Wasn't Cruising Easier Pre-Medallion?

[Steelers36]

49 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

 

One large difference in the airline and hotel apps compared to the medallion app is that there are major limits to what we can do on them.  One may book our tickets, boarding passes and changing seats or flights on airline apps or book rooms on hotel apps, there is not much more that the apps do for us.  Many hotels even move to text once you arrive for things rather than having you do them through the app.

I find the Princess app more interactive, allows us to see events going on, book dining, find ship mates, view photos, etc.  Heck we can even watch the muster drill on the app now which I like.  Much like the My Disney Experience app which updates throughout the day but has also had their issues it does offer us a bit more. 

 

I do agree with you on the TA, I'd rather have the cruise fare discount.

Agree hotel apps can be basic, but some have room select and check-in function so bypass the desk essentially.  Also act as room key using smartphone.

 

Airline apps can offer a lot.  Getting on standby and upgrade lists.  Tracking inbound plane.  Realtime flight status.  Realtime gate info and changes.  FF info like account status and points.  I realize most have been around longer than Princess App, but they also continually improve and don't lose basic things like reservations, seat selection and boarding passes.

 

ETA:  I am confident using these travel apps in that they are handling my reservations and tasks correctly.  I can hardly trust the Princess App at times and have to frequently verify things are as expected with a booking.  Perhaps,if I had a booking today, I would be feeling better than I was last year.  IDK.

Edited September 15, 2023 by Steelers36

[Napagirl]

Last cruise the app was really wonky and the medallion worked about 50% of the time on board. This cruise the app is much better but sometimes I still get the "loading" page that never loads so I just close and try again later. Sounds like the medallion is working these days so looking forward to that.

 

There was a learning curve with doing everything on the app in preparation for the cruise and that can be frustrating, but we got it done. And since we are traveling with another couple this time we all sat down together to do it so they didn't have to struggle through the learning process. lol

 

All in all, I think the technology is nice, especially when it all works - that's the caveat. I thought the towel animals were cute but don't need them, and the chocolates on the pillow are not really missed either. 

[charliedalrymple]

On 9/10/2023 at 11:11 AM, Reina del Mar said:

wasn’t it simpler when you booked with a travel agent who gave you a small folder of plane ticket, cruise ticket etc ??

 

A bit off topic, but what I really miss are the days when flying was an "event."  You looked forward to it for days and got dressed up for the flight, which was an enjoyable part of the entire holiday experience.  And flight attendants actually cared about your comfort.  Sigh....

[Torfamm]

1 hour ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

A bit off topic, but what I really miss are the days when flying was an "event."  You looked forward to it for days and got dressed up for the flight, which was an enjoyable part of the entire holiday experience.  And flight attendants actually cared about your comfort.  Sigh....

I think it’s similar to cruising. Both are far less expensive today than in the past, but we’ve given up some things in exchange. Neither are the luxuries they used to be.

[Musky Ike]

17 minutes ago, Torfamm said:

I think it’s similar to cruising. Both are far less expensive today than in the past, but we’ve given up some things in exchange. Neither are the luxuries they used to be.

I'm Ok with that. I like less expensive better. 

[1965]

27 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

I'm Ok with that. I like less expensive better. 

Agree! DH & I are retired Texas public school teachers on a very careful travel budget. We love things being less expensive. 

[Mike07]

2 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

A bit off topic, but what I really miss are the days when flying was an "event."  You looked forward to it for days and got dressed up for the flight, which was an enjoyable part of the entire holiday experience.  And flight attendants actually cared about your comfort.  Sigh....

 

 

Like others said, when the airline industry was deregulated, things got cheaper for all of us, but then led to competition as airlines no longer compete on service.

 

I wish we lived in a world where Frontier and Spirit couldn't exist, but here we are.

 

There was some video I was watching on YouTube that was showing that cruising over the last 10-15 years has defied inflation.... It's basically the same price. Though, ships are much bigger, service and freebies are being put behind pay walls and other cost cutting measures.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Mike07

[voljeep]

3 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

A bit off topic, but what I really miss are the days when flying was an "event."  You looked forward to it for days and got dressed up for the flight, which was an enjoyable part of the entire holiday experience.  And flight attendants actually cared about your comfort.  Sigh....

and you could smell like smoke when you got off the plane! - good times

[Grego]

Having sailed with Princess almost exclusively during the past 31 years and more than 50 voyages, I do miss the excitement of going to the mailbox and finding the package with the boarding documents and then doing the "Doc Dance".  We now get a new way of getting excited when we get the medallion package in the mail before the cruise and that's perfectly fine with us.

