Onboard experience without Medallion app

[luv2kroooz]

Hi everyone. I am coming over from NCL board. We are platinum on Princess but haven't sailed since pre Medallion experience. We have a family cruise in Emerald coming up this fall. My booking is separate from my parents. I have downloaded Medallion app and registered. My dad, however, is a dinosaur. No smart phone. No app, etc. I see I can get him registered for online checkin on princess.com. do you think he will be ok onboard with the medallion but no app? Is the on board experience diminished significantly if you don't have an app? Can you still order drinks from a bar server? Make dinner reservations, etc? Thank you so much in advance.

 

 

[david63]

You don't need the app to use the Medallion

7 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Can you still order drinks from a bar server?

Yes

 

7 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

Make dinner reservations, etc?

Yes - but would need to visit the venue or use the on board terminals

[Catchum]

My DH says he doesn't need technology as he has me, I put the app on his phone which he then leaves in the safe. Your dad will be fine I mainly use the app to look at the dinner menu and that isn't 100% accurate. Servers are plentiful to order drinks from.

[cruzsnooze]

Many people don't use the APP me for one. You can get a regular cruise card at guest services or use the medallion to open your door or make purchases and not use it with a phone or reader board.

[Doug R.]

He will be fine. Without the app his experience will be just like before the medallion. He will use the medallion just like the old cruise card.

[Cruise Raider]

We oftentimes cruise with one of our neighbors that doesn’t have a cell phone.  At 88 years old, it’s doubtful she will ever get one.  We’ve created a log in for her (on the princess website and on the app) and we just use our app for everything she needs.  Or … We can log on to our app using her info we’ve set up.  Then, just log back in under our own login.  
Your dad will be fine without the app… our neighbor certainly is!  
 

Waiters are plentiful throughout the ship, for the most part.  If he wants room service, he can always call on the phone or order directly through the TV in his room.  Or you can even order it for him on your phone .. just plug in the correct location of where you want it delivered. 

 

 

[memoak]

Things like menus are available on the TV as well. We really don’t use the app much when on board. The medallion itself takes care of opening the door and paying for drinks or in shops

[JGmf]

I'm good with technology, but not good with the notion of lugging my stupid phone around a ship to do ordering, etc., so I'll have the medallion and not use the app pretty much at all. 

 

It'll be my first time on Princess next month, so I was similarly questioning this approach.  Just like others have chimed-in, looks like I'll be fine.

[wcflats]

Y’all will be fine without it. I have a cell phone flat phone but leave it in the cabin.  Medallion thingy in my pocket for door opening….not much else use for me.

If I want a drink I go to the bar and get it myself.  Same with food 🥘…walk to wherever and get it.  

[trvlwrld]

I am tech savvy, but love being really on vacation…so I leave my phone in the safe and I’m just fine!  Use the medallion to open the door and charge things around the ship just like a cruise card.  Ordering can be done in person.  If you’re worried about being charged for things or tracked with the medallion, just keep it in an RFID sleeve.

[memoak]

The main things I use my phone for on a cruise is to check news (the TV on board has no real news stations just opinion stations) and to text my friends on board

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, memoak said:

The main things I use my phone for on a cruise is to check news (the TV on board has no real news stations just opinion stations) and to text my friends on board

LOL.  I am thinking the BBC is more like actual news and then you have decent news and you have fake news.  Not every show is opinion, but then you have to tune in at the right time.  I think the BBC channel does a world perspective, so not much of news from a home front perspective except for bigger items.  I agree much better to use internet and you can focus in on areas you want to source news from.

[Steelers36]

5 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

Hi everyone. I am coming over from NCL board. We are platinum on Princess but haven't sailed since pre Medallion experience. We have a family cruise in Emerald coming up this fall. My booking is separate from my parents. I have downloaded Medallion app and registered. My dad, however, is a dinosaur. No smart phone. No app, etc. I see I can get him registered for online checkin on princess.com. do you think he will be ok onboard with the medallion but no app? Is the on board experience diminished significantly if you don't have an app? Can you still order drinks from a bar server? Make dinner reservations, etc? Thank you so much in advance.

