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

[Thrak]

Similar reactions to the EZ-Pass toll transponders when first introduced and the Metro-Cards that replaced the old subway tokens in NYC some years ago. Some Co-workers initially refused electronic deposit paychecks years ago and would rather stand in line at a bank to cash a paycheck because that was the way their father did it. My late father-in-law had radial tires removed on his last new car because he wanted bias-ply tires because that is what he always had on his cars.

I just printed boarding passes for a recent flight but I saw younger travelers using their smart phones to check in instead of printing a paper boarding pass so as a senior citizen I'll have to try that next time.

 

Now I have a question regarding the medallion.

 

Previously wearing a cruise card around my neck occasionally my DSLR camera battery would disable the cruise card after wearing the camera around my neck.

 

Has anyone ever had a similar problem using a medallion?

 

Howard

 

Highly unlikely. The cruise card had a magnetic stripe that was very easily disrupted. The Medallion technology is not susceptible to the same types of interference. One more reason I'm looking forward to the new tech.

[DnD_Cruisin]

Medallions have not yet been rolled out for public use. It's likely that there is some technical testing happening on the ships that have had their installations. If you do get a response that they have had a problem before the first Medallion cruise later this year, it had better be from a Princess employee or a contractor.

 

That said, the technology used in the Medallions should be very resistant to being disabled by external fields whether magnetic, electro-magnetic or whatever.

I would have thought they would have rolled out the Compass software by now. With the 1st Medalion cruise under 90 days away. Not a lot of time to remediate any bugs in the Ocean Ready aspect of the app. I've been an IT PM for 20+ years and I would be very uncomfortable releasing too close to the initial use date. No amount of testing can guarantee what will happen when end users get a hold of a new product. Case in point: Who anticipated users would use CD trays as a cup holder?

 

Considering the angst and lack of technical expertise I see in threads about this new tech, I hope they are also ramping up CS staffing. The phone lines are going to be lit up for weeks.

 

I would have to concur with your assessment on magnetic impact on the medallion. Considering the investment made that should have been a very high design requirement. But who knows for sure.....

 

I guess we'll find out.

 

 

 

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[Hoosier-Cruiser]

I would have thought they would have rolled out the Compass software by now.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing this morning.

[cclvr]

Similar reactions to the EZ-Pass toll transponders when first introduced and the Metro-Cards that replaced the old subway tokens in NYC some years ago. Some Co-workers initially refused electronic deposit paychecks years ago and would rather stand in line at a bank to cash a paycheck because that was the way their father did it. My late father-in-law had radial tires removed on his last new car because he wanted bias-ply tires because that is what he always had on his cars.

I just printed boarding passes for a recent flight but I saw younger travelers using their smart phones to check in instead of printing a paper boarding pass so as a senior citizen I'll have to try that next time.

 

Now I have a question regarding the medallion.

 

Previously wearing a cruise card around my neck occasionally my DSLR camera battery would disable the cruise card after wearing the camera around my neck.

 

Has anyone ever had a similar problem using a medallion?

 

Howard

 

 

Just beware, last year on our way home from FT Lauderdale airport - the Southwest Computers were down...everyone who did not have a printed boarding pass had to get out of line and go get one!....probably better to have one at least as a backup!

[Thrak]

I would have thought they would have rolled out the Compass software by now.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing this morning.

 

The last I heard the OCEAN site is supposed to (finally!) have some actual functionality sometime mid-October.

I'm with you rewarding late roll outs. I worked for a state agency and the disaster that happened every single time they rolled out something new was mind boondoggling. I helped nip one issue in the bud but just barely. My group got a pre-release look at a new system and noted a huge issue that had the potential for massive law suits. The developer said it was "just how web apps worked" and "wasn't a problem".

