Medallions to replace cruise cards?

They only want to know where YOU are in an emergency or if they need to find you for some reason. They will be tracking things like how many people show up for the early show or the late show. Perhaps how many people leave during a performance. How many people go to MUTS? If people complain about chair hogs maybe they will check to see how many people are actually in the area as opposed to empty loungers with towels on them. (I would love that.)

 

 

They have neither the time nor the inclination go care at all what you are doing as an individual. I think it's good that parents can find their kids and know if they are actually where they are supposed to be. I personally don't care if my wife can use the TV or a touchscreen around the ship to find out where I am. It doesn't bother me a bit. Of course I won't be spending time in some other woman's cabin and need to hide or anything. However, if that did bother me, I could have the thing put into safety mode and she wouldn't be able to track me.

 

 

You are on a ship at sea. They essentially know where you are anyway. It's not like you maybe ran out to the store or something.

 

If it really bothers you then just don't book cruises on a ship with the new tech. It will take a long time for all of the Princess ships to get it and much longer for the rest of the CCL fleet to do the same.

Well said.....:):):)

Bob

some people do not like change.give it a chance to work.:cool:

I keep hoping this will show up in the mail soon. I haven't seen anything in writing or in a video yet that confirms one can "stick" with the cruise card. As of today, the info on the Princess web site FAQ says:

Will I be able to opt out of or turn off this new technology?

If you do not want to take advantage of the full Ocean Medallion Class experience, you can switch your privacy setting to "Safety Only" and enjoy the cruise the same great way you do today.

Looking forward to the arrival of the magazine for further info as your post indicates that they directly contradict the info on the web site.

That is what that Captains Circle articles says also. No mention of a cruise card option.

I wear mine on a lanyard so I don't get it near anything magnetic or lose it.

 

No need to be nasty about fellow members

It was a joke.

They only want to know where YOU are in an emergency or if they need to find you for some reason. They will be tracking things like how many people show up for the early show or the late show. Perhaps how many people leave during a performance. How many people go to MUTS? ...They have neither the time nor the inclination go care at all what you are doing as an individual.

From watching the hour long CES presentation, I came away with the exact opposite impression. What you are describing is "big data" to be used to improve future cruises whereas the presentation made clear that the primary use was not to collect big data for the future but to collect real-time "guest centric" data to be used immediately for each individual guest. So they want to know where you are so that they can try to merge your preferences with the ship's offerings. One example that they showed was (believe it or not), portable gambling. If your profile reveals that you are a big time blackjack player, but you are out by the pool, they can find you, send a blackjack dealer and a portable table to your location, and ask you if you want to play a few hands. I am not making that up. If your profile reveals that you like massages and they detect that you are hanging out in the Piazza at a time when the spa is being underutilized, they can send a spa representative down to you and ask you if you would like a massage with no line and no waiting, maybe at a discount. So they definitely envision the highest use of the medallion to be real time, guest by guest location information married with personal preferences. Definitely a Big Brother aspect to this, but supposedly in a way that helps us. If that bothers anyone, they may be creeped out by this.

Would definitely be creeped out if that kind of crew experience was happening when I am trying to relax or do something else. I cruise to relax and not be constantly interuppted because the ship thinks I should be gambling or getting a message because some sort of data determines it is time to do that.

From watching the hour long CES presentation, I came away with the exact opposite impression. What you are describing is "big data" to be used to improve future cruises whereas the presentation made clear that the primary use was not to collect big data for the future but to collect real-time "guest centric" data to be used immediately for each individual guest. So they want to know where you are so that they can try to merge your preferences with the ship's offerings. One example that they showed was (believe it or not), portable gambling. If your profile reveals that you are a big time blackjack player, but you are out by the pool, they can find you, send a blackjack dealer and a portable table to your location, and ask you if you want to play a few hands. I am not making that up. If your profile reveals that you like massages and they detect that you are hanging out in the Piazza at a time when the spa is being underutilized, they can send a spa representative down to you and ask you if you would like a massage with no line and no waiting, maybe at a discount. So they definitely envision the highest use of the medallion to be real time, guest by guest location information married with personal preferences. Definitely a Big Brother aspect to this, but supposedly in a way that helps us. If that bothers anyone, they may be creeped out by this.

I think the simple answer is to keep the thing in a case which blocks its use until you want to open your cabin door or whatever. Then put it away again.

Many people I know don't like the photographer bothering them at dinner, or the girl coming round selling specialty dining, or the constant inquiries as to whether you want a drink, so how they will like being interrupted even more doesn't bear thinking about.

I think the simple answer is to keep the thing in a case which blocks its use until you want to open your cabin door or whatever. Then put it away again.

Many people I know don't like the photographer bothering them at dinner, or the girl coming round selling specialty dining, or the constant inquiries as to whether you want a drink, so how they will like being interrupted even more doesn't bear thinking about.

I think that is where the "safety only" setting comes in. Like a virtual "Do Not Disturb" setting.

Again nothing has been said or demonstrated on how to put a Do Not Disturb setting or a Safety only setting. As can be seen here there are plenty of unanswered questions about this. The people who are trying to answer them have already admitted they are not official answers and they ate only going by what they have seen at other places. If Princess is actually monitoring these types of discussions now would be a good time to dpeak up. Am I against this type of system? No. Do I and many others have questions with no official answers? Yes.

