Medallion app underwhelms

[FlaMariner]

On 1/24/2022 at 6:15 AM, Jadn13 said:

The app once on board has proven very useful. Keep an open mind. 

 

The app was useless for us on our Sky 3/12/22 cruise.  

 

(I wish I could get my time back for all the wasted effort pre-cruise)

[MissP22]

29 minutes ago, fshagan said:

 

I think the people that hate the app are the ones that it doesn't work for. There may be a small number of people who don't want to carry / use their cell phone all the time on vacation, but I'll bet they are a very small minority.

 

What kind of phone do you have? Everyone I asked who was having problems was using an Android phone so I'm assuming it works well on iPhones.

Our android phones worked well on the ship with the medallion system. The only thing we didn't use was the dining reservations. I had reservations for the complete cruise which we changed in person when at one of the DR's & never looked at it again. 

The only other thing we didn't care or use was the medallion patter section. It was a complete waste and we resorted to paper copies. 

[cruzin4us]

1 hour ago, fshagan said:

 

I think the people that hate the app are the ones that it doesn't work for. There may be a small number of people who don't want to carry / use their cell phone all the time on vacation, but I'll bet they are a very small minority.

 

What kind of phone do you have? Everyone I asked who was having problems was using an Android phone so I'm assuming it works well on iPhones.

 

It's funny, but I saw more people on their phones than ever before on a cruise last month (HAL).   I haul my phone around because I use it as a camera, otherwise I never use it......except on Princess, where I use it to order drinks.     I can't believe how many people want to look at their phone while on vacation.   Maybe when lying in bed and wanting to check emails, but I swear people had their faces glued to them.

 

I also like the paper Princess Patter which I usually read the night before when lying in bed.   Very, very rarely do I use it on the Medallion App.   

 

I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and I used it last October on the Majestic and had very little problems ordering drinks unless I was tucked away in a corner on deck somewhere.  This was usually solved by getting up and moving a few feet.

 

[Tedferg]

2 hours ago, fshagan said:

 

There may be a small number of people who don't want to carry / use their cell phone all the time on vacation, but I'll bet they are a very small minority.

Clearly a generational thing. Our phone is locked in the safe and only used to call our pickup when we return to home airport.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Tedferg said:

Clearly a generational thing. Our phone is locked in the safe and only used to call our pickup when we return to home airport.

Not trying to be a smartass, but I realize I am getting curious as to what the folks do with their phones at home or in other travel situations when they just lock them away in the safe for a week, two weeks - whatever - while on a cruise.  Any insight might be interesting to read.

 

We use the phone for the on-board intranet functionality, to contact and be in touch with tour providers, and we might use it to WHATSAPP call home.  We can also use our PC for that via ZOOM or similar.  I would not want to return home after a vacation to scores of emails.  If we are away for an extended period, there is usually some banking matters and bills to deal with (not everything is auto-pay and auto-transfer).  So, it is a mix of phone and PC.  But believe me, I don't spend my day on social media or games.

[Steelers36]

15 hours ago, fshagan said:

 

......................

 

The first problem happened within minutes of getting on the ship's wifi. All of my dinner reservations were gone. And the app wouldn't work for making new reservations.

.............

 

 

11 hours ago, Kiran said:

Had a bad experience with Medallion app  (especially for MDR reservations  being list) and nonfunctional  

 

 

3 hours ago, fshagan said:

 

All of our reservations were wiped out as soon as we connected to the ship's wifi. We met several other people this happened to as well. 

 

 

 

I have read this before and wondering if there is an explanation for this on board either from DR Mgmt or (more likely) the OCEAN team members on board.  This is quite disturbing after everyone has put in the effort to make the reservations ahead of time, etc, to find them wiped out and then you don't know at first whether you can get re-setup at the DR. 

 

It's not your phone and maybe not even the MC App.  Could be back-end system issue.  I guess we don't know if EVERY guest on the same voyage also lost their reservations, or if random. 

 

I would love to get some insight into this issue/bug at some point.

 

Meanwhile, I go into MC App and check our DR res setup every couple of days or so.  But doing that won't help if the whole setup is wiped out on embarkation day.  That is real bad on them.  Seems pretty basic stuff IMO.  

 

If I hear it was only some guests, makes me wonder if they purposely wiped out the "TD Style" bookings for full voyage at same time, so they could manually get people the same table and waiters each night.  That would probably be giving them too much credit - LOL. 

 

Thanks for any insight if you or other guests heard anything.

