Some tips for dealing with the Medallion app

[RobertoF]

I realize there is already a stickie thread on the Medallion app but I wanted to share some tips I learned while recently on the Caribbean Princess.  We all know the Medallion app is terribly glitchy and needs a complete overhaul.  But in the meantime, if Princess is not going to make this app work properly we might as well learn to live with it.  Here are some workarounds I learned.  I am using Android, but I think at least some of these glitches and fixes will apply to IPhones as well.

 

I think the biggest thing I learned is that the app works differently on the ship than it does pre-cruise.  A lot of the glitches I encountered on the cruise apparently were caused because the app does not "reset" when you get on the ship, so it still thinks you are on land.  This is unacceptable, of course, but you have to sign out and then sign back on when you get on the ship.  You may even need to completely uninstall the app and then reinstall it on the ship.  That is what I did and it fixed a lot of the glitches I experienced.  It is best to do this before you leave port on the first day in case you do not have the wifi package on the ship (although if you need to reinstall the app on the ship they will give you access for this purpose).

 

A related issue is when you log on from the ship use your cabin number.  This seems to help identify you.  Again, if you logged in prior to embarking with your booking number this seems to cause problems and you should log out and back on or reinstall the app.

 

The best function of the app (when it is working) is locating Shipmates.  This is great for families and groups to find out where people are on the ship.  When it works it works really well, and you can actually see people moving about the ship almost in real time.  But like everything else in the app it is glitchy.  Sometimes it just does not track.  Keep trying and don't give up.  Anytime you track someone, it actually shows you YOUR location first.  Why does it do that? Who knows, just a typical Princess glitch.  You have to select your Shipmate you want to track a second time and then it will show you where they are.  A tip also for tracking people is that if it is not working you can go see the tech people (called Navigators) either at the front desk or the dedicated Navigators desk on the ship (on Caribbean Princess it was outside Club Fusion) and they can track someone for you.  They had extra Navigators at the front desk on the first day and they are essential to help you deal with the app glitches so make sure to use them like you are voting in Chicago -- do it early and often!

 

Another thing I learned is if you want to track your kids under 18 you need to do the parental permission on the app BEFORE you board if you are not in the same stateroom as them.  I could not track my daughter because my wife (who was in the stateroom with her) did not do the parental permission beforehand and they could not do it on the ship.  This is unacceptable, but knowing how to avoid this glitch is key if you are traveling with kids (after all, the best use of the app is to track your kids).

 

I hope these tips were helpful.  Hopefully Princess will listen to its customers and do something about the terrible Medallion app.  In the meantime, we just need to suffer through it and find as many workarounds as we can.  Happy sailing!

[TBfrPH]

I was told that they're debugging as fast as they can, but they are having a hard time keeping up with all the different versions of operating systems out there.  Princess has pretty much admitted that for some phones, some parts of the app will not work, and they can't deal with it anytime soon.

 

My app works perfectly on land but won't on the ship regardless what I do, even reinstallation.