Ocean Medallion and Club Class

Is anyone else disturbed by this trend? There are getting to be so many "classes" and paid snobbery on Princess that I'm beginning to think I booked Cunard.

I know it's about revenue, but I'm not sure why if you have that kind of money and want that kind of service you don't go Silversea or something like that---although you can't be "better" because everyone gets exceptional service on a higher class ship.

I have sailed everything from a full suite to an inside and I'm not saying there shouldn't be a few perks at the very top, but it's disturbing that it's stratifying so much. At some point it won't be fun to be "riff raff"--on a mass market ship!

Club Class doesn't bother me. If someone wants to pay ridiculous amounts of money for this upgrade...fine.

The Ocean Medallion "Class" is misnamed from what I've read. EVERYONE gets the medallion. It isn't reserved for the few who will pay more money.

It bothers me too, I currently have 3 cruises booked in a mini suite just below the CC , and am thinking about looking for another line.

"The Ocean Medallion "Class" is misnamed from what I've read. EVERYONE gets the medallion. It isn't reserved for the few who will pay more money."

I think this is correct. They have to change the lock mechanism on each door to work with the medallions, so I think everyone will get them.

I am, however, curious to see if they're color coded by status.

Disney has been using similar technology for several years and it's great. They should even be able to scan your medallion when taking photos so you can view them on a screen instead of searching through thousands of prints.

The RFID signal isn't strong enough to track your every move onboard the ship, and your purchases are already captured by using your cruise card, so it's not that different, just wearable technology.

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Is anyone else disturbed by this trend? There are getting to be so many "classes" and paid snobbery on Princess that I'm beginning to think I booked Cunard.

I dislike this trend of additional classes for a whole other reason -- it's getting too difficult to book online!

Most of the cruise search websites can't seem to handle all the additional categories and endless scrolling past all those categories is tedious.

On another line's own website last night, their own categories were all mixed up and out of order. Aqua, Medallion, Ocean, Club, Concierge, etc.???

It's all too much for a simple cruise vacation! :eek:

After tiring of the Cruise Company websites, I tried a few online booking engines, such as those suggested here on this site, and they are even MORE messed up! I couldn't book with any of them because it felt like even THEY couldn't tell me what I was getting at each level and promotion!

:rolleyes:

But people are totally fine with being "Elite"...alrighty then :rolleyes:

The Ocean Medallion "Class" is misnamed from what I've read. EVERYONE gets the medallion. It isn't reserved for the few who will pay more money.

ok I did misunderstand that from what it sounds like--I thought it was something you paid for. Thanks for the clarification!

But people are totally fine with being "Elite"...alrighty then :rolleyes:

"elite" isn't in your face or nor does it diminish perks offered to other guests. There is a happy hour---but if they changed to a simple bill adjustment and you buy your cocktail wherever with others that would be fine.

I'll bet you could sail a whole cruise with me and, unless you saw my card when I'm buying something, you would never know I'm elite.

"elite" isn't in your face or nor does it diminish perks offered to other guests. There is a happy hour---but if they changed to a simple bill adjustment and you buy your cocktail wherever with others that would be fine.

 

I'll bet you could sail a whole cruise with me and, unless you saw my card when I'm buying something, you would never know I'm elite.

You didn't even know what Medallian class was and you're complaining about it so I doubt how me listing how you being elite affects my cruise will make any difference.

Is anyone else disturbed by this trend? There are getting to be so many "classes" and paid snobbery on Princess that I'm beginning to think I booked Cunard.

 

I know it's about revenue, but I'm not sure why if you have that kind of money and want that kind of service you don't go Silversea or something like that---although you can't be "better" because everyone gets exceptional service on a higher class ship.

 

I have sailed everything from a full suite to an inside and I'm not saying there shouldn't be a few perks at the very top, but it's disturbing that it's stratifying so much. At some point it won't be fun to be "riff raff"--on a mass market ship!

Club Class basically includes some upgraded in cabin amenities and a special dining area. I don't care about the in cabin amenities, but upscale dining and dining service should be available to all passengers. That would be a nice marketing plus.

Medallion "Class" isn't a special class of passenger, the word class is mis-used. It is an updated personal on board identification system of every passenger. A medallion replaces the cruise card. The system will have some tech applications for passengers that wish to use them.

Medallion "Class" isn't a special class of passenger, the word class is mis-used. It is an updated personal on board identification system of every passenger. A medallion replaces the cruise card. The system will have some tech applications for passengers that wish to use them.

