Ocean Medallion App - Part 3

[barrykel]

8 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

If only ... they had a year of downtime to polish the app.

 

Oh wait.  They did.

This app needs a lot more than polish - it needs an extensive beta test, which is now being done by the customers. Doing the test during downtime would have required setting up a series of test cruises and then letting a few dozen testers loose to try and signup for them, which would have required a competent test group and a not-insignificant amount of cash. Either that was more than the beancounters were willing to spend, or the company they hired to develop the app really didn't understand how to test software.

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, barrykel said:

This app needs a lot more than polish - it needs an extensive beta test, which is now being done by the customers. Doing the test during downtime would have required setting up a series of test cruises and then letting a few dozen testers loose to try and signup for them, which would have required a competent test group and a not-insignificant amount of cash. Either that was more than the beancounters were willing to spend, or the company they hired to develop the app really didn't understand how to test software.

So I have to ask you. How do they go from a full set of line items to just three line items. I can understand that my data might be lost but how does the screen that presents data change. I am down to three items. 

[barrykel]

28 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

So I have to ask you. How do they go from a full set of line items to just three line items. I can understand that my data might be lost but how does the screen that presents data change. I am down to three items. 

One possibility would be if there's some data corruption in the fourth object that causes the database query or the middle tier data mapping layer to terminate in error, it would only return the first 3 objects, and that would be all the app shows. Or it could be something totally different. Probably wouldn't be that hard to fix for a reasonably skilled developer. 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

I have to agree with Barrykel... it does sound like a data problem of some kind and the most likely (without knowing any of the details) is a data corruption of misinterpretation. 

 

For example, I did a 4N on Britannia with P&O in July. Their web site didn't work for me when looking at my account... I got a red error message. I contacted them and it turned out that they expected my loyalty membership number (which had letters and numbers) to be in uppercase and if it is entered by the customer it does go in as uppercase. But my number was imported from a previous version of their database and it was imported in as lowercase. It wasn't something they allow me to change on the web site so I couldn't change it myself so they has to change it themselves. After that the web site worked. A simple data error. My 40 years of software development and database administration suggests that  some of these errors sound a lot like something similar to me.

[Roberto256]

12 hours ago, barrykel said:

This app needs a lot more than polish - it needs an extensive beta test, which is now being done by the customers. 

 

There was a post here within the past couple of weeks ... which I can no longer find to reply to...

 

It was blaming the user for having a problem, and not reporting it.

...with the claim that the only way a problem could be fixed is if it is reported.

 

Um ... that is an extremely poor software development practice.

 

Developers are needed, testers are needed, and automated testing is needed.

 

The testers should be finding, and reporting issues and regressions before customers even use a release of the app.

 

Requiring that customers find and report problems ensures that customers will be disappointed.

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 hour ago, Roberto256 said:

 

There was a post here within the past couple of weeks ... which I can no longer find to reply to...

 

It was blaming the user for having a problem, and not reporting it.

...with the claim that the only way a problem could be fixed is if it is reported.

 

Um ... that is an extremely poor software development practice.

 

Developers are needed, testers are needed, and automated testing is needed.

 

The testers should be finding, and reporting issues and regressions before customers even use a release of the app.

 

Requiring that customers find and report problems ensures that customers will be disappointed.

 

Can't agree more.

 

It is the modern way of software development though.

[Tedferg]

Barrykel, Snaxmuppet, thanks for you answers - this is just curiosity on my part at the moment. We had to cancel our Oct 31 cruise because of timing, so next cruise is Feb 2022. I decided to let the dust settle while PCL adjusts my information before looking further into Medallion Class App. 

 

I had thought the App would have a Form and fill in Data Items, could understand how items would go missing, but expected the Line items on the Form to be presented. This happened with DW previous good data has been lost but the item list is complete.

 

As I said, I will wait for them to adjust replacement and cancelled cruises information. BTW to Roberto256 - this is an example where a user, me, should in fact report the problem to highlight it. On the other hand, if it is known data corruption they might be doing a system wide fix - yes? no ?

Edited August 5, 2021 by Tedferg

[barrykel]

2 hours ago, Snaxmuppet said:

It is the modern way of software development though.

Actually, I'd say it's the old way of software development. There are modern development methodologies such as Test Driven Development that are proven to generate mostly bug-free software, but they tend to be a little slower and somewhat more expensive initially. The payback is, of course, in the long run - it costs around 10x as much to fix a bug found in testing vs finding it in code/debug, and 10x that if it's found by a customer after release. Of course that requires a long-term outlook that is foreign to most large corporations' finance groups and executives, who generally can't see any further out than the next fiscal quarter. And it can be difficult to introduce the newer technologies to existing IT management, who have been doing thing their way for some time, and are typically quite resistant to change.

