nzOdy

Yeah,  we've always been Green Lane at embarkation,  and never needed to show anything from the app.  As long as you've got your medallion and required form of ID, that's all we've ever needed.

Here's another gotcha I've never noticed before,  not to say it's not always been there,  just never had reason to notice it.

On or last cruise we chose to eat at Sabatinis while docked in San Diego. To my surprise, as well as the speciality dining cover charge,  there was local San Diego sales tax added.

So lesson learned for me,  if you want to save that tax payment,  don't eat specialty while in port!!

Where can one post discussions regarding the performance of some of these senior staff? I just came off the Crown and have some opinions on Jody Miles that I'd like to hear others thoughts on. Thanks!

A little late, but just dropped in to say that it's usually only the onboard shops that are closed and unavailable while in port on Princess Ships.

Also make sure when you're looking for times that you scroll all the way to the last entry,  8:40pm, on our cruise in 5 days.  It was the only time slot that had specialty at the Crown once bookings opened up. 

I would have liked earlier, but I grabbed one figuring it's easier to move an existing booking than ask for an entirely new one once on board.

Couldn't resist jumping in here as we've experienced just about every issue mentioned in this thread.

1.) App awareness of dining credits.  I'll start by saying I'm an android user.  We cruised in June and tried to reserve via the app a table for six at Crown Grill,  4 of us were suite guests that should have first night speciality dining comped. The app was not aware of these perks for all parties, but I think may have discounted my wife and I, as 4 had to be payed for with credit card.

 Once on board we spoke with the concierge to get the other 2 suite guests comped and the cash difference was converted to additional OBC.

Having said that,  if you've seen the Android app debacle in the main Ocean Medallion app thread,  they released 2 updates so far in November. I booked a Crown reservation for my wife and I and it sensed and applied dining credits that were applied to our booking.  So I'm not sure if they've done some work on recognizing credits,  but it feels like it.

2.) Specialty dining availability once on board: I have been on a short cruise where the Crown was completely booked out ahead of boarding. We were on the Discovery, which has a concierge lounge for suite guests and is available to assist with any problems you have. He also was not able to find an opening. 

So I'd say it's entirely dependent on the length of your cruise as to whether or not you can book one of the popular restaurants once on board.

About 2weeks before sailing they usually open up specially booking to non-suite guests.

The booking I mentioned above for the Crown was only available at 8:40pm for all 5 nights of our leg (non-suite booking).

So make sure you check all time slots when looking to make a booking pre-boarding.

Good luck with your bookings and dining reservations!!

9 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Wow!  They finally fixed that - again for about the 3rd time I think.  It will be truly nice and remove a LOT of frustration for folks if this has been finally fixed.

 

I know right!! The 'other' credit I was referring to in June was the first night Suite Guest perk. I tried booking ahead of the cruise, in the app,  for a party of 6, where 4 were eligible for credit, somehow had to end up paying for 4 by credit card.

Just yesterday I was able to apply promotional dining credits in the app for a specialty booking for myself and DW. So it was a refreshing experience.

I also learned over this experience that when you call the general help number,  the front line agents have no more access than you do. They are simply impersonating your login on a phone and the web.

I guess they reserve higher level access to your account to higher level customer service staff.

@Bollycats, I think  updating to the current version in the google play-store is as safe as any other update you've previously done (this obviously doesn't include version 3.0.108702).

One thing I noticed yesterday in the latest app is that it recognised and used Dining credits for a Specialty dining reservation. I know we hadn't been able to do that with a different kind of dining credit back in June. Not sure if that's a true upgraded feature or not.

We've had two people reporting on the latest version, from 1 gen old devices to older and lower spec ones, so it seems to be safe.

I take no responsibility for anything that goes wrong though! 😃

PS - the disturbing thing is that I can now type version 3.0.108702 from memory. *sigh*

Hello all Android users, just checked and the Playstore now has version 3.0.108730 available.

I risked the install and can report, that at least on my Samsung S22+, the Screen Reader permission issue is fixed.

You can now update and not risk the malfunctioning 3.0.108702 version being installed.

15 minutes ago, ShipWalker said:

Regal out of Galveston, February 24th.

If you've not sailed out of Galveston before,  just beware that because of the liquor laws in Texas, the cocktail options for the initial part of your cruise are very "limited".

But I hope you enjoy it immensely!

@SuzieQ521 We're on the same cruise,  also coming out of RWC!!

According to our Travel Summary, they don't begin actual boarding until 12:00pm.

From memory, they open the terminal to departing guests around 10:30-11am, and once you're cleared for boarding, you hang around in various waiting areas until boarding begins.