Medallion Class is being used as a class of ship, not a class of service. Ships with the medallion system will be Medallion Class ships (although they'll also still be in their size class (e.g. Royal, Grand, Coral)). But following the introduction of Club Class, Princess has caused a lot of confusion with the term.

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Club Class basically includes some upgraded in cabin amenities and a special dining area. I don't care about the in cabin amenities, but upscale dining and dining service should be available to all passengers. That would be a nice marketing plus.

On our cruise next June, only 5 of the 28 Club Class mini-suites have been booked. That's only 17%. In contrast, more than 75% of the other mini-suite categories have been booked. It appears that for this cruise at least, Club Class is a bit of a bust.

Not disturbed at all. Princess is just trying to keep up with the trend across most cruise lines. Encouraging people to pay more for things that are important to them. Specialty Restaurants and the Sanctuary are other examples. It also makes the cruise more affordable for those that do not value those extra charge items.(less increase in prices for some cruisers)

I am not sure the separate entrance and the setting aside of 60-80 seats for Club Dining in only one restaurant is "in your face". If you were in the other MDR or Traditional Dining I am not sure you would even notice. Most of the Club Dining guests would be taking up space somewhere anyway. I am not sure that the number of empty seats in the Club Dining is any greater than the number of empty seats in the Traditional Dining area on any given night. (Theoretical of course).

Princess will need to fully implement the new Club Dining, evaluate, and make whatever adjustments are necessary. For the suites only restaurants on the Celebrity Solstice Class ships they walled off the special restaurant, Luminae. I guess this would make it less in your face, but Princess would have less flexibility to adjust the number of seats.

A lot of discussion concerning the theoretical impact of the Club Dining experience that might prove to not be true. (Or it might be proven correct)

The bottom line is that Princess like most businesses needs to adjust and make changes to remain competitive IMO.

The fact that they offer Club Class doesn't bother me yet until I find out just how slow it will make things for the rest of us. Anytime they include more people in the Elite benefits section it degrades our benefits, but they don't seem to care about things like that as long as they can sell them. :(

I also think that calling it a Medallion Class cruise causes confusion. I've never understood marketing people. (But then I'm a tech guy.)

I also think that calling it a Medallion Class cruise causes confusion. I've never understood marketing people. (But then I'm a tech guy.)

That word "class" does seem to have problems. I think announcing this so close to the launch of Club Class caused many people to connect the two in some way. Yes, marketing people are inscrutable.

Is anyone else disturbed by this trend? There are getting to be so many "classes" and paid snobbery on Princess that I'm beginning to think I booked Cunard.

Earlier responses have already pointed out how faulty this theory is. I felt that way as soon as I saw the typical misuse of the term "snobbery"--it is an attribute of persons, not of the level of cabin or dining category--but more so at the comparison to Cunard: there are far, far fewer "class distinctions" (if that's even the right term) between The Grillers and The Rowers on Cunard then there are on the mainstream lines that have gone to the ship-within-a-ship format for their Suite Lifers, such as The Haven on NCL and The Yacht Club on MSC.

But far worse than anything cited above is what is going on on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean: if you check out their Cruise Critic boards you will find multiple threads daily with an obsession-bordering-on-fetishism over which venues on which ships are restricted at which hours (or at all times) to each of the myriad of different levels of cabin categories and/or loyalty statuses. Now that is what we all need to hope and pray Princess never turns into.

Earlier responses have already pointed out how faulty this theory is. I felt that way as soon as I saw the typical misuse of the term "snobbery"--it is an attribute of persons, not of the level of cabin or dining category--but more so at the comparison to Cunard: there are far, far fewer "class distinctions" (if that's even the right term) between The Grillers and The Rowers on Cunard then there are on the mainstream lines that have gone to the ship-within-a-ship format for their Suite Lifers, such as The Haven on NCL and The Yacht Club on MSC.

 

But far worse than anything cited above is what is going on on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean: if you check out their Cruise Critic boards you will find multiple threads daily with an obsession-bordering-on-fetishism over which venues on which ships are restricted at which hours (or at all times) to each of the myriad of different levels of cabin categories and/or loyalty statuses. Now that is what we all need to hope and pray Princess never turns into.