I find it curious that we have had not one issue with either the medallion or the app that would cause us to make a comment.  The medallion is a very effective way to board the ship, do transactions, keep track of those you are traveling with or your children, and a proven safety method of locating passengers and crew during emergencies. The app while on board is a very convenient way to check on daily events, dining menus, send messages to travel partners, finding locations using deck plans and routes to get there, check on your folio, etc. all without walking around with patters and other pages of information and not using the WiFi internet but the intranet provided by the ship at no cost.

It is quite possible that those not happy with the medallion and the app are in the very small majority and will not ever change. For them, you can still go on the web site and fill out the Cruise Personalizer and print out the necessary paperwork to present at boarding and get their Cruise Card to access their cabin and other activities.  So there is no real reason to keep complaining.

Enjoy the ship and the ocean and the experience you are seeking.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, voljeep said:

and you could smell like smoke when you got off the plane! - good times

I second that. We flew once from NY to San Francisco for a wedding back when they still allowed smoking. We were in the non-smoking  section, but the smoking section was right in front of us. The couple in front of us actually were not smoking, just holding lit cigarettes the entire flight. I thought I was going to die before the flight was over.

[Torfamm]

2 hours ago, Mike07 said:

 

There was some video I was watching on YouTube that was showing that cruising over the last 10-15 years has defied inflation.... It's basically the same price. Though, ships are much bigger, service and freebies are being put behind pay walls and other cost cutting measures.

My first cruise on Carnival 40 years ago cost over $1000 per passenger for a tiny room with a 12 inch porthole. The same 7 day Caribbean itinerary today can easily be booked in a balcony for less than that on Princess. 

 

For that amount in today’s dollars, about $3200, I could choose an experience similar to what cruising was in the past but I choose Princess and don’t expect it to provide that for 1/3 of what it used to cost. 
 

[SargassoPirate]

8 hours ago, Grego said:

 

It is quite possible that those not happy with the medallion and the app are in the very small majority and will not ever change. For them, you can still go on the web site and fill out the Cruise Personalizer and print out the necessary paperwork to present at boarding and get their Cruise Card to access their cabin and other activities.  So there is no real reason to keep complaining.

Enjoy the ship and the ocean and the experience you are seeking.

As one of the complainers, I use all sorts of apps for travel - flights, tours, hotels, Uber, etc.  But I won't waste anymore time with a wonky Medallion app prior to the cruise.  Disappearing personal information, disappearing reservations, screen locking up.  Why waste my time when I can just print out my booking sheet and show up. 

 

If it ever works as seamlessly as Amazon, for example, I may give it another try but at this point the time cost/benefit does not impress me.

[TheMichael]

1 hour ago, SargassoPirate said:

If it ever works as seamlessly as Amazon, for example, I may give it another try but at this point the time cost/benefit does not impress me.

If your bar is the most tested app in the world with a backend that literally invented cloud services, I expect your disappointment will last a long time. 
 

And Amazon’s app is still far from bulletproof. 

[SCX22]

4 hours ago, TheMichael said:

If your bar is the most tested app in the world with a backend that literally invented cloud services, I expect your disappointment will last a long time. 
 

And Amazon’s app is still far from bulletproof. 

 

No App is bulletproof, thus the need for the developers to release updates.  Heck even operating systems aren't bulletproof and are constantly being updated.

 

The fact that Princess needs to employ a full time set of dedicated Ocean Navigators whose sole responsibility is to resolve pre-cruise problems in the App (which they themselves can sometimes not resolve) in a call center open 24 hours a day that has more often than not has hold times of over an hour during the day, speaks volumes.  It's a waste of what little resources Princess is working with.

[AZ Ocean Lover]

I am a fan of the medallion especially once onboard.  What is frustrating is the inconsistency of the app.  This is our 4th medallion cruise, first three pre cruise were a breeze for me not so much my husband.  This time he breezed through the pre cruise process but the system wouldn’t take my passport.  Called support 4 times, one week apart each time.  Each time they tried, wouldn’t work and said that they would bump it up to a higher level technical support and it would be fixed in 3 - 5 days.  They refused to give me a ticket number so I would have to start over each time I called.  The last time the person I talked to said a ticket had never been generated and just bring the passport to the port. 
 

Next time I won’t waste my time calling.

[TheMichael]

48 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

No App is bulletproof, thus the need for the developers to release updates.  Heck even operating systems aren't bulletproof and are constantly being updated.

