyansapansa]

6 hours ago, 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 only have 39 cruise days accrued across 4 separate cruises with Princess but we have never had a single error appear on our folio, and I check it religiously. Also, I believe you can now use crew chat within the Medallion App to have these issues resolved rather than having to visit Guest Services. 😊

Edited July 15, 2023 by Kellyansapansa

[antsp]

13 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

But there is...not a deck, but a room.  On Royal class ships, the surveillance room is on Deck 6 underneath the tiered seating of Princess Theatre.  The monitors for the CCTVs on the ship and the security crew who monitor them are located here.  We were shown this area on the All Access Tours when they were still offered.  Like has been stated before, as long as you haven't done anything wrong, nothing to worry about.

Very few cameras once you leave the main decks, no cameras in cabin corridors or elevator lobbys

[donaldsc]

On 7/13/2023 at 9:14 PM, ldtr said:

A good reason to check your bill before leaving ship. Same problem used to occur with the old cards. Now you can easily check your bill using the App.

 

You could almost as easily do it with the old card system.  Just go to guest services every day or so and ask for a printout  of your account.  Yet another useless "advantage" of the medallion.

 

DON

[startedwithamouse]

16 hours ago, Doug R. said:

For all of you rushing to get RFID pouches, lining you hats with extra aluminum foil and considering disguising yourselves from the cameras, Princess does not care where you go or what you do unless you are doing something against the rules. They are collecting metadata which gives them an idea of venue attendance, etc. I believe that is how dining venues like Bistro Sur La Mer are removed. I also think that it is used in decisions on stocking provisions and drinks. Trust me, there isn't a secret deck where thousands of employees are sitting in front of computers watching your every move/

So true! They shouldn't even own a cell phone if they are this paranoid.

[startedwithamouse]

4 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

You could almost as easily do it with the old card system.  Just go to guest services every day or so and ask for a printout  of your account.  Yet another useless "advantage" of the medallion.

 

DON

Useless?  I'm sitting by the pool able to check my account while others are wasting their time lining up at guest services getting a printout.