Do you mind if I ask who you've booked a bus/van with?

2 hours ago, ShipWalker said:

As a soon to be first time Princess cruiser I won't worry about it once I am onboard and drinking. 🍸

@ShipWalker Can I ask which cruise is going to be your first Princess Cruise? Just asking as we're doing a 5d out of SF on the 21st.

6 hours ago, ShipWalker said:

Where do I find the version number for the app I am currently using??  (iPhone6 and DW's Samsung Galaxy S23)

ShipWalker,

On the S23, long press the Princess app, which pops up the contextual box for options like Uninstall, Move, etc, there is a title bar on the top that will read "Princess" and to the right side of the title bar is a little "i". Click that "i" to see app information,  scroll to the bottom of it and you will see the version number.

4 hours ago, nzOdy said:

... Guess I have a phone call coming! Sorry it's not more positive news for those of you still stuck with a broken app!

I just got said call from Corporate Guest Relations, basically wanting to thank me for all my input,  noting it had been passed to the team and greatly helped them understand where to look for the issue.

It was partly to make me feel listened to and let me know the team are working on it. He didn't rule out a hotfix coming before our cruise on the 21st.

@hagainps should feel proud that the Samsung workaround you passed on is now on board ships with the Medallion teams.

One thing this whole experience has taught me. If you do call in or have some form of chat exchange about app problems, be as specific as possible about what exactly is happening, down to the smallest of details,  rather than a frustrated "I can't do X, and Y is broken."

If you can provide great detail, they do apparently listen. Also if you feel the first agent you speak to is just reading a customer service script (they most likely are), don't be afraid to ask for the Supervisor. That's who I ended up passing all the screen reader details to this time around.

So here's hoping they get a quick fix out for all the non-Samsung users!

Happy cruising everyone!

It's now Monday and the only response I've had in Saturdays long X thread with Princess is as follows:

"Thank you for your feedback. We have shared your comments with our Guest Services team, who will contact you shortly. We appreciate your patience."

This was after I gave them Hagainps's Samsung workaround for those stuck in screen reader mode.

Guess I have a phone call coming! Sorry it's not more positive news for those of you still stuck with a broken app!

1 hour ago, Bollycats said:

I just looked at my One Plus 8 phone. Everything on the app works fine and I'm green lane. I looked in the play store and it says there is an update available. Should I do it or not? Can I leave as is or will it automatically update at some point? I leave on Sunday.

Bollycats, if the app version you have now is working,  do not risk updating it.  I could tell you how to fix the buggy app on a Galaxy phone,  not sure how to do it for a Pixel though.

On your 2nd question,  if you haven't enabled automatic updates, it shouldn't update itself. You might find one day the installed app itself just tells you to update.  Hopefully you can get through your cruise before that happens.

5 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

...I'll go straight to the source (Google Play Store) and get this straightened out...Wait!  Play store does not list a version at all for the Medallion App!  (Unless I'm just blind and cannot see it!)  I thought they *always* listed what version it was...???

Rick & Jeanie, it's still there. When you're on the app details 'page', look down the page a little and click on "About this app", scroll a little again, and in the App info section you will see the app Version displayed.
As of 3:55pm PSDT on Nov 5 2023 it reads 3.0.108702

As the thread on the Ocean Medallion App has been mentioned a number of times here I'll drop some relevant info.

The "Screen Reader Accessibility Mode" bug was introduced on 'some' Android devices with the

Nov 1st 2023 release of the Princess Medallion Class App, specifically version 3.0.108702.

Prior to this, my whole family have used Android devices on multiple Princess cruises with no issues. The brand of the device makes little difference to the susceptibility of bugs by less than stellar software engineering teams.

So, if you have a Samsung Galaxy device, AND you have version 3.0.108702 of the Medallion App, AND it's stuck in screen reader mode (announcing page objects to you and pages/tabs are un-scrollable), AND you do not use any Accessibility features on your phone, there is a fix to restore normal app functionality:

Steps

Close Medallion App

Go to:

Settings,

General Management,

Reset (near bottom of screen),

Reset Accessibility Settings,

Click Reset settings button,

Enter Password,

Click Reset button.

Thanks to member Hagainps for finding and sharing this workaround.

Once again:

• DO NOT do this if you rely on Accessibility settings on your device.
• This only applies to Samsung Galaxy phones. I do not know the equivalent settings on Pixels or other brands.
  
  I was engaged all day yesterday online with a Princess Customer relations agent and got some information passed to the Engineering team, who according to what I was told, have identified the issue and I'll be hearing an update on Monday (tomorrow) hopefully.
  