 

 

I agree with @Cruise Raider post.  Note you can use the web and/or smartphone app to register your parents for the cruise.  I am presuming you plan to dine together.  Use your parents' Booking Number to add them as Travel Companions in the App.  Then you can create a dining party of the four of you and book in the DR's for dinner or also Specialty Dining if that is desired.  

 

Outside of that they get a paper Princess Patter (renamed to the terribly boring Princess Event Listings) which tells them what is going on each day.  Otherwise, they can order drinks and either tell waiters their cabin number of show them Medallion to scan.  

[Doug R.]

2 hours ago, JGmf said:

I'm good with technology, but not good with the notion of lugging my stupid phone around a ship to do ordering, etc., so I'll have the medallion and not use the app pretty much at all. 

 

It'll be my first time on Princess next month, so I was similarly questioning this approach.  Just like others have chimed-in, looks like I'll be fine.

Lugging your phone around????? How big is it and how much does it weigh? 😁

[Steelers36]

There is the group who stashes their phones in the cabin safe (don't even want to be tempted one might think) and the group that carries them around.  Ne'er the twain shall meet.  Same as the tux group and the smart casual group.  However, I'd like to think the groups do co-exist even though they clearly don't agree.

[LACruiser88]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

However, I'd like to think the groups do co-exist even though they clearly don't agree.

The moment we board the ship, my DW stashes her cellphone in the safe and does not remove it until the day of disembarkation.  I get to be her "Personal Assistant" while onboard as we share an email account.

[Paula_MacFan]

I carry my phone around to take pictures because I love to document our vacations.  That doesn't mean I'm using it for anything else 🙂  I could never 'leave it in the safe the entire cruise' just for that reason!

 

I like the medallion technology though -- it's easy to use, opens the doors, and as many have said it's totally usable without any apps or smart phones. 

Edited May 19, 2023 by Paula_MacFan

[charliedalrymple]

I'm so relieved to read the answers to this question!  We will be sailing for the first time with the medallion in December, and the whole concept is causing me stress. (Yes, I'm a tech dinosaur.). I would prefer to just pretend I don't have it and go about my business on board just like I did pre-COVID.

 

Based on other threads here, I think it makes a lot of sense to just order drinks at the bar instead of using the app, since it seems they can take forever (or not show up at all).  That's really my main concern.  I don't mind going directly to the MDR to reserve a table every day.  

[JGmf]

17 hours ago, Doug R. said:

Lugging your phone around????? How big is it and how much does it weigh? 😁

Ha! Just a regular light and carefree Samsung smartphone.  One thing tethered to me bc of work that I'm happy not looking at or using on vacation.  🙂

[JimmyVWine]

I think that as long as one person in the group has the app, links their Shipmates to that account, gets everyone registered for check-in and knows how to use the features while on board, others can enjoy their cruise just fine without ever carrying around a device. My daughter and I both used the app to its full advantage while on board. My wife carried her phone with her to address work related emergencies but hardly ever accessed the ship app. She had us do that for her. Once over the course of 8 days she used the “Find Shipmates” feature to locate where we had found lounge chairs to chill for the afternoon and the app led her right to us. But other than that she didn’t use it and survived just fine. But in all honesty, I do think that the cruise experience is heightened if at least one person in the group knows how and is willing to leverage the advantages of the app. 

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

Ha! Just a regular light and carefree Samsung smartphone.  One thing tethered to me bc of work that I'm happy not looking at or using on vacation.  🙂

Don't you take any photo's? 

[JimmyVWine]

34 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Don't you take any photo's? 

Some of us still use real cameras. 😁

[Paula_MacFan]

12 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Some of us still use real cameras. 😁

Which would usually be the same size or bigger than a cell phone. I don't miss packing a camera, maps, flashlight, notepad, alarm clock, etc when I have all that at my fingertips on my phone. Again, just because people carry a phone around doesn't mean they are 'glued to it online' while cruising. 

[Doug R.]

2 hours ago, JGmf said:

Ha! Just a regular light and carefree Samsung smartphone.  One thing tethered to me bc of work that I'm happy not looking at or using on vacation.  🙂

I can see that! I am retired but I still lug my IPhone around because I use it to take photos. 

[san diego sue]

You can also order food, drinks etc. using the TV in your cabin rather than the phone.

We order room service from the TV all the time.