 

The fact that Princess needs to employ a full time set of dedicated Ocean Navigators whose sole responsibility is to resolve pre-cruise problems in the App (which they themselves can sometimes not resolve) in a call center open 24 hours a day that has more often than not has hold times of over an hour during the day, speaks volumes.  It's a waste of what little resources Princess is working with.

 

It also speaks volumes about the clientele, many of whom may become lost at the word "app." Princess needs a dedicated set of Ocean Navigators to help many of their customers navigate basic things - personally I think ALL companies should have a call center with live people who understand the product. I see people needing personal guidance all the time on these very boards - someone coming into a thread halfway to ask an obvious question that had been discussed for a full two pages one click away.

 

I could write a book about the technologies my GF wants to throw at the wall but I breeze through. I had really no problem with the Princess app, used the web version about half the time, and LOVED the ease of the medallion vs. other cruise lines. A few things were difficult to find the first time, but that's true in most of the apps I use regularly.

 

Now I'm about to board my first HAL cruise - their app makes Princess's look like Amazon.

[SCX22]

2 minutes ago, TheMichael said:

should have a call center with live people who understand the product.

 

That's the problem, even the Ocean Navigators don't know the App.  The call center is in the Philippines and none of them have ever sailed Princess and have no first hand experience with the App.  All they can do is relay what was taught to them, which doesn't reflect some passengers' problems or all that can go wrong with the App.

 

If an App is so convoluted that a person can't self learn how to use it or have it's advertised functions function properly, then the App is a failure.  Apps are supposed to make life easier, not harder.

[cr8tiv1]

Okay, did not read all 7 previous pages, but got the jest of the title.

 

After several post pandemic cruises and up-and-running app and Medallion, I am okay with both of them.

 

I was in the group that was promised this remarkable new technology, only to find out that the ships that I had booked and expecting...never appeared.  The hardware was in place, but cruise cards were handed out.  

 

I do like the fact that I do not have to complete information for each cruise.  Passport information, credit card, emergency contact, preferences, photos, etc., all carry over to the next. 

 

Do I miss the old days, sure.  I go way back to the days of "steamer ships".  It was a time of romance, civility, formality, and opulence.  But life changes and we all move on.  

 

 

[TheMichael]

2 hours ago, SCX22 said:

If an App is so convoluted that a person can't self learn how to use it or have it's advertised functions function properly, then the App is a failure.  Apps are supposed to make life easier, not harder.

I just don’t think it’s that problematic, and certainly no more problematic than other cruise lines’ apps. 

[IndyKid]

The only problem I had with the app was when I tried to order my wife's medallion, I kept getting an error. I also couldn't get the web version to work either. So I did the live chat and had it taken care of in 5 minutes.

[capriccio]

12 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I second that. We flew once from NY to San Francisco for a wedding back when they still allowed smoking. We were in the non-smoking  section, but the smoking section was right in front of us. The couple in front of us actually were not smoking, just holding lit cigarettes the entire flight. I thought I was going to die before the flight was over.

Not in the US but in Italy in the early 1980s, the Alitalia smoking section was the left side of the plane and the non-smoking section was the right side.  I was 4 months pregnant and didn't think I would survive the flight from Rome to Palermo.

Edited September 17, 2023 by capriccio

[SargassoPirate]

18 hours ago, TheMichael said:

If your bar is the most tested app in the world with a backend that literally invented cloud services, I expect your disappointment will last a long time. 
 

And Amazon’s app is still far from bulletproof. 

I couldn't care less about the effort put into either app. All I know is when an app serves my purpose and works for the benefit of the consumer, I'll use it.  

 

 

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, capriccio said:

Not in the US but in Italy in the early 1980s, the Alitalia smoking section was the left side of the plane and the non-smoking section was the right side.  I was 4 months pregnant and didn't think I would survive the flight from Rome to Palermo.

😢😢, ugh that sounds awful. Would be awful even without the pregnancy, but that just makes it worse.

 

Banning smoking on airlines has to be the greatest regulation ever! 😊😊

[Grego]

6 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

I couldn't care less about the effort put into either app. All I know is when an app serves my purpose and works for the benefit of the consumer, I'll use it.  

 

 

One of the reasons that Princess went back to offer the web version of the Personalizer was to ensure that those that refuse to use the app still can board the ship and have a happy beginning to the journey.

[Torfamm]

32 minutes ago, Grego said:

One of the reasons that Princess went back to offer the web version of the Personalizer was to ensure that those that refuse to use the app still can board the ship and have a happy beginning to the journey.

In an interesting twist, I tried to look at the web version of the app out of curiosity yesterday. I couldn’t open it.