IS This Medallion working the way it was proposed by Princess /Pros & Cons please

[mcrcruiser]

We have 2 future sailings  on Discovery Princess & we have no idea does this electronic device work & how it should work   .We see things like just use it to open doors  to you can use it to place  speciality restaurant dining reservations to ordering drinks . Then what if you don't want one   of those medallions  is there a problem in sailing ie 

[Tedferg]

Please clarify, are you referring just to the Medallion device ? If so, substitute it for Cruise card and I don't see what the question is.

[Mud_Shark]

Pro - The head of the medallion project just got promoted to President of PCL.  That must mean the medallion is a worry free, hassle free wonderful addition to your cruise experience, designed to enhance the enjoyment and eliminate the stress of your cruise experience before, during, and after your cruise.

 

OK - well at least it unlocks your cabin door... Most of the time.

 

Don

[mcrcruiser]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

Please clarify, are you referring just to the Medallion device ? If so, substitute it for Cruise card and I don't see what the question is.

yes the medallion device & it's  proven abilities or non abilities  

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

Pro - The head of the medallion project just got promoted to President of PCL.  That must mean the medallion is a worry free, hassle free wonderful addition to your cruise experience, designed to enhance the enjoyment and eliminate the stress of your cruise experience before, during, and after your cruise.

 

OK - well at least it unlocks your cabin door... Most of the time.

 

Don

Right, it worked out well for him.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

yes the medallion device & it's  proven abilities or non abilities  

 

The Medallion has only one ability. It contains a unique identifier that is linked to your booking. The sensors on the ship send a signal looking for any medallions in the area. When it finds your medallion the computer looks up the number and knows the person buying the drink or whatever is you. A crew member will know your name by looking at a tablet. Your door will unlock for you when you approach. Throughout it all, the medallion just sits there in your pocket, or however you have chosen to "wear" it.

 

Compare the medallion to a credit card sitting in your wallet.

The credit card holds a bunch of information such as your account number, your name, and the name of the bank. It just sits there in your wallet and the information is (relatively) safe unless you choose to use it. Lose the card or have it stolen you can kill the card and in maybe 10 business days, receive a new card with a new number. Now you have to fix all of the auto payments you have linked to the old card. If the card is found or stolen you may stand to lose quite a bit due to fraud.

 

Like the credit cards, the Medallion just sits in your pocket. The medallion contains information that is useless to a thief. and can only be read by specific sensors and software on the ship. That information is a meaningless code number that only links you to the ship computers where all the information about you is safely stored. If you lose your Medallion or it is "stolen" you can go to the Customer Service Desk (I always want to call it the Purser's Desk...) and they will "kill" the original Medallion and give you a new one right there and then.

[mcrcruiser]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

The Medallion has only one ability. It contains a unique identifier that is linked to your booking. The sensors on the ship send a signal looking for any medallions in the area. When it finds your medallion the computer looks up the number and knows the person buying the drink or whatever is you. A crew member will know your name by looking at a tablet. Your door will unlock for you when you approach. Throughout it all, the medallion just sits there in your pocket, or however you have chosen to "wear" it.

 

Compare the medallion to a credit card sitting in your wallet.

The credit card holds a bunch of information such as your account number, your name, and the name of the bank. It just sits there in your wallet and the information is (relatively) safe unless you choose to use it. Lose the card or have it stolen you can kill the card and in maybe 10 business days, receive a new card with a new number. Now you have to fix all of the auto payments you have linked to the old card. If the card is found or stolen you may stand to lose quite a bit due to fraud.

 

Like the credit cards, the Medallion just sits in your pocket. The medallion contains information that is useless to a thief. and can only be read by specific sensors and software on the ship. That information is a meaningless code number that only links you to the ship computers where all the information about you is safely stored. If you lose your Medallion or it is "stolen" you can go to the Customer Service Desk (I always want to call it the Purser's Desk...) and they will "kill" the original Medallion and give you a new one right there and then.