[barrykel]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

On the other hand, if it is known data corruption they might be doing a system wide fix - yes? no ?

From what I've heard here, it seems like different users are seeing different types of data corruption; and even if the same field were corrupt for all, I suspect the correct data for the field would be different for each user. Most likely, the best that a system-wide fix could do would be to ensure the problems don't recur. It sounds like they're manually updating the database record for each user reporting a problem, and that task has got the dev team totally overwhelmed. I doubt if they've got the bandwidth at this point to even think about the long-term fix.

[nobog]

A little off subject but the good people of Minnesota got to pay over $200 million for a driver license renewal software.  Bug after bug - finally they started over with all new software - it sounds like what Princess is going through:

 

the problem: The Minnesota DVS Has a $90 Million Problem | DMV.ORG

the fix: MNLARS no more: State officials agree to scrap system, start over (fox9.com)

[leck57]

4 hours ago, barrykel said:

From what I've heard here, it seems like different users are seeing different types of data corruption; and even if the same field were corrupt for all, I suspect the correct data for the field would be different for each user. Most likely, the best that a system-wide fix could do would be to ensure the problems don't recur. It sounds like they're manually updating the database record for each user reporting a problem, and that task has got the dev team totally overwhelmed. I doubt if they've got the bandwidth at this point to even think about the long-term fix.

 

Enjoying your posts mate.

In addition to programming errors there seems to be basic omissions as well. For example, as far as I am aware, no one outside of the US can get their Medallion mailed to them. Yet when I go to the Medallion section on the App I get a choice of inputting a US address ( I live in Australia) and the other option Pickup at Port is greyed out so I cannot activate that option. It also says next to Pickup at Port the words "not available". This just seems a basic schoolboy error in setting it up.

[barrykel]

7 minutes ago, leck57 said:

 

Enjoying your posts mate.

In addition to programming errors there seems to be basic omissions as well. For example, as far as I am aware, no one outside of the US can get their Medallion mailed to them. Yet when I go to the Medallion section on the App I get a choice of inputting a US address ( I live in Australia) and the other option Pickup at Port is greyed out so I cannot activate that option. It also says next to Pickup at Port the words "not available". This just seems a basic schoolboy error in setting it up.

Aarrgghhh - that's a nasty one. Have you tried calling their support line, or don't they have one down under?  

[leck57]

1 hour ago, barrykel said:

Aarrgghhh - that's a nasty one. Have you tried calling their support line, or don't they have one down under?  

 

No, I won't call them. My cruise is not until early next year and regardless of what the App lets me do, we have to pick up our Medallions at the port in any event.

However, an incredibly basic error. As I said in another post, I have used the old App in the past, been on a Medallion cruise, and cruised with Princess many times, so I know the "system". If I was a first time Princess cruiser and was presented with this mess, I would wonder what company I had gotten myself involved with.

[Jumpmaster]

I response to a problem I reported to the MedallionClass Support Team, I just received the following: "Please note that support is currently prioritized by sail date. Not to worry… we’ll have you ready to sail in plenty of time ahead of your voyage. We appreciate your patience while we investigate."  Looks like we will just have to be patient and keep monitoring their progress.

[MustangGT]

Couldn’t resist! 

[MX-Drew]

Having just used this app I can only say the total thing is a gimmick and not worth the effort.

What is the point of making a reservation to be told it is not a firm booking but it just advises other guest how many people may attend.

As for dine my way, after the first day when we turned up at our chosen time only to be asked to wait until a table was free we just turned up when we wanted to dine and nothing was said to us other than showing us straight to a seat. 

[JF - retired RRT]

30 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Having just used this app I can only say the total thing is a gimmick and not worth the effort.

What is the point of making a reservation to be told it is not a firm booking but it just advises other guest how many people may attend.

As for dine my way, after the first day when we turned up at our chosen time only to be asked to wait until a table was free we just turned up when we wanted to dine and nothing was said to us other than showing us straight to a seat. 

Left hand...right hand.

and

Guy at the top proposes...everyone under him ignores🤣

[mike x ftc]

2 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

Having just used this app I can only say the total thing is a gimmick and not worth the effort.

What is the point of making a reservation to be told it is not a firm booking but it just advises other guest how many people may attend.

As for dine my way, after the first day when we turned up at our chosen time only to be asked to wait until a table was free we just turned up when we wanted to dine and nothing was said to us other than showing us straight to a seat. 

I agree, we're just off Regal and anything booked on the App is meaningless once on board.  You haven't 'reserved' anything, apparently you have just 'expressed an interest'!  The staff in the bars don't even use them, they just write down your room number, and on deck there was always drinks waiters wandering around calling out names to try and find the owners of the drinks!!  