  Hopefully a new version will be released quickly to the Google Playstore to fix this issue.

4 hours ago, hagainps said:

Found a way to get the app to work on Verizon Samsung S22 devices with Android 13 with all updates complete.  Using the logical information from member nzOdy, I dug into individual app accessibility options. I also checked on both device accessibility settings and everything was disabled/off. We had a few installed apps wanting accessibility access (AVG Antivirus, Nova7) but those too were turned off.  Started looking into how to Reset accessibility only, not the full system, and found a page online that had directions I didn't know. Completed the steps on both devices and it now the app works like it is supposed to.

 

Note: This worked for me, so no guarantees for anyone else.

 

Steps

Close Medallion App

Go to:

Settings,

General Management,

Reset (near bottom of screen),

Reset Accessibility Settings,

Click Reset settings button,

Enter Password,

Click Reset button.

 

Takes a few seconds, then is finished and no reboot required. Open Medallion App and it worked fine and could scroll, etc.  No Voice Green Boxes around logos, etc. 

 

The Webpage is on The Droid Guy and is "How to Reset Accessibility Settings on Galaxy S22. (I didn't want to break rules posting a link)

  

Hagainps -  YOU RULE!! 

Just followed those steps and the app is now functional! I was hunting around in settings for Accessibility as well. Never occurred to me to think of General Management -> Reset.

Seems they've messed up the permissions the app grabs on install. I'll pass this to my Twitter/X chat, maybe they will pass it to agents as a short term remedy, until they fix the app properly!

43 minutes ago, boeckli said:

Samsung Galaxy A33 running Android 13, app version 3.0.108702 - no problems

Yes, I have to believe it's a misconfigured experiment wrapper around enabling 'screen reader mode'. Somehow a bunch of us non-screen reader users are being put into the screen reader enabled bucket.

I've seen plenty of examples of misconfugured experiments leaking to production during my time working in software development. 

Just none so severe that it completely broke the service.

Just imagine the other side of this where visually impaired users with properly enabled screen reading systems are now dealing with no screen reading ability.  I'm assuming the experiment muck up is affecting both groups.

2 minutes ago, HiCCCs said:

DRAT!!! I was starting to pack my bags.

 

Just as an FYI....once on board, the app did work fine. My only complaint was that they claimed drink orders were "delivered" but I never received one!!! After the third failed attempt I stopped ordering through the app and dealt only with humans. Bartenders were always sympathetic and credited back the undelivered cocktail. My advise at the end of the cruise survey was to associate an employee ID with each "delivered" drink to see if there is a personnel problem at hand. I'm not expecting a change....but since they asked I thought I would offer my two cents.

Yeah that's a known issue with the Ocean Now system. There is no 'Unavailable' or 'Cancel' option in that system that a bar tender or wait staff can use to inform the passenger. The only way they have to close out an order that has a problem is to mark it 'Delivered'.

We discovered this on our cruise before last by talking with bar staff.😀

I feel like Princess rushed this system to their ships to get a marketing win, a customer service win (so they thought)  and a way to cut costs.  Due to the rush we are still dealing with bugs and oversights made for speed to market.

As long as you're aware of the issues and gaps in the systems it has been pretty convenient overall,  in our experience at least.

36 minutes ago, HiCCCs said:

Don't let technology (or the lack thereof) steal your focus that you are going on a cruise! Don't let technology glitches rob the joy that is yours to be going on a cruise! 

 

Anyone who needs to forgo their cruise because these technology problems are entirely unacceptable, please allow me to go in your place.

 

Toot-Toot! 😘

Haha,  I'm not that deep in dread, sorry for you!!

Actually feeling better about it since I managed to convince them to stop running Customer Service scripts against me and take my engineering advice. Maybe I should tell them to put me in charge of their engineering team!! 😄 🤣

I'll pass on what I hear on Monday.

Update, I've been communicating my engineering theories to a CS representative on Twitter/X. Latest reply which just came through:

"Thank you for your comments, which we've shared with our IT team, they have confirmed there is an issue and they are working on it. We will follow up with you on Monday with an update. We appreciate your patience. Thank you."

OK, the fact that we have people with working Androids, can you please confirm app versions, and people with forced screen reader Androids further makes me think this is a buggered experiment configuration.  (See earlier software themed post).

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

It's the old ID10T error with the Ocean App squad.  The whole bunch of them should have been forced to walk the plank ages ago.  Unbelievable - but believable knowing their past history.

Let me guess you worked on L10N or I18N in your past? That's a great hijack of the development shorthand system!! 😉