 

It took us an hour to make them see that if user #1 entered a case note in someone's file - for instance something like "client is progressing in program well and is a good candidate for successful placement" and then user #2 changed that entry to read something like "user is a piece of garbage and should be gutted like a fish to help make the world a better place" and the system did not reflect that user #2 had, in fact edited the note but continued to show that user #1 had entered it then this was a problem. Not one person in the testing group or in the administration had even notice this issue. It took us maybe 5 minutes to spot it.

 

When the system went live there were many (many!) other issues that cropped up. Real world vs a closed test is very different.

[DnD_Cruisin]

Mid October?!

 

Wow. That's within 30 days of 1st intended use. I know I tend to be overly risk adverse but IMO that's insane.

 

 

 

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[tothemall&beyond]

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.

 

They look like all other stairwells except narrower. Panelled, carpeted, artwork.

[tothemall&beyond]

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

 

Actually, we're going to sail on Regal in a few weeks, and our friends are onboard right now. This is what they've learned. We will have to load all our passport info onto the medallion app. They are going to use the medallion to check you in for the cruise by comparing info stored on medallion app with your actual passport. The cruise terminal has been gutted and redesigned for medallion technology.

[tothemall&beyond]

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.

You can't board the ship at the terminal without it! Also needed for muster drills because no more scanning cards for those who get the medallions. ie., they are rolling out the program on certain decks and in certain parts of ship, little by little with more on each successive cruise.

[tothemall&beyond]

Thank you for the info. I have another question, Do the medallions have your name on them? Just wondering how I can tell mine from my husbands?

Yes your name, and all the same info on the cruise cards. Ship name, voyage #.

[tothemall&beyond]

Yes, I see the lady's medallion has her name on it --Marie Rose--. So, if you loose it, better take your name off your cabin door!!

 

No different than someone finding your key card and happening upon your cabin.

[voljeep]

just went to the Ocean.com website - saw no place to login and enter any kind of information such as passport info. 16 days until rollout on a very limited basis

[Omega1]

Ocean medallions - I would be more excited if they re-instated the beef medallions on the always available menu!!

[floridalover5623]

You can't board the ship at the terminal without it! Also needed for muster drills because no more scanning cards for those who get the medallions. ie., they are rolling out the program on certain decks and in certain parts of ship, little by little with more on each successive cruise.

They're still going to have to verify each passenger in as they enter.

No time saved there.

[satxdiver]

As with all new technology, I am amused by all the claims that the ***** will cause cancer in rats, deformed babies, etc. The ***** is a RFID device that only contains a numerical ID. The sensors on the ship can see it when it is near and then go into the database on the ship computer and see who owns that ID. The ***** does not radiate anything as it is a passive device and only responds when near a sensor which provides the ability to respond. RFID devices have been in use for decades so it is not a new technology but is new to pax on ships or theme parks. Through a intranet (network only available on the ship) one can see their information which we can do today with Princess@sea. Since you are using the intranet, it is free not like the internet which allows access to the world wide web (WWW) and is a chargeable service. Pax will of course need a smart phone (i.e. android), tablet, laptop or a provided video device (i.e. cabin TV via cable) with WiFi capability to access the information.

 

I spent several decades working with computers, networks etc. For any company to go "cold turkey" and immediately switch over to new technology or even a new update on existing software is a brain dead decision and has caused many IT people to be looking for a new job. It needs to be implemented slowly with a test group that will gradually get larger as time progresses. The way Princess is now handling this new technology is very comforting to me.

Edited October 28, 2017 by satxdiver

[voljeep]

So, who do you suggest gets fired over this fiasco? - IT?, Marketers? Jan Swartz? Carnival execs?

 

If , with your vast knowledge, how would you have handled this innovative technology, Disney bracelets be damned ( and that is what they pimped, that the 2 most important people in the Carnival organization implemented the bracelets at Disney ).

 

Maybe should have advertised Medallion and non-medallion rooms as soon as they knew? - nah

 

kinda like the club class mini suites and regular mini-suites?

[satxdiver]

So, who do you suggest gets fired over this fiasco? - IT?, Marketers? Jan Swartz? Carnival execs?

