Do I have to get a Medallion?

[rheathslc]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

We have clips and I just stick them in my pocket my wife clips it to her bag since she doesn’t have pockets in most of her clothes 

1. Love the sport clips (not the recycled plastic ones though)

 

2. I don't presume to speak for all women on anything but this: We want more pockets! 🙂

 

[SCX22]

Through my 35 year old eyes the Medallion is dated.  This concept debuted at US Disney Parks in 2013 via the MagicBands and really didn't do much to revolutionize the experience.  Disney guests didn't mind it (not loved it) when it was free, but when Disney started to charge, very few actually bought into the Magic Band concept.  

 

As far as Princess goes, the benefits of the Medallion are trivial because cruise cards to the same thing at a much lower cost to the cruise line.  The portals are a redundancy to the printed Event Listings, the Ship Schedule and deck plans section of the App on the phone and don't require use of the Medallion unless playing a game on the portal (unnecessary and I've never seen many people playing).  For exit/entry on to the ship, there is a a few seconds delay in the readers pick up the Medallion's signal.  With the cruise cards, there is no delay (can say this using present terms in the times I've had my Medallion swapped for a cruise card), which would speed up exit/entry onto the ship.  My drinks still come to me faster if I go up to the bar and get them myself instead of ordering though OceanNow, and I'm guaranteed that I'm going to get them.  The Medallion will unlock your cabin door but, you have to be extremely lazy to not want to pull out a key in what ever form to unlock a door.  If you're too lazy to do that, just get rid of the locks all together.  The find your shipmates feature to me is superfluous, most people always have phones with them so all everyone has to do is get on the messaging App and send texts to each other.  As far as tracking venue usage, what venue on the Sphere Class ships was added removed because of Medallion tracking?  Crooners was removed from the Majestic and Sky, but reinstated on future builds because passengers complained about it's absence.

 

The Medallion didn't revolutionize cruising.  None of the other Carnival brands adopted the technology.  The RC Group is revolutionizing cruising through their builds and investors are taking note by buying their stock.  Then again, the RC Group experience isn't for all and probably not for the Princess loyalist.

[IndyKid]

23 minutes ago, memoak said:

I don’t get the connection of the medallion and the app. The medallion opens your door, lets you charge products, gamble and get on and off the ship. The app lets you see menus, orders some beverages and food be delivered, see you folio etc. I don’t see how the they are connected. You could have the app and a cruise card and there would be no difference except for the locating of shipmates

When ordering food and drinks for delivery to your location you need to order through the app, then the wait staff uses the medallion to locate you for delivery.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

34 minutes ago, artvlay said:

I found watch type medallion holders on Amazon. Are they a good way to hold the medallion during the cruise?

yes! we bought these for our latest cruise and loved them. However, if you have extra large wrists, you may find them a bit tight. I am fluffy with fluffy wrists, and while my DH has skinnier wrists than mine, he found them to be a bit tight.

 

 

my DH's skinnier wrist:

 

 

 

 

my fluffy wrist:

 

On our first Medallion cruise we used these ones and also were fine with them:

 

[rheathslc]

7 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

My drinks still come to me faster if I go up to the bar and get them myself instead of ordering though OceanNow, and I'm guaranteed that I'm going to get them.  The Medallion will unlock your cabin door but, you have to be extremely lazy to not want to pull out a key in what ever form to unlock a door.  If you're too lazy to do that, just get rid of the locks all together.

To each their own.

But I will say I'd rather wait a few extra minutes and be able to not interrupt my current activity whether that's relaxing with a book by the pool or playing cards with my travel mates in the piazza. 

The door unlocking thing really isn't about laziness. It's more about having your hands full. Surely even you have had situations where you'd have to set something down or shuffle things around in order to pull out your card. It's a convenience that can make life aboard just a tiny bit easier. Plus a cruise is a vacation right? Shouldn't we get to be a little lazy if we want? The leap from enjoying having your door unlock for you, to you should "just get rid of the locks altogether" seems pretty silly.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

37 minutes ago, memoak said:

The names are last name only with an initial. If you are looking for F Smith on a large ship it could take you awhile 

 

really? On my cruises it always listed all the names. I actually find it fun to look for the same names as ours (we have foreign names). We'll most likely never find the same last name (pretty unique), but first names are a wee bit more common. Well, mine is.

 

On our last cruise we actually find somebody with my first name literally 3 doors down.

[artvlay]

32 minutes ago, JGmf said:

This is what we use.  We are like the @memoak couple.  Pocket for me.  Wife clips to her bag.

 

 

So the medallion fits snug in these?

