Sea Pass card vs. Wow band

[Kellie in Texas]

None of our cruises so far have been on ships that had Wow bands. I am glad to know that Harmony (next January) lets you keep the traditional Sea Pass card, which is what I prefer. I can't stand plastic/rubber bracelet thingies, so I'll happily keep my Sea Pass card. Then I saw that Wow bands are $10. So what are the advantages to having a Wow band that you have to pay extra for instead of a "free" Sea Pass card? Is it just the convenience of having it attached to your wrist instead of in a pocket or purse or on a lanyard? 

[deliver42]

I'll stick to the Sea Pass card, thank you.

[Biker19]

44 minutes ago, Kellie in Texas said:

Is it just the convenience of having it attached to your wrist instead of in a pocket or purse or on a lanyard? 

This.

[The Scurvy Pirate]

Basically... since you aren't supposed to hole punch the RFID because of the internal wire, I simply got a plastic sleeve for the card that I attached to my "clip" that you can hook/unhook from the lanyard.  Since they don't actually have to swipe the card, it stays in the plastic sleeve all cruise.  I have seen/heard where at some bars the patrons still had to remove the wow band so that the bartender could scan the card at the reader which was behind the bar.  I prefer to use my trusty lanyard, even if I look a little dorky. 

[Mum2Mercury]

Here's how I see it: 

 

Benefits of using your Sea Pass Card: 

- Will automatically be issued to you at no cost 

- Fits in a pocket easily 

- Useful around the ship AND gets you on/off at island stops

 

Benefits of getting the WOW band: 

- You must go to Guest Services once you're onboard; cutting into your time and money.  You can use the band again on future cruises, but you'll have to return to Guest Services again.

- Good for a teen who is old enough to have a bit of freedom on the ship, but who isn't always responsible with the card.

- Good for people who will be in and out of the pool and don't want to leave their card unattended on a pool chair.

- Good for people who are going to drink a lot and might lose their cards.

 

[Kellie in Texas]

Those are all good points @Mum2Mercury. 

[twangster]

The wow band is great for opening your cabin door with hands full.

 

Not much else.  

[Scoobydobe7]

On Odessey, GS would not punch the hole on the seapass card, (interfered with the scan bar) so when I go on Symphony, I hope wow bands are available...I

[Big_G]

I'm not sure if they solved this problem but too many times passengers had to remove the band from their wrist and hand it to bartenders for them to scan it for drinks. Seemed a little counterintuitive. 

[twangster]

Just now, Big_G said:

I'm not sure if they solved this problem but too many times passengers had to remove the band from their wrist and hand it to bartenders for them to scan it for drinks. Seemed a little counterintuitive. 

 

And easy to mix up wow bands between guests.

 

The towel stations sometimes have issues with wow bands.  That would have been a great use case, but...

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by twangster

[topnole]

7 hours ago, Kellie in Texas said:

None of our cruises so far have been on ships that had Wow bands. I am glad to know that Harmony (next January) lets you keep the traditional Sea Pass card, which is what I prefer. I can't stand plastic/rubber bracelet thingies, so I'll happily keep my Sea Pass card. Then I saw that Wow bands are $10. So what are the advantages to having a Wow band that you have to pay extra for instead of a "free" Sea Pass card? Is it just the convenience of having it attached to your wrist instead of in a pocket or purse or on a lanyard? 

Yep.  Just a convenience thing.   I’ve been an adult for a long time.  Carrying a hotel or cruise key card has never been an issue for me.  I’m not sure I’ve ever lost one as an adult, but surely I did as a kid.    Not sure why others have issues, but clearly some need lanyards, etc. for convenience (not sure why that is convenient but to each their own) or not to lose them.  I’d rather wear something like n my wrist than around my neck, but that is just me.  
 

We got them included with our suite years back on Harmony.  I most definitely didn’t wear it much.  Very uncomfortable for me and a key is zero issue for me.  To me a key is easy and all you need.  Everyone is different so I guess you’d have to try it to know.  

[Ret MP]

I'm no fan of the WOW band and I'll probably not use the one I get while on the same cruise as you unless the bartenders and servers now have portable readers that read the band at my location.  I can see using it to go to the pool/Flowrider/whatever with a bathing suit that doesn't have pockets and you don't want to leave the seapass card on a chair/lounger or something like that.  And as stated, it is easy to open your cabin door when your hands/arms are full, like carrying sleeping kids/gkids.  Also, we always bring a Sharpie along so we mark our names on the Coke/beverage package tumblers and we could do the same with the WOW bands.  While on a cruise, I try to have as little to carry around as possible, including a cell.  So, in theory, I'd like to find the WOW band to be convenient for ALL situations. Until then, no thanks.

