How long before Carnival goes to the wrist bands

[Aplmac]

The S&S cards make nice little cruise souvenirs for those of us that collect them.

 

I hope Carnival doesn't switch to wristbands.

I like having the card, so I say "No thank-you" to wrist bands.

As a keen collector of Carnival cards

I certainly oppose the move to wrist bands

not to mention the expense of changing thousands of locks on cabin doors

to accept the new technology.

Maybe there could be a choice of either card or wrist-band

 

.

[Aplmac]

....

And we checked on/off the ship just like a sign and sail card.

It was just MUCH easier.

Like checking on/off the ship via cruise-card is a huge hassle? LOL :confused:

 

I don't see a problem: the security guy sticks the card in the machine,

it goes Doing and everything's OK

 

.

Edited December 27, 2014 by Aplmac

[CruiseHealing]

As a DisneyWorld Premium Annual PassHolder I have been using the wristband for over two years. I was one of the few APs that was part of the test group with wrist bands. For fast pass it is great. To wear around all day be it on Land or sea, no thanks. I don't wear a watch so having something on my wrist gets annoying. Disney gives annual Passholders both options, magnetic card and a wrist band. Unless we need the band for fast pass reservation, the wrist bands stay home. On cruises I use lanyards. I wear bathing suites from sunup to dinner time. Putting the card in my pocket will just it lost quicker.

[Disconnections]

As a DisneyWorld Premium Annual PassHolder I have been using the wristband for over two years. I was one of the few APs that was part of the test group with wrist bands. For fast pass it is great. To wear around all day be it on Land or sea, no thanks. I don't wear a watch so having something on my wrist gets annoying. Disney gives annual Passholders both options, magnetic card and a wrist band. Unless we need the band for fast pass reservation, the wrist bands stay home. On cruises I use lanyards. I wear bathing suites from sunup to dinner time. Putting the card in my pocket will just it lost quicker.

 

You don't need to use your MagicBand for FastPass+ unless you're trying to abuse the ecosystem with "theme park validation."

[amyh13]

Like checking on/off the ship via cruise-card is a huge hassle? LOL :confused:

 

I don't see a problem: the security guy sticks the card in the machine,

it goes Doing and everything's OK

 

.

 

 

I do not wear my card around my neck so when on a shore excursion it involves managing two kids, digging thru a beach bag for a wallet, while pushing a stroller and scanning 3 cards for my kids. Then I put them away so that I don't lose it.

 

With a band, each kid walks up, taps the scanner with the band, I do the same and we keep moving. Much easier.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Disconnections]

As a keen collector of Carnival cards

I certainly oppose the move to wrist bands

not to mention the expense of changing thousands of locks on cabin doors

to accept the new technology.

Maybe there could be a choice of either card or wrist-band

 

.

 

Starwood Hotels and Resorts is currently in the process of changing all of the door locks at three of their brands (W Hotels, aLoft and Element) to be compatible with what they call "SPG Keyless." It will simply allow for your phone to act as a Bluetooth room key (Apple restricts access to the NFC chip because of the secure_element embedded inside of the chip which means Android is affected too.) instead of NFC or RFID. This will be costly, but they expect it to be completed by the middle or the end of 2015. If successful, it should find its way to other brands.

 

Many other franchised hotels have already begun switching to RFID and NFC room keys. Walt Disney World switched years ago when they implemented RFID into their Key to the World cards. Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has RFID compatible door locks. Eventually, Carnival will have them on one of their new ships. They are simply more efficient than a magnetic strip and certainly don't "demagnetize" (although, if it has both, the magnetic strip can demagnetize, but the RFID capabilities will remain in working condition).

[Disconnections]

I do not wear my card around my neck so when on a shore excursion it involves managing two kids, digging thru a beach bag for a wallet, while pushing a stroller and scanning 3 cards for my kids. Then I put them away so that I don't lose it.

 

With a band, each kid walks up, taps the scanner with the band, I do the same and we keep moving. Much easier.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

As we have seen from FP Merge Points and FP Return lines, the time it takes to scan is nothing more than a bottleneck. When it is a Phase 2 or Phase 3 at FastPass Return, instead of taking two seconds for each family of four, it now takes 15-20 seconds. This adds up quickly. Add in time for guests not paying attention and when you have to stop the lines to accommodate standby guests.

