brianlojeck

55 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

Except that information is already available to Princess because they record your card information for every bar drink and casino game you play.

On the one hand, I agree. In fact, I wondered exactly the same thing.

However, one must ask, if they already were able to track our movements via room charges, why would they spend millions in NRE and hardware upgrades in order to track our movements?

4 hours ago, lx200gps said:

  All you have to do is walk up to one of the very many helpful electronic screens and touch the person's Medallion to the senso

I never used those stairway screens in any serious way (I miss the map-plaques), so this never occurred to me...

That's terrifying!

1 hour ago, Vexorg said:

Would it be possible to get better pictures of the smaller ICs?  Haven't been able to find much on those based on what I can see, although it looks like there's a clock crystal (presumably to provide timing to the 52832)  and most likely some sort of amplifier.  I'm guessing some of the EEs hanging around here can probably do a better job of figuring that out than I can.

I figured the other ICs were either amplifiers/drivers for the antenna or power supplies for the Nordic IC... maybe a big capacitor for power stability purposes.

I assume the Nordic has it's own clock built in, because it seems to have a bunch of other stuff built in already, but the datasheet is freely available if anyone wants to do some light reading. 🙂

Like you, I wasn't able to find the other IC's part numbers with some quick googling

16 hours ago, polmcs said:

They have those circular sensors about every 10-15 feet or so in the Sanctuary. I had no problem ordering a drink via the app and having it delivered to me at my lounger! 😉 

This was my other issue: whenever I was somewhere NOT surrounded by wait-staff, the app told me drink ordering wasn't available. But, whenever I was somewhere where drink ordering was available, I could also just turn my head and tell someone I'd like a drink, and they would take the order.

Because my thoughts here are based on the OP, I'm going to make this a reply here to keep the conversation together. First, a bit about me: I'm an electronics designer (FPGA Programmer) in the Aerospace industry, and I teach engineering courses at the university level. I also love new toys.

In the OP's photographs, you can see some of the parts on the circuit board. one of them, the one with it's part number in 3 rows, is in Nordic Semiconductor's nRF52832 line. That part is, doubtless, the heart of the medallion. It contains a microprocessor (a very tiny computer), bluetooth, RFID, and WiFi hardware in the same chip.

I have tried to get the medallion to talk to other bluetooth, RFID, and WiFi hardware, with no success. The uProc is likely looking for very specific patterns before it starts to communicate.

I am fairly certain they ship the medallions to the passenger so close to the sail-date because they want to make sure the battery doesn't run out while at sea. I'd be interested to see what the battery life is. I'm sure their 28 day round-trip to Tahiti is viable, but what about their 110 day round-the-world cruise?

The heart of the system is 4 elements:

1: they've dramatically increased ship-to-world network speed. I'm sure this is for data-sharing and data-collection purposes, like tracking where everybody is on-board at all times of the day, and using that data to analyze ship design.

2: MUCH better wifi throughout the ship. Basically, everywhere has a solid connection.

3: the medallion you carry

4: these sensors. In hallways they are set about every 20 yards, there is one in every room of every cabin (4 in my suite alone). I never looked for them in bars and dining joints, but I'm sure they are there... as well as in the pool areas.

In my testing, the sensors detect you when you get within about a yard of them. They cannot interpolate your position between sensors: if you watch your location as you walk down a hallway you'll see yourself "teleport" 20 yards at a time, not walk smoothly down the hallway.

My room door opened smoothly for me: it was always open by the time I got within two strides of my door.

Paying for things must be a pain in the butt: no crew member seemed to want to do it. On the Royal, the crew would just confirm your room number and name instead of having you "beep" the medallion.