[memoak]

2 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

really? On my cruises it always listed all the names. I actually find it fun to look for the same names as ours (we have foreign names). We'll most likely never find the same last name (pretty unique), but first names are a wee bit more common. Well, mine is.

 

On our last cruise we actually find somebody with my first name literally 3 doors down.

This is new over the last few months and much needed. When I had Covid and had the table outside the door someone came by to take a photo of the table and my name was there for all to see as a Covid carrier. Yes my wife watched this and confronted them

[donaldsc]

5 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

To each their own.

But I will say I'd rather wait a few extra minutes and be able to not interrupt my current activity whether that's relaxing with a book by the pool or playing cards with my travel mates in the piazza. 

The door unlocking thing really isn't about laziness. It's more about having your hands full. Surely even you have had situations where you'd have to set something down or shuffle things around in order to pull out your card. It's a convenience that can make life aboard just a tiny bit easier. Plus a cruise is a vacation right? Shouldn't we get to be a little lazy if we want? The leap from enjoying having your door unlock for you, to you should "just get rid of the locks altogether" seems pretty silly.

 

Almost never.

 

DON

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

44 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

Through my 35 year old eyes the Medallion is dated.  This concept debuted at US Disney Parks in 2013 via the MagicBands and really didn't do much to revolutionize the experience.  Disney guests didn't mind it (not loved it) when it was free, but when Disney started to charge, very few actually bought into the Magic Band concept.  

 

As far as Princess goes, the benefits of the Medallion are trivial because cruise cards to the same thing at a much lower cost to the cruise line.  The portals are a redundancy to the printed Event Listings, the Ship Schedule and deck plans section of the App on the phone and don't require use of the Medallion unless playing a game on the portal (unnecessary and I've never seen many people playing).  For exit/entry on to the ship, there is a a few seconds delay in the readers pick up the Medallion's signal.  With the cruise cards, there is no delay (can say this using present terms in the times I've had my Medallion swapped for a cruise card), which would speed up exit/entry onto the ship.  My drinks still come to me faster if I go up to the bar and get them myself instead of ordering though OceanNow, and I'm guaranteed that I'm going to get them.  The Medallion will unlock your cabin door but, you have to be extremely lazy to not want to pull out a key in what ever form to unlock a door.  If you're too lazy to do that, just get rid of the locks all together.  The find your shipmates feature to me is superfluous, most people always have phones with them so all everyone has to do is get on the messaging App and send texts to each other.  As far as tracking venue usage, what venue on the Sphere Class ships was added removed because of Medallion tracking?  Crooners was removed from the Majestic and Sky, but reinstated on future builds because passengers complained about it's absence.

 

The Medallion didn't revolutionize cruising.  None of the other Carnival brands adopted the technology.  The RC Group is revolutionizing cruising through their builds and investors are taking note by buying their stock.  Then again, the RC Group experience isn't for all and probably not for the Princess loyalist.

It may not have revolutionised the cruise experience for the passengers but I think it highly likely that it revolutionised the understanding of passenger movement and activities throughout the ship and that is the real reason the medallion concept was introduced... for the benefit of Princess... not us.

 

I could not cruise on RC... too loud, too brash, too busy, too much to do, too expensive (after paying to do all those things!), too family orientated.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, rheathslc said:

I don't presume to speak for all women on anything but this: We want more pockets!

yes, we do. 🙂

 

 

Edited February 12 by Itchy&Scratchy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

58 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

The Medallion will unlock your cabin door but, you have to be extremely lazy to not want to pull out a key in what ever form to unlock a door. 

has nothing to do with laziness. As a mom, I carry a drink and a plate with lots of yummy goodness for my kiddo whose guilty pleasure  while cruising is sleeping late and then eating breakfast on a balcony. I have no hands to spare to pull out a stupid card and touch it to the door/insert it. I don't want to put the food on the floor to do that either.

Why? Why? Why would anyone think that this is not a useful feature?

Edited February 12 by Itchy&Scratchy

[SCX22]

10 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

has nothing to do with laziness. As a mom, I carry a drink and a plate with lots of yummy goodness for my kiddo whose guilty pleasure  while cruising is sleeping late and then eating breakfast on a balcony. I have no hands to spare to pull out a stupid card and touch it to the door/insert it. I don't want to put the food on the floor to do that either.

Why? Why? Why would anyone think that this is not a useful feature?

 

Not a problem most Princess cruisers have given that Princess is known to cater to an older demographic.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

Not a problem most Princess cruisers have given that Princess is known to cater to an older demographic.

the older demographic never carries a plate and a drink back to the cabin for themselves or a significant other?

