Will Guest Services punch a hole in Seapass cards on Anthem?

I understand that the Anthem Seapass cards have electronics in the that can be damaged if you punch a hole in the wrong place. I also understand that there are spots where you can do it without damaging anything (someone on another thread said that the picture of the North Star was a good spot). Given this, if I take my card to Guest Services and ask them to punch a hole for me, as I've done on many other ships, will they do it for me? Or will they tell me that it will damage the card and refuse to do it?

Prior to them charging for the WOW Band, I would have been happy to use that instead of getting the hole. But I'm not paying $10 for them (for my wife and myself) when punching a hole and putting it on our Cruise Critic lanyards has worked fine for us.

This could change so much depending on the GS staff that anything anyone here tells you could change several times by the time you sail. The best you can hope for is that you get a reasonably intelligent person at GS and can explain to them where to punch the hole and it is safe to do so. Or, you could sweet talk yourself into a free WOW band.

Or, here's an idea. If your cabin is near some suites, talk to your cabin attendant and have him find you some leftover WOW bands previous guests left behind in their suite (suites get WOW bands free).

You don't have any old name tag holders from events? Ones that you can use with a lanyard?

That's what we will resort to for our next Anthem trip.

You don't have any old name tag holders from events? Ones that you can use with a lanyard?

 

That's what we will resort to for our next Anthem trip.

I don't like those because you have to get the card out and eventually the holder will rip (plus any that I can think of have pins or clips and can fall off). The landyards where you get a hole punched and loop the card onto the ring are so handy.

This could change so much depending on the GS staff that anything anyone here tells you could change several times by the time you sail. The best you can hope for is that you get a reasonably intelligent person at GS and can explain to them where to punch the hole and it is safe to do so. Or, you could sweet talk yourself into a free WOW band.

 

Or, here's an idea. If your cabin is near some suites, talk to your cabin attendant and have him find you some leftover WOW bands previous guests left behind in their suite (suites get WOW bands free).

But if the policy on the ship is that the cards will be damaged by punching a hole, they could decide not to have a hole puncher at GS at all and it won't be able to be done no matter how nice the person who's there at the time is.

There are some suites on the deck where we'll be (13) but not all that close to our cabin (13560). I wonder if people have actually been able to get WOW Bands this way. It's certainly an interesting idea. How, you could say "slip the cabin attendant a few extra dollars", but if I'm going to do that, I may as well just spend the $10 and buy the bands.

No, you can't punch a hole in the new RFID cards. You can buy a lanyard with a plastic holder at the gift shop. BTW, We were told by an employee you could get it free at guest services. (Lie!)

I don't like those because you have to get the card out and eventually the holder will rip (plus any that I can think of have pins or clips and can fall off). The landyards where you get a hole punched and loop the card onto the ring are so handy.

I'm not sure if you have to take them out- being RFID, there's no strip that needs swiped- it just needs to be close.

I understand that you don't want to worry about ripping the packets. But since they won't punch a hole in them, just using a lanyard without a pocket isn't much of an option.

No, you can't punch a hole in the new RFID cards. You can buy a lanyard with a plastic holder at the gift shop. BTW, We were told by an employee you could get it free at guest services. (Lie!)

So are you saying that GS won't do it? In another thread (where the charging for WOW Bands is being discussed) someone said that they X-rayed the card and found the wire antenna running thru it and that there is a spot where it can be cut without damaging the antenna.

So are you saying that GS won't do it? In another thread (where the charging for WOW Bands is being discussed) someone said that they X-rayed the card and found the wire antenna running thru it and that there is a spot where it can be cut without damaging the antenna.

Do you really think anyone in GS is actually going to understand that? I'm an Engineer, I get it. But GS? Not so much. As said, they probably won't even have a hole puncher there.

You're best bet if the only thing you'll accept is a hole in your card is going to be to bring your own hole puncher.

No, you can't punch a hole in the new RFID cards.

Yes you can, you just need to know where. In another thread someone mentioned this was already seen on Anthem - the hole was right where the picture of the Northstar cabin is (that's a safe place to punch the hole).

GS probably needs a hole punch for other things so there's bound to be one there - whether you can talk them into using it on your seapass card is questionable.

Yes you can, you just need to know where. In another thread someone mentioned this was already seen on Anthem - the hole was right where the picture of the Northstar cabin is (that's a safe place to punch the hole).

 

GS probably needs a hole punch for other things so there's bound to be one there - whether you can talk them into using it on your seapass card is questionable.

Even if they have a hole punch, it's highly unlikely they will take the risk of damaging your card. Nor will they loan you one to risk damaging it yourself.

Can and will are very different things.

Do you really think anyone in GS is actually going to understand that? I'm an Engineer, I get it. But GS? Not so much. As said, they probably won't even have a hole puncher there.

 

You're best bet if the only thing you'll accept is a hole in your card is going to be to bring your own hole puncher.

This is why I posted here. I was hoping that someone with actual experience could say whether they'd been able to get one punched on Anthem.

Worst case I guess I pick up a cheap hole puncher at Staples before I go (and maybe test it on an old card).