I don't follow the Royal Caribbean boards, so I have no idea what you're talking about there. But I do follow Celebrity, and this is nonsense. The "class system" on Celebrity involves four different cabin categories. "Suite Class" dines in Luminae, a separate dining room not obvious to anyone else, and has exclusive access to Michael's Club [which used to be reserved to Elite passengers -- but there are now so many Celebrity Elites that they wouldn't fit in MC for their free cocktail hour, so now they get coupons and can drink anywhere] "Aqua Class" dines in Blu, again a separate dining room not obvious to anyone else. "Concierge Class" dines in the regular Main Dining Room [without a rope or any special menu items], but gets some in-cabin amenities [not obvious to anyone else]. And Inside, Oceanview, and regular Balcony cabins dine in the Main Dining Room. That's it! The rest of the ship -- 99%? -- is available to every single passenger. [Celebrity did wall off some of the Luminae and Blu areas from the original MDR, but I have not seen any reports that this is causing extra waits for Anytime Diners. Maybe Princess could hire away a Celebrity executive to explain how they handled this so smoothly!]

I don't follow the Royal Caribbean boards, so I have no idea what you're talking about there. But I do follow Celebrity, and this is nonsense. The "class system" on Celebrity involves four different cabin categories. "Suite Class" dines in Luminae, a separate dining room not obvious to anyone else, and has exclusive access to Michael's Club [which used to be reserved to Elite passengers -- but there are now so many Celebrity Elites that they wouldn't fit in MC for their free cocktail hour, so now they get coupons and can drink anywhere] "Aqua Class" dines in Blu, again a separate dining room not obvious to anyone else. "Concierge Class" dines in the regular Main Dining Room [without a rope or any special menu items], but gets some in-cabin amenities [not obvious to anyone else]. And Inside, Oceanview, and regular Balcony cabins dine in the Main Dining Room. That's it! The rest of the ship -- 99%? -- is available to every single passenger. [Celebrity did wall off some of the Luminae and Blu areas from the original MDR, but I have not seen any reports that this is causing extra waits for Anytime Diners. Maybe Princess could hire away a Celebrity executive to explain how they handled this so smoothly!]

Thanks for speaking up. I also thought "What nonsense" when I read those claims. That was quite insulting with the "obsession-bordering-on-fetishism" accusation. I monitor both the Celebrity and Princess boards and I have yet to come across any obsessed people on either. Wait, let me correct that: add "other than that judgmental poster".

I get that some people don't mind paying extra for better amenities--including better food. But for a lot less than the cost of upgrading yourself to Club Class from a balcony, you could eat every night in one of the specialty restaurants. We did specialty dining every night on a short cruise when we had a bunch of on-board credit to use. We ate at Sabatini's, the Crown Grill, Crab Shack, and an Ultimate Balcony Dinner. Even throwing in a Chef's Table would have been a lot less than paying the difference to upgrade.

The RFID signal isn't strong enough to track your every move onboard the ship, and your purchases are already captured by using your cruise card, so it's not that different, just wearable technology.

With 7000 sensors on the ship, you will never be far from one of them that the Medallion signal can get to.

Not disturbed at all. Princess is just trying to keep up with the trend across most cruise lines. Encouraging people to pay more for things that are important to them. Specialty Restaurants and the Sanctuary are other examples. It also makes the cruise more affordable for those that do not value those extra charge items.(less increase in prices for some cruisers)

 

The difference is that any passenger in any type cabin can eat in a Specialty Restaurant if they want to pay for it. Sanctuary is the same, as any passenger can pay to use it.

But when passengers in some high priced cabins are the only ones guaranteed to have immediate seating in Anytime Dining, then over 90% of passengers have no access at all to that option.

I'd prefer one thread on Medallion. IDK why the moderators aren't doing something about this big chance with a sticky thread.

With 7000 sensors on the ship, you will never be far from one of them that the Medallion signal can get to.

I can't believe with that many sensors you would be out of range at any time even if it is a very short range.

I suspect they wouldn't have to cover the complete show lounge for example but only the doorways leading in. It's hard to imagine where they'll be placed.

I can't wait to see the layout. :)

I can't believe with that many sensors you would be out of range at any time even if it is a very short range.

I suspect they wouldn't have to cover the complete show lounge for example but only the doorways leading in. It's hard to imagine where they'll be placed.

I can't wait to see the layout. :)

Many of them are simply small devices in the ceiling along the hallways. They are shown in the promo videos. What will be readily apparent are the interactive terminals placed around the ship. There are supposed to be something like 400 on Regal and Royal. It remains to be seen how many are actually placed. Of course the cabin TV will also be able to act as a terminal in addition to the ones placed publicly. I'm guessing that means that Caribbean Princess will have to be upgraded to the same sort of on demand system used on Regal and Royal.