I figure, one of two things are happening. Either:

1: the sensor broadcasts an ID number via bluetooth; the medallion receives the ID number, then re-broadcasts it using the ships vastly better WiFi to a central computer that uses the information to figure out where you are

OR

2: the medallion broadcasts an ID number via bluetooth; the sensor receives it and communicates with the central computer either via WiFi or hard-wired link

Chances are, they are using option 2, so that the most work is not done by the tiny disposable thing, but the Nordic chip has a lot of horsepower for such a simple job... so they may be saving that horsepower for something more complex or nefarious in the future.

Either way, the medallion's only real purpose is to help a computer on the ship find you. Everything else is done by phone apps, ship's systems, etc.

When it's all said and done, I liked that I could pre-fill out my boarding paperwork, and it was kind of neat having my door open*, but I miss the cruise cards. there's no serious benefit to the medallion to the user**, and they don't fit in my wallet onshore.

* This is a security weakness. If I stole your card, it would take A Long Time to test the card in every door, and I'd look suspicious. On the other hand, if I steal your medallion I only need to walk quickly through the ship, and listen for a door to unlock

** there are, though, serious data-mining benefits to Princess. I expect to see Vegas-like benefits systems, where people who spend more time out and about in bars and casinos get more and better offers from the cruise line.

I moved past light pollution. I was pointing out that those cabins do not have balconies because OP mentioned being able to use the balcony and also mentioned "limited access". I thought they might not be aware they were looking at staterooms below the bridge which do not have balconies.

I'm looking at suites on the corner of the ship that do, indeed, have balconies.

Thanks!

That room (L101) specifically warns of limited access at sea, while the rooms I'm looking at (below the bridge, decks 8-12 roughly) don't... so I'll assume I'm GTG.

Appreciate the rapid reply!

I'm thinking about booking one of the front-most suites (B101, B102 would be examples, although there are 4 decks with these rooms) for the 4-day Ensenada run in 2019.

I know some princess ships with front-facing rooms have rules that require black-out curtains at night to avoid interfering with the bridge operations.

I'll be pretty grumpy if I can't use my balcony at night.

Does the Royal have such a rule, or will I be safe?

Spoke to a princess rep, who said I should be good, but he didn't exactly sound certain...

Thanks!

I can tell you the best three places onboard to view the canal transit:

Deck 10 and Deck 11, all teh way Forward. You'll see an unmarked door that leads out to a wonderful view-deck out front.

Deck 8, all the way Aft. The door is a bit less secretive looking, and leads to a great view.

Both of these give much better views than the Deck 15/16/etc areas, and better than the Sanctuary's rearward view.

If you have the patience to put up with an amateurish video production, i threw together a video showing how to get to all 3 locations.

My wife and I just got off the Island through the Canal, and had an amazing time! I hope you and yours do as well!

Does anyone have scans/photos of the patters from the 5-day Cabo run out of Los Angeles?

Primarily I'm looking for the two days the ship was in Cabo, but others would be appreciated as well.

Many thanks!

2 if you want to book it on your own just tell them you are staying at a hotel. No need to book one, they aren't going to check.

I'm ashamed to admit that never occurred to me.

I'll be in Cabo on Princess for an overnight stay.

we'll be 6 people, one child, 4 first-time cruisers. The group is serious animal lovers.

i'd like to treat them to a private "swim with the dolphins" type experience without the "everyone get on the bus!" type cruise ship tour.

I found one company that does such things, but they tell me I can only book the cruise tour because I'm not in a hotel.

Viator doesn't seem to have this type of tour in Cabo.

Can anyone suggest a way I could book this tour without booking a hotel for that night in addition to my cruise ship room?

I've lost over 80 lbs in the past 6 years, so I always check when I'm back from a cruise.

The day I get back, I've gained at least a pound per day onboard. Sometimes 2.

Within a week, that's usually better than cut in half if I can go back to normal habits.

Within two or three weeks i should be back to my pre cruise weight.

If you have actual will power (I do not) losing the weight should be fairly routine.

My thinking is: I lost weight in order to relax on vacation... Not to have something to stress about on vacation.