[Tedferg]

1 hour ago, mike x ftc said:

I agree, we're just off Regal and anything booked on the App is meaningless once on board.  You haven't 'reserved' anything, apparently you have just 'expressed an interest'!  The staff in the bars don't even use them, they just write down your room number, and on deck there was always drinks waiters wandering around calling out names to try and find the owners of the drinks!!  

This is the ultimate irony - you could not write a worse script for a story ! @Steelers36 said a lot of MD will have headaches, seems they have decided to ignore the whole thing 🙂

 

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

One thing is certain... I shall certainly be recording down everything I buy (I'll record it on my phone!)  and checking my account daily to make sure there are no mistakes. With everything so apparently disorganised I can see loads of error creeping in. Fortunately I have the plus fare so there won't be much on the list 🙂 

[DuncanBlizzard]

32 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

One thing is certain... I shall certainly be recording down everything I buy (I'll record it on my phone!)  and checking my account daily to make sure there are no mistakes. With everything so apparently disorganised I can see loads of error creeping in. Fortunately I have the plus fare so there won't be much on the list 🙂 

 

I just got off the Majestic Princess, and there were plenty of mistakes.  When they scan their systems, they see pictures of the people whose medallions are closest.  They then use those pictures to apply the charges.  We had erroneous charges on our bill.  The ones the last night we never got fully removed.  I also heard plenty of people at guest services (was there too often) trying to get charges removed if they had ordered two drinks but the system charged them both to one person and they violated some limit.  Guest services told them it was a known bug, but part of that line was people trying to get charges removed.  I have to wonder if we'll get charges after we leave the ship once they input all of the paper sheets they're keeping of people making purchases that aren't input until later.  Then we'll be on the phones.

 

5 hours ago, mike x ftc said:

I agree, we're just off Regal and anything booked on the App is meaningless once on board.  You haven't 'reserved' anything, apparently you have just 'expressed an interest'!  The staff in the bars don't even use them, they just write down your room number, and on deck there was always drinks waiters wandering around calling out names to try and find the owners of the drinks!!  

 

We saw the same.  The crew erroneously told me one of my activities had been cancelled.  I talked to others who went and said they were told reservations were made so the crew had an idea of interest.  We ended up going later without a reservation and not a word about reservations was mentioned.  No activities, shows, or anything seemed to even ask about reservations.  Just go.  Chances are that reservations don't matter.

 

We also saw a number of situations where the waiters couldn't find the people who ordered something.  It was saddest in the Princess theater where I saw them walking the aisles and going from one end to the other trying to find the person.  We also had some food dumped in our cabana in the Hollywood Conservatory.  We were on one end, and the woman delivering it said the person was nowhere to be found and she had to leave it somewhere.  We inherited it.  Then again, our orders (and many others) didn't come the second day.  Apparently they didn't have the staff or something to deliver what was ordered and just ignored it.  We stayed up waiting for it before finally going to bed.

[Thrak]

1 hour ago, Snaxmuppet said:

One thing is certain... I shall certainly be recording down everything I buy (I'll record it on my phone!)  and checking my account daily to make sure there are no mistakes. With everything so apparently disorganised I can see loads of error creeping in. Fortunately I have the plus fare so there won't be much on the list 🙂 

 

Check anyway. When we have had the beverage package there have been a number of drinks charged to the account that shouldn't have been charged. At least it's easy to check your folio on your phone these days. I hated having to get that barely legible printout from the machine near customer services.

[AZ Ocean Lover]

Yes, don’t stress.  After our second call (about 2 hours each time) we finally asked our Tier 2 Rep to be honest and give us odds on this being fixed before our 8/29 sailing and she said she didn’t think it would.  She assured us that we can just bring everything to the pier and we will board just fine.  She did verify that our travel companion was linked to us, our reservations are in the system and the issues are all about the check in process.  Once we are on the ship we should be fine.

 

Up until August 3rd we were completely green lane so something happened that blew our info up.  We’ve decided to go with the flow and just check in the old fashioned way.

[MX-Drew]

Oh I forgot to add on Regal, the viewing of the ship board account only worked twice and I didn’t receive a paper copy but I kept track myself so I knew I was charged correctly.

Also the waiters nearly always asked for cabin number.

I tried Ocean Now once to order drinks and noticed there was a service charge so didn’t complete the order.

[Doug R.]

7 hours ago, MX-Drew said:

Oh I forgot to add on Regal, the viewing of the ship board account only worked twice and I didn’t receive a paper copy but I kept track myself so I knew I was charged correctly.

Also the waiters nearly always asked for cabin number.

I tried Ocean Now once to order drinks and noticed there was a service charge so didn’t complete the order.

There is always a service charge on drinks, 18% I believe.