[Tedferg]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Not trying to be a smartass, but I realize I am getting curious as to what the folks do with their phones at home or in other travel situations when they just lock them away in the safe for a week, two weeks - whatever - while on a cruise.  Any insight might be interesting to read.

I was in electronics and regard myself as a techie, I like gadgets, we have Amazon Echo and Smart plugs at home. Somehow, we missed the cell phone deal. It was only when DD realized she was burning all her wireless minutes talking to Mom, that she added us to her plan, and we got a smart phone. We have since moved to Consumer Cellular and both of us have smart phones. We and 90% of our friends still have land lines and only recently have two or three started using cell phones. Mostly they call land line first. We have graduated and text DD and some friends.

 

We do not go incommunicado on vacation by design but do not need to do banking or anything like that on vacation. We do, now, message and occasional photo to DD and DGD.

 

As a separate point I never see the need to sit glued to a messaging app while I have a real person to talk to. I am continually amazed to see four people sitting together and they are all on their cell phones.

[Steelers36]

11 minutes ago, Tedferg said:

As a separate point I never see the need to sit glued to a messaging app while I have a real person to talk to. I am continually amazed to see four people sitting together and they are all on their cell phones.

True, but I don't see it all that often.  Maybe I am oblivious to it unless actually thinking about it.  Either that, or I am too busy looking at MY phone.  🤣

[Pstcrik]

I would say in reading many posts that there are certainly lots of those who came up through this tech. that these apps are no problem but there is a number of us that are or may be a little older and where not exposed to this tech. and for this group using these apps and putting up with the disappearing information is to say the least intimidating and just the thought of trying to use them is not a relaxing thought. which most people that cruise like to believe will happen.  I dont suppose you can ask for the good old fashioned door card to enter your cabin and use to charge a purchase ????

Edited May 9, 2022 by Pstcrik

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Pstcrik said:

I would say in reading many posts that there are certainly lots of those who came up through this tech. that these apps are no problem but there is a number of us that are or may be a little older and where not exposed to this tech. and for this group using these apps and putting up with the disappearing information is to say the least intimidating and just the thought of trying to use them is not a relaxing thought. which most people that cruise like to believe will happen.  I dont suppose you can ask for the good old fashioned door card to enter your cabin and use to charge a purchase ????

Sorry, but once again, the physical Medallion disk is being confused with the software application - MC App on smart devices like phones.  There is no reason to exchange the Medallion for a cruise card - but you can ask.  There are no issues with the physical Medallion - unless you have it for longer than the battery life as in a long voyage.  The issues and struggles are all with the software application. 

[caribill]

11 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

I'm one that personally loves the app.   Anytime I've had it not work properly I try the 2 following things:

1.  Reboot my iphone

2.  Reinstall the app

 

So, not everyone hates the app......

 

What type phone and operating system level do you have? Also memory size?

 

That can make all the difference between a working app and a %$*^#!# app.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

I realize I am getting curious as to what the folks do with their phones at home or in other travel situations when they just lock them away in the safe for a week, two weeks - whatever - while on a cruise.  Any insight might be interesting to read.

 

We use the phone for the on-board intranet functionality, to contact and be in touch with tour providers, and we might use it to WHATSAPP call home.  We can also use our PC for that via ZOOM or similar. 

 

I do not have a cell phone (smart or dumb), but if I did have one, I would not be carrying it around on a cruise ship. I bring a netbook on board and use that for needed E-mails and bill paying. Also use the netbook to load, backup and label photos from a traditional camera.

 

Using a cell phone to originate and reply to E-mails would be painful compared to using a computer with a real keyboard.

 

I cannot refrain from having E-mail access during a cruise because of needed communication with tour providers and also communications from credit card companies that insist on questioning charges made overseas despite having been notified we will be traveling.

[cruzin4us]

35 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

What type phone and operating system level do you have? Also memory size?

 

That can make all the difference between a working app and a %$*^#!# app.

 

I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max wit 1T memory (I take lots of pics) and iOS 15.4.1

[caribill]

4 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

 

I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max wit 1T memory (I take lots of pics) and iOS 15.4.1

 

Thanks.

 

Now we know what smart phone hardware is needed for the app to perform as advertised.

[Kiran]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Thanks.

 

Now we know what smart phone hardware is needed for the app to perform as advertised.

My son writes code for fun (GITHUB) and pay (VMWare, not sure of spelling)

 

I take my technical issues to him. So one day, after me complaining about a website not working for me, he explained a little about the complexity and multitude of situations that need to be taken into account.