Thanks for the heads up  on the medallion use  

[caribill]

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

The medallion contains information that is useless to a thief. and can only be read by specific sensors and software on the ship. That information is a meaningless code number that only links you to the ship computers where all the information about you is safely stored.

 

 

Other that, until cancelled, purchases can be made with it.

 

 

8 hours ago, Thrak said:

If you lose your Medallion or it is "stolen" you can go to the Customer Service Desk (I always want to call it the Purser's Desk...) and they will "kill" the original Medallion and give you a new one right there and then.

 

Or they can locate where it is and get it for you if not in your cabin.

[CruiseVA]

4 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Other that, until cancelled, purchases can be made with it.

 

 

 

Or they can locate where it is and get it for you if not in your cabin.

I suppose that purchases could be made with it, however, if the staff are paying attention they will see that the faces don't match. I would take a lot of gumption to try to use a found Medallion to purchase anything.

[Daniel A]

17 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

We have 2 future sailings  on Discovery Princess & we have no idea does this electronic device work & how it should work   .We see things like just use it to open doors  to you can use it to place  speciality restaurant dining reservations to ordering drinks . Then what if you don't want one   of those medallions  is there a problem in sailing ie 

There are two different components to the "Medallion Class Cruise."  One component is the actual medallion disc.  That is what is used to identify who you are and where you are on board the ship and unlocks your cabin door.  The other component is the Medallion Class App.  That works in conjunction with the medallion and provides additional features such as ordering drinks, remote gambling, locating others in your party and sending text messages to others in your party.  The app is also used to do what you used to do in the Cruise Personalizer on the website, such as uploading your personal information, emergency contacts, return airport, passport number etc.

 

The good news is that you don't need to do any of the Medallion Class stuff.  You can still show up at the pier with all of your required documents and you can check in the old fashioned way.  You will be issued a Medallion to get on the ship and you can go to the passenger services desk and get an old fashioned cruise card and put the medallion in your cabin safe and take it home to use as a refrigerator magnet.

 

[cltnccruisers]

12 minutes ago, CruiseVA said:

I suppose that purchases could be made with it, however, if the staff are paying attention they will see that the faces don't match. I would take a lot of gumption to try to use a found Medallion to purchase anything.

I'd be more concerned about accidental charges than actual skulduggery.  It's happened on a couple of previous cruises and gotten me in the habit of checking our account daily.

[Daniel A]

23 minutes ago, CruiseVA said:

I suppose that purchases could be made with it, however, if the staff are paying attention they will see that the faces don't match. I would take a lot of gumption to try to use a found Medallion to purchase anything.

On our last pre-pandemic Regal cruise, many of the waiters didn't have medallion readers and they would simply ask you what your cabin number is and write it down on a paper pad with a pencil.  Very high tech if you ask me. 😄

Edited October 14, 2021 by Daniel A

[JF - retired RRT]

14 hours ago, Thrak said:

If the card is found or stolen you may stand to lose quite a bit due to fraud.

 

A small correction...under most circumstances it's the bank that will suffer from the fraud losses, not the owner of the card.

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, cltnccruisers said:

I'd be more concerned about accidental charges than actual skulduggery.  It's happened on a couple of previous cruises and gotten me in the habit of checking our account daily.

We have noticed a couple of charges on our folio and it’s never been a problem other than having to check our account every other day, but that happened prior to the medallion class app as well.  

[cruzin4us]

well I can tell you we made 3 dinner reservations at Harmony on Majestic for our Oct 16th.   The reservations have been paid for long ago but they still don't show up on the app as being made or paid for.   Tried for weeks to get this fixed.  Princess assures us the reservations are indeed there and they are telling us to check when we get on board.   This is frustrating as the last thing we want to do is track down dinner reservations once we board.  

[cltnccruisers]

35 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

We have noticed a couple of charges on our folio and it’s never been a problem other than having to check our account every other day, but that happened prior to the medallion class app as well.  