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When I took that cruise there was a gentleman right at the bow of the ship almost every minute we were on the water. He was apparently very happy with what he saw, bird wise, during the trip. He was a bit of an anorak, but I think more socially adjusted types would also have a good time...

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In case anyone finds this thread in the future, I've found other questions in this forum that mention the company http://www.gosim.com as a potential vendor for international Sims. I may pick one up and try it out...

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https://www.room77.com/floor_plan_standalone.html?hid=163353&pid=0K0b3V&id=Y8301a

 

Link to a layout map of tower room numbers

Thank you! What a fantastic website!

There's a place on the US Dept of State website that will give you the information:

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country.html

Thank you!

Two quick questions. This is my first time in Ft. Lauderdale, and my second in florida since a trip to Disney when I was...13?

1: We chose this hotel, partially, because it's close enough to walk to the port in an emergency. Is there a route from the hotel directly to Berth 2 (where Princess says we are leaving from) or do I have to walk further to the main automotive entrance, then double-back to the Princess area? (It's hard to tell from Google maps)

2: Hilton's phone app lets you check in and choose your room remotely. (apparently, I've never used it before). Is there a common numbering to rooms with a good view of teh cruise ports? I realize they'll be on the south side of the hotel, but is that odd or even room numbers, are higher or lower numbers closer to the water, etc...

Thanks!

as a serious tequila fan, may I humbly suggest you try the Cazadores?

Patron isn't bad tequila, but it's terribly overpriced. All that frat-boy-cache costs money.

Cazadores (and, if you ever come across it, Jimador) are excellent blancos, with a much smaller price tag.

And, you sail to Colombia, not Columbia (where is that?)

I dated a ColOmbian girl in high school who would get annoyed by the same thing. I guess my NY accent comes through the keyboard.

There's no cell phone package on the ship. Only WiFi.

on-board actually isn't my issue. I'm thinking more of being on-shore. Once we're back on-board I don't particularly care to communicate with anyone. :-)

Hello,

 

Can anyone tell me if the Ruby arrives in port at 7.00 am, is there enough time for the two of us to get a taxi and catch an Alaskan Air flight from the LAX airport at 1:20 pm?

Also, what is the cruise terminal called at the Los Angeles port? Just in case it matters, we are Canadians, if the Customs takes longer to go through? Thanks so much.

I've been through the port of Los Angeles (technically San Pedro, but that only matters to locals)... 6 times? Maybe 7?

If you get a decent group assignment (especially if you are willing to carry your own bags) you could easily be in the parking lot by 10:00am.

Foreigners seem (just eyeballing the movement of the two lines relative to each other) to get through customs faster than US citizens, because there's so many more of us to process.

I should mention, there was ONE TRIP where customs had serious issues, and we were on the ship until 12:30pm... but that, by all accounts, is a truly rare occurrence.

Two questions:

1: The Princess website implies (but never outright states) that US Citizens do not need a visa from any of the ports on the December 2016 Panama Canal Transit (Mexico, Aruba, Columbia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua). Is this the case? Their advice to contact every Embassy in each port just doesn't seem practical.

2: is there a cell-phone-service I can sign up for that will work for all those ports? Preferably something month-to-month where I can just slap a SIM card into my usual phone.

Thanks for any advice!

Ultimate Balcony Dining is incredibly romantic, the food is great, the service is incredible.

Worth. Every. Penny.

I've never been completely in love with most of the specialty dining on Princess (it's good, just not stunningly good), but the balcony dining was worth every single penny, and a wonderful experience.

It's expensive, but there are third party companies (might even be one with the cruise line) who will fly you in a helicopter to hike the glacier.

Best excursion I've ever taken.

I'm already likely to avoid mini-suites on Princess because I hate everyone having a view into my entire balcony.

Now I'm more likely to avoid it because I so rarely eat in the MDR this is a waste of money.

Now, laundry, free booze, and Sabatini's breakfast in a suite... that's a different story.