[SCX22]

18 minutes ago, Snaxmuppet said:

It may not have revolutionised the cruise experience for the passengers but I think it highly likely that it revolutionised the understanding of passenger movement and activities throughout the ship and that is the real reason the medallion concept was introduced... for the benefit of Princess... not us.

 

Rhetorical question...why has Disney pushed the MagicBand to the margins of their offerings?  There are other way to tabulate usage which don't require such technological investment.  Maybe the data isn't as useful as everyone makes it seem?  Just thinking outloud.

[SCX22]

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

the older demographic never carries a plate and a drink back to the cabin for themselves or a significant other?

 

A lot order room service, as evidenced by the number of what to do with used dishes threads.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

Just now, SCX22 said:

 

Rhetorical question...why has Disney pushed the MagicBand to the margins of their offerings?  There are other way to tabulate usage which don't require such technological investment.  Maybe the data isn't as useful as everyone makes it seem?  Just thinking outloud.

Yes, you could be right... it may not be the revelation that they thought it would be.

 

I do tend to agree with the person that suggested that the tech may already be getting outdated what with the new generation of AI and face recognition along with integrated phone technology. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Just now, SCX22 said:

 

A lot order room service, as evidenced by the number of what to do with used dishes threads.

one doesn't have to use room service in order to accumulate dirty dishes in their cabin....

And I am pretty sure that "a lot" doesn't mean 100%.

[SCX22]

54 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

Surely even you have had situations where you'd have to set something down or shuffle things around in order to pull out your card. It's a convenience that can make life aboard just a tiny bit easier.

 

I'm a guy so everything I need is in my wallet.  Maybe it's different for the ladies.  My gal always carries a very small purse.  To her, less stuff = less stuff to keep track of.

 

The removal of locks was hyperbole to drive home my point.

Edited February 12 by SCX22

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

1 minute ago, SCX22 said:

 

A lot order room service, as evidenced by the number of what to do with used dishes threads.

Isn't taking a plate back to your room just self-serve room service? You still have the issue of what to do with the dishes 🙂 

[rheathslc]

4 minutes ago, SCX22 said:

 

I'm a guy so everything I need is in my wallet.  Maybe it's different for the ladies.  My gal always carries a very small purse.  To her, less stuff = less stuff to keep track of.

Fair.

I just find it convenient on those occasions that I'm carrying a coffee each for myself and my partner or two plates of pizza. Those slices slide right off the melamine (or whatever they are ) plates if you're not careful. Even as a former server with excellent carry skills it can be hard to juggle while trying to unlock the door. I'm not saying it's a must have. But it's certainly nice and I enjoy it. And as a 41 year old, I feel my extra 6 years of life give me the wisdom to make that judgment. 😁

[insidecabin]

21 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

If Medallions are really that great, more passengers will want to purchase one than not.  Also cruise cards cost cents to manufacture.  Factoring in the battery and the chip, Medallions probably cost $5 to manufacture.  Do the math and the thousands of passengers that Princess serves.  I think around $30 for a Medallion would be reasonable.  It puts it in line with an AirTag.

I understand the Medallion are pretty simple RFID identifiers with an unique ID nothing special. 

 

Same as a cruise card but with a battery to work over a distance for the tracking sensors around the ship.

 

Some seem to think they are smart.

 

They are not smart or programmed they are just a unique I'd.

 

Cheap to manufacture and disposable not that green with 1-2 million batteries every year.

If they had rechargeable reusable a passenger could have one for multiple cruises.

 

Princess won't be paying Apple tax no way they are near Airtag value.

[memoak]

47 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

has nothing to do with laziness. As a mom, I carry a drink and a plate with lots of yummy goodness for my kiddo whose guilty pleasure  while cruising is sleeping late and then eating breakfast on a balcony. I have no hands to spare to pull out a stupid card and touch it to the door/insert it. I don't want to put the food on the floor to do that either.

Why? Why? Why would anyone think that this is not a useful feature?

So is it your 3rd had you use to open the door ?  All the medallion does is unlock the door you still need to push the door knob to open the door 

Edited February 12 by memoak

[Itchy&Scratchy]

Just now, memoak said:

So is it your 3rd had you use to open the door ?  All the medallion does is unlock the door you still need to push the door knob to open the door 

I use the elbow for that. No additional hand needed, like it's needed to grip the card and take it out of the pocket.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, IndyKid said:

When ordering food and drinks for delivery to your location you need to order through the app, then the wait staff uses the medallion to locate you for delivery.

So if people are moving around they have to chase you down. That is why I see servers calling out names in the piazza for people who decided to go someplace else. Even for a coffee they could have gotten just by standing in line for a few minutes