This is our first time back on Princess in quite a while but I'll still continue the practice.  Our extra charges were on RCL ships.  One was taken care of immediately at the service desk.  The other required more effort when I heard the rep muttering about me lying.  Had to go up the food chain on that one.  Next time we saw him he was shuffling towels on the pool deck.  Not a people person I guess.

[Cruise Raider]

We are one of those that really appreciates the MedallionClass.  
 

As others have described, there is the Medallion itself and the MedallionClass app, which is downloaded onto your device (a smart phone or tablet).  It can not be loaded onto a laptop or reader.  You do have to download the app using the internet but you do not need the internet to use it while onboard.  
We had some issues uploading our information on our first trial with the app.  I finally called the hotline and back then, it was answered quite promptly.  The best advice the tech support gave me was to delete and reinstall the app.  That did the trick and when having issues in the app, I still use that trick.  When you delete the app and reinstall it, you do not lose the information you’ve uploaded.  Also, we’ve been on a few sailings since the return to service and have several others booked and the information stays in the app so you don’t have to keep entering the same basic info for every cruise, although there are a few updates you will have to make for each individual sailing, such as emergency contacts, choose your arrival time, health status, etc … things that  can change over time.  
 

Here are some of the features that we particularly love about the medallion:

 

It opens the door automatically when you walk up.  
If you are celebrating a special occasion, it will greet you at your door (and even when you walk by one of the digital screens on the ship) with a personalized celebratory message. I found that to be so fun …

 

When you are in a bar or walking up to the dining room, etc. a picture of you with your name pops up on a screen and a waiter knows exactly who you are.  So, when they fill an order, they charge it to your folio by tapping on your photo.  This is where I think extra charges can come into play … human error.  But, like I mentioned above, it happened with the cruise card, as well. 
 

The app is also used for contact tracing.  You can be notified if you were in close contact with someone that may have tested positive for CoVid.  
 

You can use your medallion to get on and off the ship.  

You can check in at your muster station or for testing.  
You can use it to charge to your folio and play throughout the casino.  

These are the features of the app that we really like:

 

You can use it to order a drink, items from the boutiques, food, etc and it will be brought to your exact location.  Well, most of the time anyway.  They have put a lot of delivery staff on for just that reason.  You can even order from your beverage package for drinks to be brought directly to your cabin now.  Of note, if your both have the beverage package and order a drink to your room, you will have to order them separately, so as not to incur a charge.  Sometimes they come as one order, sometimes separately.  As an aside, they no longer have slips of paper for you to sign for deliveries, thus, no place to tip.  We just learned to have a stack of dollar bills out.  The deliveries come quickly!  
Also, the room service menu, which you can order wherever you may be, is also expanded!  Very nicely done, IMO.  That may all change after the pandemic is declared over, but for now, we are being very spoiled.  

 

You can also use it to check the daily schedule of events in conjunction with your app.  You have an option to see the events and activities ahead of time and you can bookmark those events.  From your app or even the digital screens around the ship, you can check on only those events you have bookmarked, with the location and the time.  The large digital screens will even give directions to the location if you are not sure where it is from where you are.  
 

You can make all your MRD and specialty dining reservations via the app … even ahead of time.  You can pick your desired restaurant, table size (private or shared) and time you wish to dine.   
 

You can watch the muster drill on your device (or on your stateroom TV).

You can watch on demand shows, movies, etc from you app.  
You can use Crew Chat by text to report a problem or simply have a request.  
You can purchase future cruise deposits.  
You can use it for all purchases through the ship and shoreside, as well (I’d you sing up for that .. we didn’t).   

There are many other functions that we simply don’t use, such as playing free games online, even casino games where you can win or lose money.  
You can keep track of where others in your party may be on the ship.  
You can book excursions.  I’m sure the list is more extensive.  
 

BTW, for those that are reluctant or just don’t want to use the app, I believe that Princess is developing an online check in to work in conjunction with the Medallion.  
 

As mentioned, most of the negative comments you will read or hear about the app are probably (I repeat, probably) from people that haven’t yet cruised with the app post pandemic.  It does work much better once onboard!  
 