 

At FastPass Return, this bottleneck has created lines that extend beyond the attraction's entrance; some across the entire land itself. This is mostly because of the time it takes to scan, guests showing up too early or late, others standing there because they see a line and those without an actual FastPass reservation who pretend to have one.

[CruiseHealing]

You don't need to use your MagicBand for FastPass+ unless you're trying to abuse the ecosystem with "theme park validation."

 

That's true, but that is the only time we use the bands.

We went to Epcot last week and left the bands at home.

[CruiseHealing]

I do not wear my card around my neck so when on a shore excursion it involves managing two kids, digging thru a beach bag for a wallet, while pushing a stroller and scanning 3 cards for my kids. Then I put them away so that I don't lose it.

 

With a band, each kid walks up, taps the scanner with the band, I do the same and we keep moving. Much easier.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I should clarify. I use lanyards on the ship. Since I bring my wallet on land the lanyard stays in the cabin. But if they did offer a wrist band I would not use if! Just put my ss card in my wallet. I do see your point with Strollers, but I don't have to push a stroller.

[Jana60]

I do not wear my card around my neck so when on a shore excursion it involves managing two kids, digging thru a beach bag for a wallet, while pushing a stroller and scanning 3 cards for my kids. Then I put them away so that I don't lose it.

 

With a band, each kid walks up, taps the scanner with the band, I do the same and we keep moving. Much easier.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

I'm like my lanyards to wear my card around my neck. My lanyards are like jewelry. I have them in different colors some with sparkly stones. I use the plastic stretchy ones that the casino gives out when I go ashore because it will also hook to my bathing suit strap so that I don't have to worry about losing my card in the ocean.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

Edited December 27, 2014 by Jana60

[oceanmom62]

Quick question. I do not do cell phones so I don't have a Smartphone. Do they still give out some sort of physical key or am I out of luck? Thanks.

[Disconnections]

Quick question. I do not do cell phones so I don't have a Smartphone. Do they still give out some sort of physical key or am I out of luck? Thanks.

 

Yes.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Disconnections

[Out to sea!]

Quick question. I do not do cell phones so I don't have a Smartphone. Do they still give out some sort of physical key or am I out of luck? Thanks.

 

You get a key card.

[misterchatter]

ah, the answer to everything... "duct tape" :d

 

Brillant! :d

[anitasmile]

Does anyone think carnival will go to the wristbands like Disneyworld? I think the disney ships are making the move as well as RCCL. If you dont know what I'm talking about basically its a band that opens your door has all your info so you can make purchases it very convenient and less likely to be lost then the current SS card. What do you guys think.

 

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I don't care either way...however i do save my room key cards and have for years...would hate to disrupt my collection.. lol

 

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[Cruzaholic41]

Does anyone think carnival will go to the wristbands like Disneyworld? I think the disney ships are making the move as well as RCCL. If you dont know what I'm talking about basically its a band that opens your door has all your info so you can make purchases it very convenient and less likely to be lost then the current SS card. What do you guys think.

 

The short answer is, I don't know. The wristbands are still in the trial phase on those 2 other cruise lines, so I suspect they won't consider it until disney and RCI work out the kinks.

 

But as an added note - these boards are funny. Right now, it's a terrible idea, but mark my words. When CCL does go to wristbands, it'll be the greatest idea ever, according to some of these posters.

 

By the way, on both cruise lines currently with the wristbands, they are not mandatory. You can still opt for the cards.

[Out to sea!]

The short answer is, I don't know. The wristbands are still in the trial phase on those 2 other cruise lines, so I suspect they won't consider it until disney and RCI work out the kinks.

 

But as an added note - these boards are funny. Right now, it's a terrible idea, but mark my words. When CCL does go to wristbands, it'll be the greatest idea ever, according to some of these posters.

 

By the way, on both cruise lines currently with the wristbands, they are not mandatory. You can still opt for the cards.

 

I believe, even if Carnival does come out with wristbands it will be optional, just as it is at Disney. No need for anyone to ever have to worry about using a wristband if they don't want to.

[2chilover]

Wrist bands might make for a better look than people wearing their sail and sign cards hanging from around their necks. Never understood the appeal :eek:

 

Agreed.

 

I would rather have a wrist band than an S&S card - more convenient.