Bring your own hole punch, and if the card doesn't work because you punched it in the wrong spot get a new one at GS. Keep trying new hole locations until it find the right spot. If they don't want to punch it for you, they will replace a defective ones. I usually get a new one every cruise just for the ink wearing off on the cards from sun screan.

Is it wasteful? For sure it is. RC shold be able to train the staff to where it is safe to punch the card. Better yet, the cards could be "pre-marked" at the source/manufacturing plant with a safe spot for hole punching at little or no extra cost. That might be a cheaper option than replacing extra cards that are ruined by holes. It will come down to dollars and cents.

Bring your own hole punch, and if the card doesn't work because you punched it in the wrong spot get a new one at GS. Keep trying new hole locations until it find the right spot. If they don't want to punch it for you, they will replace a defective ones. I usually get a new one every cruise just for the ink wearing off on the cards from sun screan.

 

Is it wasteful? For sure it is. RC should be able to train the staff to where it is safe to punch the card. Better yet, the cards could be "pre-marked" at the source/manufacturing plant with a safe spot for hole punching at little or no extra cost. That might be a cheaper option than replacing extra cards that are ruined by holes. It will come down to dollars and cents.

On the other thread, it was reported that punching it near the North Star works because the wire doesn't go there.

As for pre-marking the card, they probably didn't think about that because this really was not an as much of an issue before they started to charge for the WOW Bands. At least they could have said "you can't punch a hole but use this free WOW Band instead". Now that they're charging $5 for them, it's an issue (at least for me).

Bring your own hole punch, and if the card doesn't work because you punched it in the wrong spot get a new one at GS.

So, I purchased a hole puncher from Staples and tried punching an old card, and it's not punching the hole (it makes the impression but I can't get it to actually cut the hole. Before I go back to look for a better one, I figured I'd resurrect this thread and see if anyone has had luck recently getting Guest Services to punch a hole for you recently on Anthem.

Wow bands are well worth the $10. No fumbling for a stupid card ever!! Punching a hole can cause the card not to work (it's an rfid card). Then you can't get in your room or off the ship. I wish the bands worked to get back into the port. I hate carrying the stupid card. I've heard the wow bands are reprogrammable. So you can use it on your next cruise. I put ours by the passports for our next trip!

Wow bands are well worth the $10. No fumbling for a stupid card ever!! Punching a hole can cause the card not to work (it's an rfid card). Then you can't get in your room or off the ship. I wish the bands worked to get back into the port. I hate carrying the stupid card. I've heard the wow bands are reprogrammable. So you can use it on your next cruise. I put ours by the passports for our next trip!

It's been documented elsewhere that you can punch a hole in a spot near the North Star photo and not damage the RFID, others have x-rayed the card and figured out where the wire is. And I wear my card on a lanyard around my neck and never have to fumble for it.

No they won't, but you can buy a lanyard in the gift shop. :rolleyes:

No they won't, but you can buy a lanyard in the gift shop. :rolleyes:

Yes, a lanyard that the card has to fit in a slot and won't hold the card as securely as mine, where it is connected via a metal loop.

Wow bands are well worth the $10. No fumbling for a stupid card ever!! Punching a hole can cause the card not to work (it's an rfid card). Then you can't get in your room or off the ship. I wish the bands worked to get back into the port. I hate carrying the stupid card. I've heard the wow bands are reprogrammable. So you can use it on your next cruise. I put ours by the passports for our next trip!

Old WOW bands are reprogrammable. We used our old Quantum bands on our recent anthem cruise. They had a table set up outside Guest Services. Took less than a minute

So, I found a 3 hole punch in my office at work today and tested it on an old card and it worked fine. I brought it home and put it in my suitcase, we're driving to the port so no need to worry about weight. I'll try Guest Services first and if they won't punch it, I'll do it myself, over the picture of the North Star.

So, I found a 3 hole punch in my office at work today and tested it on an old card and it worked fine. I brought it home and put it in my suitcase, we're driving to the port so no need to worry about weight. I'll try Guest Services first and if they won't punch it, I'll do it myself, over the picture of the North Star.

I will pack my single whole punch Bill. My husband will get the band. Between the two of us something should work.

So, I found a 3 hole punch in my office at work today and tested it on an old card and it worked fine. I brought it home and put it in my suitcase, we're driving to the port so no need to worry about weight. I'll try Guest Services first and if they won't punch it, I'll do it myself, over the picture of the North Star.

I will pack my single whole punch Bill. My husband will get the band. Between the two of us something should work.

Sandy and Bill, please see my post on our roll call re this.

I will pack my single whole punch Bill. My husband will get the band. Between the two of us something should work.

I tried a single hole hand-held punch and couldn't get it to work. Someone stronger might have better luck. We can bring our punches to the M&M :).

I am happy to report that Rob was able to punch holes in our cards and did not damage the RFID. We got them punched in the middle of the card about a half inch down, below the picture of the North Star itself, actually on the bottom of the connector piece.

Amusingly, I've had a couple of people come up to me asking if my card still worked, since they saw it on a lanyard. They had tried punching their own cards and broke the them. One person had it in the corner, not sure where the other was. I explained to them where it had to be punched. Both were quite excited to get the info and were going to try it again.