[PolicromaSol]

That Adventure cruise I was on back in March....all the lanyards they sold on-board had those little clear plastic sleeves for them. So I'm not even sure the "don't have to punch a hole in it" argument is a thing anymore... 🤔

[The Scurvy Pirate]

18 hours ago, Scoobydobe7 said:

On Odessey, GS would not punch the hole on the seapass card, (interfered with the scan bar) so when I go on Symphony, I hope wow bands are available...I

With the RFID sea pass cards, you don't have to hole punch them.  I got the below sleeves.  Like someone said above, if you buy a new lanyard they have the sleeve included (although it may not be waterproof).  All you have to do is unclip the card and they can scan it without having to swipe the card.

 

On the older ships without the RFID cards, I still hole punch the sea pass card.

 

Sea Pass Plastic Sleeve

 

[smokeybandit]

Tape your seapass card to your wrist. Now you have a WOW band

[Ret MP]

I have lanyards like this one.  I find it very convenient as the card is hooked to the lanyard and the lanyard has an easy-to-use buckle-type release.  Squeeze the buckle and hand the card to the bartender/server/whomever.  Yes, a hole has to be punched.  A strong flashlight shining from the back will show the antenna's location and punch a hole in it.  Some say that a cell phone flashlight is enough.   

 

 

[TheBucketLister]

22 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

Benefits of getting the WOW band: 

- You can use the band again on future cruises, but you'll have to return to Guest Services again.

 

Just curious.  Will they let someone use the Star Class band on a future cruise even if they are not in Star Class?  Sounds like a way to get some of the perks of suite class  without having a suite.  I am referring to some of the benefits that don’t require scanning the band, for example preferred seating. Not advocating for it, nor would I ever do it, but just curious.

Edited May 5, 2023 by TheBucketLister

[Kathscof]

I like the idea of a Wowband because I love using my magicband at Disneyworld.  But at Disney you are in the bubble and can use it for 98% of places.  On a cruise you leave the "bubble" to get off the ship every day.  The fact that you can't use it for everything is the big "con".  

 

Whenever I leave WDW to fly home I literally forget to take my magicband off until I get home.  I would be taking it off every port if I had one on the ship.  

[BirdTravels]

23 hours ago, Scoobydobe7 said:

On Odessey, GS would not punch the hole on the seapass card, (interfered with the scan bar) so when I go on Symphony, I hope wow bands are available...I

GS would not punch your card because if you punch the card, it won't work any longer. 

[Mum2Mercury]

23 hours ago, twangster said:

The wow band is great for opening your cabin door with hands full.

 

Not much else.  

One more reason, which I didn't think about when I made my above list: 

My daughter, who has a toddler, is considering getting a WOW band so she can open the door while holding his hand or carrying him while he sleeps.  

1 hour ago, Kathscof said:

I like the idea of a Wowband because I love using my magicband at Disneyworld ... 

I think you'd have more opportunity to use a MagicBand at Disney than you'd have to use a WowBand on a cruise ship.  

[Ret MP]

9 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

GS would not punch your card because if you punch the card, it won't work any longer. 

Not to be contrary, but, as long as you don't damage any of the electrical components of the card, a hole punch won't disable the card and it will work fine.  

[topnole]

1 hour ago, TheBucketLister said:

Just curious.  Will they let someone use the Star Class band on a future cruise even if they are not in Star Class?  Sounds like a way to get some of the perks of suite class  without having a suite.  I am referring to some of the benefits that don’t require scanning the band, for example preferred seating. Not advocating for it, nor would I ever do it, but just curious.

I doubt they would reprogram it unless you were Star class again but who knows.  Clearly one could bring it and show it regardless for things not scanned.   Not exactly many situations where it would help much.  

[The Scurvy Pirate]

38 minutes ago, Ret MP said:

Not to be contrary, but, as long as you don't damage any of the electrical components of the card, a hole punch won't disable the card and it will work fine.  

Or just buy the cheap plastic sleeve and not worry about having to buy/bring a hole punch (since they won't do it on the ship), and if you do it improperly, having to go to Guest Services to get a new card..... 🙂

[TheBucketLister]

49 minutes ago, topnole said:

Clearly one could bring it and show it regardless for things not scanned.

 

Good point.

[Ret MP]

55 minutes ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

Or just buy the cheap plastic sleeve and not worry about having to buy/bring a hole punch (since they won't do it on the ship), and if you do it improperly, having to go to Guest Services to get a new card..... 🙂

 

The below doesn't require removing the card from a sleeve which is hard to do at times and sometimes the card sticks to the inside of the sleeve.  I've punched holes a few times and never had an issue.  I've actually had to go to Guest Services more often because of delaminating issues that had nothing to do with holes.  

 

But, you do you and whatever works for you.  

 

4 hours ago, Ret MP said:

I have lanyards like this one.  I find it very convenient as the card is hooked to the lanyard and the lanyard has an easy-to-use buckle-type release.  Squeeze the buckle and hand the card to the bartender/server/whomever.  Yes, a hole has to be punched.  A strong flashlight shining from the back will show the antenna's location and punch a hole in it.  Some say that a cell phone flashlight is enough.