Edited January 1, 2015 by 2chilover

[Retired_to_Cruise]

So we went from going to wristbands to having both options. So now we are assuming that Carnival will provide both options at the same time. So they will now have to maintain the old system as well as provide the infrastructure for the wristbands. Seems like a really expensive proposition that will probably filter right down to the cost of the cruise. I can just picture some very enterprising children deciding to switch their wristbands with other children they have met on the ship. Will make for very interesting traffic jams when they try to exit or enter at ports and the kids they switched with are nowhere near the debarkation station when this happens.

[undertheradar]

So we went from going to wristbands to having both options. So now we are assuming that Carnival will provide both options at the same time. So they will now have to maintain the old system as well as provide the infrastructure for the wristbands. Seems like a really expensive proposition that will probably filter right down to the cost of the cruise. I can just picture some very enterprising children deciding to switch their wristbands with other children they have met on the ship. Will make for very interesting traffic jams when they try to exit or enter at ports and the kids they switched with are nowhere near the debarkation station when this happens.

 

Right! Suddenly, kids will decide to switch wristbands but it never occurred to them to switch S+S cards.

[Disconnections]

So we went from going to wristbands to having both options. So now we are assuming that Carnival will provide both options at the same time. So they will now have to maintain the old system as well as provide the infrastructure for the wristbands. Seems like a really expensive proposition that will probably filter right down to the cost of the cruise. I can just picture some very enterprising children deciding to switch their wristbands with other children they have met on the ship. Will make for very interesting traffic jams when they try to exit or enter at ports and the kids they switched with are nowhere near the debarkation station when this happens.

 

An RFID chip can be embedded into the ship card, meaning they can work under the same infrastructure.

[v3cruiser]

Does anyone think carnival will go to the wristbands like Disneyworld? I think the disney ships are making the move as well as RCCL. If you dont know what I'm talking about basically its a band that opens your door has all your info so you can make purchases it very convenient and less likely to be lost then the current SS card. What do you guys think.

 

Sent from my Samsung S3 using Forums mobile app

 

Ah yes, I can see it now. Elegant nite with all passengers dawning thier wristbands.maybe i will get to wear a secknd band for shore excursion?! One for each arm! Maybe ill just collect them throughout the cruise and never take them off! Sweetness. It will be a new fashion trend.

[meatloafsfan]

Ah yes, I can see it now. Elegant nite with all passengers dawning thier wristbands.maybe i will get to wear a secknd band for shore excursion?! One for each arm! Maybe ill just collect them throughout the cruise and never take them off! Sweetness. It will be a new fashion trend.

 

And people will keep their bands from cruise to cruise and wear them on the next cruise as a status symbol - "see how many bands I have? I'm platinum, out of my way!"

[Rock712]

Ok , here's my .02 worth of opinion. First , as a long time Disney fan and annual passholder with several trips a year , I had the same objections when they came out with the wristbands. Now , after about a year in having one , I absolutely love the convenience. No digging for cards or keys. I think this would be especially nice when on a warm weather cruise and pockets might be at a minimum. As many have pointed out , they are not welded to your wrist , they are easily removable for whenever you don't feel like wearing.

as far as being worried about screaming tourist when in a port , I'm pretty sure that the locals , especially the criminal element , are going to be able to distinguish between the locals and the hordes of tourists descending from the ships at dock. Hmmm ... lets see , it's a pasty looking family covered in suntan lotion , carrying bags / and or backpacks , taking pictures of everything , but hey , I don't see one of those tell tale wristbands , so they must be locals.

I'm sure that years ago , when the ships stopped handing out keys and started handing people S&S cards that everyone was up in arms. No way , not going to carry around a piece of plastic with all my info on it that anyone can steal.

[travler27]

I don't think it really matters what folks like or what folks want. The cards work just fine, the costs to implement wristbands is astronomical (Disney spent in excess of $1,000,000,000 that's a billion dollars) and does nothing positive for the cruise line's corporate bottom line.

 

Disney doesn't really care if you want to collect bands or if they are more convenient either. They are trying to shrink the hours long lines at ride entrances so they can squeeze more customers thru the same multi-billion dollar attractions. Cruise lines don't have that problem unless you count the 3 minute line to re-board. I don't really understand what problem the wristbands would solve on a cruise ship.

 

Let's face it, most of us use the cards to get in and out of our rooms, enter and exit the ship and to buy a beer every once in a while. What's the big deal? Is it really that hard to find your S&S card in your pocket?

Edited January 1, 2015 by travler27