 

If , with your vast knowledge, how would you have handled this innovative technology, Disney bracelets be damned ( and that is what they pimped, that the 2 most important people in the Carnival organization implemented the bracelets at Disney ).

 

Maybe should have advertised Medallion and non-medallion rooms as soon as they knew? - nah

 

kinda like the club class mini suites and regular mini-suites?

 

I am not sure about the "vast knowledge" part but the IT director and perhaps some chief assistants take the heat in a commercial company. In the case of Princess it would be whomever has been charged with implementing this technology on the fleet. As to who these people are is not important to me the end user.

 

I would definitely start out with a test group on one ship to see what bugs appear. There is never anything better for testing than the end user. As confidence grows and bugs fixed, I would increase the size of the test group until full confidence has been attained. This is how we did it in the commercial world.

 

The important thing to remember is that this technology has been used before on cruise ships (Disney) and at theme parks (again Disney) successfully. BTW it is no surprise that Disney is leading the movement. Having worked with them before, Disney is a very forward thinking company pushing technology to its limits.

[Jessejo]

Will it help me find DH if he gets lost on the ship - again? ;) We'll be on the Regal in Feb.

[beg3yrs]

I am not sure about the "vast knowledge" part but the IT director and perhaps some chief assistants take the heat in a commercial company. In the case of Princess it would be whomever has been charged with implementing this technology on the fleet. As to who these people are is not important to me the end user.

....

 

Just a thought here. Given the tendency for marketing types to only hear what they want to hear and then write what they think the customers should hear, it may be the case where IT had always planned to roll out ***** in a phased manner and marketing didn't, or wouldn't, understand that.

[floridalover5623]

Will it help me find DH if he gets lost on the ship - again? ;) We'll be on the Regal in Feb.

It's proposed that it will when all the features are working.

[azbirdmom]

Actually, we're going to sail on Regal in a few weeks, and our friends are onboard right now. This is what they've learned. We will have to load all our passport info onto the medallion app. They are going to use the medallion to check you in for the cruise by comparing info stored on medallion app with your actual passport. The cruise terminal has been gutted and redesigned for medallion technology.

 

We received a voicemail that we had been selected to use the Medallion on our December 10th cruise. We were originally rejected but I had called Princess to be put on the list for Medallion if a cabin that was included in the trial became available and apparently that is exactly what happened.

 

When I called back today the agent had to go through a checklist and asked if we had completed the immigration information which we had. She transferred all of the data over, we didn't have to do anything ourselves. Maybe the agents are completing the required information now because it's a trial?

 

All we had to do was confirm our mailing address and the size of wristband desired (S M L are available and they will give you dimensions if you aren't sure). The Medallions for our cruise will be shipped in two weeks. Very pleased it worked out - hopefully we will feel the same come December 10th!

[voljeep]

Congrats or your selection, we didn't make the cut...

 

Now that you have been selected, how much, and how do you plan to use this new innovative technology that the cruise industry has never seen before?

 

Will you play the casino games for real money on your device?

How about here and now?

How about there and then?

Partner tracking?

Other?

[XBGuy]

To the technically astute contributors to this conversation: Can you compare and contrast the technology of the medallion with that of the fobs that, it seems, all new cars now use for keyless entry and engine start-up?

 

I imagine that it is similar but not the same. For one thing, I know the car fobs are battery powered. (I've learned how to replace the batteries for both the fobs for my two cars.) I also know that there has never been a problem of putting a fob next to my cell phone.

[floridalover5623]

Yes your name, and all the same info on the cruise cards. Ship name, voyage #.

Does it show if you're Platinum or Elite?

[tothemall&beyond]

just went to the Ocean.com website - saw no place to login and enter any kind of information such as passport info. 16 days until rollout on a very limited basis

 

My friends are on Regal right now. They've been talking to crew who have explained how it will work. The ocean.com site is not ready yet for the input, but it will be for the first medallion sailing on the 13th.