One thing I noticed is that if I log into my app … it does not allow me to post on Cruise Critic just after that.  I just have to turn my device off and back on and all is well.  That happens even here at home for me.  
 

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2021 by Cruise Raider

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Daniel A said:

On our last pre-pandemic Regal cruise, many of the waiters didn't have medallion readers and they and would simply ask you what your cabin number is and write it down on a paper pad with a pencil.  Very high tech if you ask me. 😄

And the paper and pencil technique has always worked, still works, and will continue to work.

 

The first time (on land) where we had a waitress use a new fangled device instead of the tried and true pencil and paper, our order never made it to the kitchen until we were ready to walk out and the manager came to apologize to us.

Edited October 14, 2021 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[Tedferg]

3 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

You can make all your MRD .  

Make Required Distributions from your IRA, now that is clever 🙂

 

[Thrak]

On 10/14/2021 at 7:34 AM, cruzin4us said:

well I can tell you we made 3 dinner reservations at Harmony on Majestic for our Oct 16th.   The reservations have been paid for long ago but they still don't show up on the app as being made or paid for.   Tried for weeks to get this fixed.  Princess assures us the reservations are indeed there and they are telling us to check when we get on board.   This is frustrating as the last thing we want to do is track down dinner reservations once we board.  

 

Have you downloaded a (fresh) copy of your Travel Summary? That's where I would look for the reservations.

[TNTLAMB]

Is the medallion working the way intended? Absolutely. Better than expected. Bording was a snap cashless cruising extraordinaire not having to dig for the old cruise card for every drink, soda, etc worth it. As a door key exceptional. The new Dining program that came with it great. Being able to find family and friends easily on board wonderful. (one thing to meet in the atrium another to find everyone in the atrium) Certainly could have done more if I wanted.

 

Pre loading the app?  not so great until I learned to wipe out anything princess, app, old apps, old versions, etc  etc and wiping all my cookies and Voila loaded instantly. Had to get help for one of the kids when we got on board two minutes and we were all up.

 

App worked perfectly on ship. Medallion Cruising and Medallion app are two different things. Frankly other than tracking hardly used the app. everything else could be accomplished without or in the KIOSKs  (though many things were easier with the app)

[trishbk]

We first started using the Medallion (the one hanging from a lanyard or on your wrist) on the Majestic Princess last month. I liked it for many reasons. QUESTION…has anyone used it ashore at the Princess designated retail shops and restaurants? The transactions are supposed to get charged to your shipboard account and you are supposed to get 7% cash back. Would love to hear how well it worked. Say you are in Mexico and you make a purchase, if you have lots of onboard credit, will it apply those on shore medallion purchases to your credits or not? How does the 7% cash back work and if you are purchasing in pesos, what exchange rate does Princess use?

[Kmkub]

Our favorite feature the first two days was the google-maps style "get me there," step-by-step directions to where you want to go from where you currently are.

 

@Cruise Raider did an excellent summary.

[kiwimum]

11 minutes ago, trishbk said:

We first started using the Medallion (the one hanging from a lanyard or on your wrist) on the Majestic Princess last month. I liked it for many reasons. QUESTION…has anyone used it ashore at the Princess designated retail shops and restaurants? The transactions are supposed to get charged to your shipboard account and you are supposed to get 7% cash back. Would love to hear how well it worked. Say you are in Mexico and you make a purchase, if you have lots of onboard credit, will it apply those on shore medallion purchases to your credits or not? How does the 7% cash back work and if you are purchasing in pesos, what exchange rate does Princess use?

I have used my medallion at a restaurant in Cabo San Lucas.  The restaurant had a medallion reader similar if not the same as on the ship.  Your photo shows up on the reader.   Our actual charges were posted on the credit card connected to the medallion with the discount showing as a credit on our onboard account.   Only one individual at the restaurant has access to the reader which can cause a delay in paying.

[EDDY0827]

Thanks for the insight!