 

Something about website needing to be able to work across different browsers and different hardware brands and configurations, different operating systems and across different versions of all etc etc etc

Then add in the spice of malware and i am surprised computers work ever.

 

I am having a far, far better experience with Medallion this cruise.

 

caribill: does it seem to work better for Apple or Android going by guest reports?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by Kiran
Addition of question

[Coral]

4 hours ago, Kiran said:

My son writes code for fun (GITHUB) and pay (VMWare, not sure of spelling)

 

I take my technical issues to him. So one day, after me complaining about a website not working for me, he explained a little about the complexity and multitude of situations that need to be taken into account.

 

I also work in IT. The Medallion app is awful. They had years to improve this during COVID and chose not to.

 

Your son is right - there are a variety of scenarios they need to code and test. Other companies are able to successfully write great apps that work on multiple platforms. Not sure why Princess can't.

 

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Coral said:

 

 there are a variety of scenarios they need to code and test. Other companies are able to successfully write great apps that work on multiple platforms. Not sure why Princess can't.

 

 

One reason is attempting the impossible. Consider DMW for example.

 

Traditional dining worked because an entire dining room was set up for exactly two seatings starting at fixed times with people having the same tables each night. Those who signed up for this and showed up at their assigned times were seated immediately (after first evening's delays due to leading everyone to their tables).

 

DMW promises you can select your own fixed time for each evening when reality is that tables may not be available when you show up, much less the same table each night. That is because the same tables are used for those who walk up without a reservation at random times and those who have a reservation. Tables cannot be left unused for a period of time just because someone has a reservation 30 or 45 minutes later. Only those who reserve for when a dining room first opens can have a chance of being seated at the time they want.

 

And that does not even include the promised option of selecting if you want the dining experience to be fast, normal, or slow paced. Can you even imagine the complexity of filling a table for 6 at 7:20 PM with diners with the same choice of dining speed and then having that table ready for the next reservation at ?:?? PM. Also imagine the stress on the servers who have different tables at different stages of the meal with different requested speeds for service.

[stoneharborlady]

20 hours ago, Tedferg said:

 

 

As a separate point I never see the need to sit glued to a messaging app while I have a real person to talk to. I am continually amazed to see four people sitting together and they are all on their cell phones.

Amazed and dismayed.  This has often become the norm.  Sad.

[Coral]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

One reason is attempting the impossible. Consider DMW for example.

 

Even with out dining - it is a failure. I struggled to even get the app to launch at times. My name was "undefined, undefined". The navigation is awful - things are not in logical areas. 

 

We did try to get specialty dining to work once at Crown Grill. It only showed us one later time. When we got there, there had only been one couple there before us that evening (and they were the only couple there besides us the entire time). We would have been better to just walk in.

 

I have no doubt that people in CA headquarters are "deeming the medallion a success". I have filled out a couple of surveys which literally was "did you book this because the medallion is so cool?". Ok - not those words but Princess has already deemed this a success based on marketing material.

[caribill]

36 minutes ago, Coral said:

 Princess has already deemed this a success based on marketing material.

 

From a recent brochure:

 

Live like the VIP you are

 

Doors unlock for you. Anything you need - a burger, a jacket, sunscreen - finds you. And everything seems to be just how you like it. Get the Medallion Class® treatment, only with Princess.

 

 

[Kiran]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

From a recent brochure:

 

Live like the VIP you are

 

Doors unlock for you. Anything you need - a burger, a jacket, sunscreen - finds you. And everything seems to be just how you like it. Get the Medallion Class® treatment, only with Princess.

 

 

At beginning of cruise we needed to press medallion to surface of door screen

 

as of  two days ago, the cabin door unlocks when i am near

 

 

 

 

[mtnesterz]

11 hours ago, caribill said:

From a recent brochure:

Live like the VIP you are

Doors unlock for you. Anything you need - a burger, a jacket, sunscreen - finds you. And everything seems to be just how you like it. Get the Medallion Class® treatment, only with Princess.

I'd word that, "Princess leaves you to your own devices."

Edited May 11, 2022 by mtnesterz

[MissP22]

On 5/9/2022 at 4:48 PM, Tedferg said:

We and 90% of our friends still have land lines and only recently have two or three started using cell phones. Mostly they call land line first. We have graduated and text DD and some friends.

 

 

You still have a land line?

Why?

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

You still have a land line?

Why?

We have a land line as we have no mobile coverage.

[memoak]

I view the medallion and app as a glorified cruise card that unlocks my door. I use my phone for news and e mails but don’t hardly use the app at all