What it comes down to is I do not want to be electronically tagged like a criminal on bail, with someone able to track my every move. Its an invasion of privacy.

Do you own a cell phone? Do you use the internet? You're already being electronically tagged.

I think that is where the "safety only" setting comes in. Like a virtual "Do Not Disturb" setting.

From what someone posted putting that setting on would only stop other pax seeing where you are , Princess would still know. I don't like that.

It just feels oppressive, like the secret police is watching your every move,

no doubt authority figures like cops and government agency employees will love this form of control, others of us who are perhaps somewhat more liberal may not.

Last year we already had Princess employees telling us to leave the International café area as we had sat there too long. With this technology they would be able to tell us how exactly many minutes we had been there and that we had exceeded our allowance.

Like being back in the Army. Not on a pleasant vacation.

I wonder if the color on the face of the medallions will match each's cruiser's Captain's Circle status. Such as blue for newbies, silver for Platinum, or black for Elite.

"You can customize your Medallion with a choice of colors."

So, everyone can have a black one I suppose.

We got a lot of info. about it in the latest "Captain's Circle" we got a few days ago. If you want to "stick" with the cruise card you may do so.

I do not see where it says that in the "Captain's Circle" article.

Can you tell me where it does say you can stick with the cruise card?

Do you own a cell phone? Do you use the internet? You're already being electronically tagged.

And your point is what?

Just because things we don't like are being forced on us then its OK for more things we don't like to be forced on us?

I really don't care about this tagging on Princess because I WILL disable it using a protective device when I don't need to use it as I currently use a cruisecard on board to open a door or come on board.

There was probably a reaction from passengers to cards to unlock cabin doors when they changed from metal keys, those doorlocks we now have log every entry and whose card was used to make it. They can be interrogated and the information easily extracted and printed out. I have seen it done only 2 months ago when a Princess employee, not our steward, came into our room while my g/f was sleeping alone, and had to be tracked down. It didn't take long for them to find out who he was.

"You can customize your Medallion with a choice of colors."

Of course you can.

Last year we already had Princess employees telling us to leave the International café area as we had sat there too long. With this technology they would be able to tell us how exactly many minutes we had been there and that we had exceeded our allowance.

With this new system, once your time limit has been reached, the medallion can interact with the chairs to send a mild electric shock to your fanny. And every two minutes thereafter, the shock level will increase.

Again nothing has been said or demonstrated on how to put a Do Not Disturb setting or a Safety only setting.

...except the Q&A on the website:

Will I be able to opt out of or turn off this new technology?

If you do not want to take advantage of the full Ocean Medallion Class experience, you can switch your privacy setting to "Safety Only" and enjoy the cruise the same great way you do today.

Last year we already had Princess employees telling us to leave the International café area as we had sat there too long.

Not to sidetrack, but what the hey? I thought the IC was in an open public area (at least on all the ships I've looked at). Since when is there a time limit in any such place?

...except the Q&A on the website:

 

Will I be able to opt out of or turn off this new technology?

If you do not want to take advantage of the full Ocean Medallion Class experience, you can switch your privacy setting to "Safety Only" and enjoy the cruise the same great way you do today.

That just says you can do it BUT not how do you do it. Refer to other parts of my posting on getting the true facts.

" The people who are trying to answer them have already admitted they are not official answers and they are only going by what they have seen at other places. If Princess is actually monitoring these types of discussions now would be a good time to speak up"

That just says you can do it BUT not how do you do it. Refer to other parts of my posting on getting the true facts.

The "how" is easy. You can either set it up at home before you leave, or use the compass while on the ship to change your settings. The CES presentation lays this out in detail. Start at the 20:00 mark here:

The "how" is easy. You can either set it up at home before you leave, or use the compass while on the ship to change your settings. The CES presentation lays this out in detail. Start at the 20:00 mark here:

You can also go to customer services and have the setting changed to "safety mode". There is no "programming" of the medallion required. The change is made on the server side.

 

Last year we already had Princess employees telling us to leave the International café area as we had sat there too long. With this technology they would be able to tell us how exactly many minutes we had been there and that we had exceeded our allowance.

Like being back in the Army. Not on a pleasant vacation.

What gave you away? The pillow and blanket?

What gave you away? The pillow and blanket?

People have been known to camp out at coffee bars.

like button please.:cool:

I keep hoping this will show up in the mail soon. I haven't seen anything in writing or in a video yet that confirms one can "stick" with the cruise card. As of today, the info on the Princess web site FAQ says:

Will I be able to opt out of or turn off this new technology?

If you do not want to take advantage of the full Ocean Medallion Class experience, you can switch your privacy setting to "Safety Only" and enjoy the cruise the same great way you do today.

 

Looking forward to the arrival of the magazine for further info as your post indicates that they directly contradict the info on the web site.

Yeah, I might have jumped the gun on that one. You're most likely right. You can opt out, but have to keep the safety mode on. Still, it really won't bother me, except....I DON"T want to be notified of annoying art sales/side walk sales/shore side shopping sales/spa specials, etc. Somehow, I think we probably will be.