Just Back From Regal Princess Dry Dock: Ocean Medallion Technology Installed, Plus Ot

The Ocean Medallions may be the most headline worthy update but the "installation" of the mid-ship stairway may be the most important change .

• New staircase: Before the ship's dry dock, passengers would literally hit a wall at this central point (pictured), with access cut off from Deck 7 upwards. Princess has listened to its passenger feedback and rectified this design flaw by instating the staircase, which now provides access right up to Deck 15 .
  

I don't believe these stairs were just installed but actually just uncovered . When we cruised on the Regal , I thought we saw mid-ship stairs which were reserved for service use .

Am I right ?

The Ocean Medallions may be the most headline worthy update but the "installation" of the mid-ship stairway may be the most important change .

 

 

• New staircase: Before the ship's dry dock, passengers would literally hit a wall at this central point (pictured), with access cut off from Deck 7 upwards. Princess has listened to its passenger feedback and rectified this design flaw by instating the staircase, which now provides access right up to Deck 15 .
  

I don't believe these stairs were just installed but actually just uncovered . When we cruised on the Regal , I thought we saw mid-ship stairs which were reserved for service use .

Am I right ?

Since those specific stairs were never passenger-use stairs in the first place in this class of ships I think a better word would have been "repurposed". Yes, they were service use and emergency exit only use, now passenger use.

Yay on the center staircase being open to passengers

Since those specific stairs were never passenger-use stairs in the first place in this class of ships I think a better word would have been "repurposed". Yes, they were service use and emergency exit only use, now passenger use.

They may well have been made more "passenger friendly" or "passenger acceptable". Obviously I don't know but the crew staircases I have seen elsewhere were nowhere near as nice as the ones for passengers so they may well have "spiffed up" the central staircase in order to open it up for passenger use.

Yay on the center staircase being open to passengers

Ditto.

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So now thats Royal and Regal had their stairs opened up for passenger use

When is P&O Britannia - all be it a 2 year old ship - due for her stairs to opened up for passenger use?

Does Majestic have hers opened up for passenger use or is this to happen later on ?....

So now thats Royal and Regal had their stairs opened up for passenger use

 

When is P&O Britannia - all be it a 2 year old ship - due for her stairs to opened up for passenger use?

 

 

Does Majestic have hers opened up for passenger use or is this to happen later on ?....

Majestic already has the centre stairs.

The Ocean Medallions may be the most headline worthy update but the "installation" of the mid-ship stairway may be the most important change .

This will be handy, when you're medallion won't open your cabin door, you will have a more direct route to the passenger services desk to get it resolved.

Anyone know what security measures are being put in place to protect the data on the new medallions? I asked this on a recent cruise and couldn't get any answers, but I realize it's not active yet. My concern is if the medallions use RFID they can easily be compromised. According to the press release about the medallions, all the information you provide pre-cruise is stored in the medallion real time, but makes no mention of encrypting or securing the data. I'm concerned about this because I've seen the damage that can be done when your personal information winds up in the wrong hands. Hope Princess has this in mind.

According to the press release about the medallions, all the information you provide pre-cruise is stored in the medallion real time, but makes no mention of encrypting or securing the data.

I don't think this is correct. I would be surprised if anything is stored on the medallion, rather is is simply a key to reference data on a server some where...

As the princess medallion seems to have the same parentage as the disney magic band, this artical might be interesting

http://gizmodo.com/how-i-let-disney-track-my-every-move-1792875386

Anyone know what security measures are being put in place to protect the data on the new medallions? I asked this on a recent cruise and couldn't get any answers, but I realize it's not active yet. My concern is if the medallions use RFID they can easily be compromised. According to the press release about the medallions, all the information you provide pre-cruise is stored in the medallion real time, but makes no mention of encrypting or securing the data. I'm concerned about this because I've seen the damage that can be done when your personal information winds up in the wrong hands. Hope Princess has this in mind.

Anyone know what security measures are being put in place to protect the data on the new medallions? I asked this on a recent cruise and couldn't get any answers, but I realize it's not active yet. My concern is if the medallions use RFID they can easily be compromised. According to the press release about the medallions, all the information you provide pre-cruise is stored in the medallion real time, but makes no mention of encrypting or securing the data. I'm concerned about this because I've seen the damage that can be done when your personal information winds up in the wrong hands. Hope Princess has this in mind.

Many people have had the same concerns but I still don't know what anyone could possibly do with any information from my Medallion.

They can't access my on board credit since my photo is linked to the Medallion and can't make any purchases.

They can't access my casino account since there's a password.

They can't access my internet account, again there's a password.

I view it just as safe or even more so than the cruise card.

Am I missing something? :confused:

They may well have been made more "passenger friendly" or "passenger acceptable". Obviously I don't know but the crew staircases I have seen elsewhere were nowhere near as nice as the ones for passengers so they may well have "spiffed up" the central staircase in order to open it up for passenger use.

Well, if it was like the Royal's mods, I doubt if you could tell that they weren't part of the original build. They are finished quite nicely.

Thanks for the info.

Well, if it was like the Royal's mods, I doubt if you could tell that they weren't part of the original build. They are finished quite nicely.

The Royal midship stairs cost $2.2M to update for passenger use. We were reminded of this fact multiple times by ship's officers that attended our January meet and greet. And they said complaints from the Cruise Critic contingent had a lot to do with the decision to open up the midship stairs.

On the Princess FAQ webpage for O-C-E-A-N they address some of the security concerns.

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ocean-medallion-class/ocean-faq/

Privacy Concerns?

All information provided before and during your cruise will be encrypted and is not stored on your Ocean Medallion. The most advanced software security models, tools, and methods are fundamental to Ocean Medallion Class. However, any guest is also welcome to opt out of all services at any time.

Could other people find it and use it to get into your room or charge purchases to you?

The Ocean Medallion contains no personal information. Your Ocean Medallion is associated with your profile that contains your onboard security picture. If that picture does not match a guest when a purchase is being made or when someone other than the original guest is nearby, access will not be granted to a stateroom and purchases cannot be made.

What happens if I lose my Medallion? How do I get a replacement? Is there a cost?

If you notify the crew that an Ocean Medallion has been lost, it will be identified and/or replaced at no cost. Your Ocean Medallion can be disabled at any time by you or an appropriate crew member.

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.

The Royal midship stairs cost $2.2M to update for passenger use. We were reminded of this fact multiple times by ship's officers that attended our January meet and greet. And they said complaints from the Cruise Critic contingent had a lot to do with the decision to open up the midship stairs.

Hope they continue to do so.

This will be handy, when you're medallion won't open your cabin door, you will have a more direct route to the passenger services desk to get it resolved.

Good point :D.

Tony

Am I missing something? :confused:

Paranoia?

Paranoia?

A big concern is the fact that Princess is not allowing any drink packages with the Medallion - this will turn a lot of people off and needs to be addressed by Princess.

A big concern is the fact that Princess is not allowing any drink packages with the Medallion - this will turn a lot of people off and needs to be addressed by Princess.

I have no doubt's that this will change very shortly.

although it states I can turn off the medallion does that mean I can get a normal old fashion credit card style for my door? My medallion will be at the bottom of the sea if they force me to take it.

although it states I can turn off the medallion does that mean I can get a normal old fashion credit card style for my door? My medallion will be at the bottom of the sea if they force me to take it.

Why don't you just leave it home. Then you won't have to worry about throwing it away on the ship.

You'll show them. ;p