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Ocean Medallion


RestonCruiser
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Question:

Did the medallion control only the lights or the lights AND the outlets?

 

...not that I'd ever admit to leaving a smartphone behind, charging. ;)

,,,or wireless ear buds, or tablet, or WiFi keyboard or fitness tracker, or Apple Watch or toothbrush or portable waterpik or camera battery or...

 

With only a couple of outlets in a cabin, ours are busy 24/7 charging something.

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All this talk has me dreading my next Regal cruise. It isn't until Feb 2019 but at the rate they are going it seems I won't even be able to open my cabin door. I don't see any benefit of the medallion for me anyway.

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It is utterly mind boggling to me that Princess can't seem to get any of this stuff working. I have often disparaged the IT staff that handles their website but I had hoped they had hired "real" IT people for the Medallion project as they have committed such an incredible amount of money and hype to the project. I guess they are instead sticking with their previous IT hiring policy. I think their IT staff must be composed of people who failed as Walmart greeters and couldn't find any other job so Princess picked them up as "IT Professionals". Its sad. Very sad. I was so looking forward to trying out the Medallion and freely admit to having been a "fanboi" of the project. I am so very disappointed by the apparent incompetence displayed by the Princess IT people.

 

Thank you for the testimonial. I do believe speaking as a former IT professional that ***** is still not quite ready for prime time use. I was not aware of the aps for smart phones which is yet another complication to an already disastrous rollout. I have frequently thrown barbs at what appears to be a not so competent IT department at Princess just based on their webpage failures (thankfully it appears to be working until the next big "update"). Princess really needs to pry loose the big bucks and hire competent IT people who have experience with what Princess is trying to do and get it right. Even when and if they get ***** working correctly, the bad press that they have endured for the last year will always impact what good they should get from the finished product.

 

Interesting perspectives, I think I agree but as a retired security system engineer, my experience is that there is a world of difference between "design" and "implementation". After reading all the issues Princess has had with ***** (I mean c'mon, people can't even be sent instructions on what to do or get apps to work??), I am starting to think both phases are at fault. Not a good look for Princess.

 

We will be boarding Royal in a week, won't have *****, and I am fine with it. Many cruisers got some OBC for not having *****, but we aren't in that group.

 

I would gladly exchange the non-working ***** for returning the "every day steak" option to the MDR menu, or <insert your favorite no-longer-offered> thing here. Or maybe better pizza :D

 

I wonder if Princess reads these boards, or if they even care what we are saying. It seems to me they are being somewhat frivolous with their reputation and I'm surprised they aren't doing more to manage customer disappointment--stockholder or not ;)

 

ML

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Question:

Did the medallion control only the lights or the lights AND the outlets?

 

...not that I'd ever admit to leaving a smartphone behind, charging. ;)

The medallion has nothing to do with the lights or the outlets. This technology was started on the Royal (no medallion). It is similar to what a lot of hotels do.

There is a little slot near the door where you put your room key or a reasonable facsimile. When the key is removed from the slot i

t probably breaks the circuit and turns off the power in the room after a minute or two. I believe all the cabins on the Regal, Royal and Majestic have this technology. I was in a non-medallion cabin on the Regal in December and then in a medallion cabin two weeks ago. Both cabins were equipped with the slot near the door to control the power.

 

I cannot remember what it did to the outlets but I have a fuzzy memory of thinking that something got turned off and then thinking oh yeah I had the key out. But don't quote me on that. Like I said it was fuzzy and my brain doesn't work like it used to. :D

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just off the Regal two weeks ago...:(...we did NOT have medallion

 

talked to a few people at outriggers bar who DID have the ***** and they stated it was basically worthless and more than a few times didn't even open the cabin door..

 

talked to a couple of the bartenders there, and they basically stated the same - very hit or miss..

 

didn't do any of the shops, so my information is limited to the above

 

I can understand real-world implementation problems on a ship (although I cannot fathom why there was not real-world testing by Princess before asking passengers to be guinea pigs), but a downloadable app used on land should not have any problems when released to the public. No matter how competent or incompetent the programmers may be, the testing staff is totally unable to do a proper job.

 

I do not know if the ***** software was done by Princess or by outside contractors. If done by outside contractors, I have no idea if the software is working perfectly to imperfect specifications or working imperfectly to perfect specifications.

 

Whether programmed internally or externally, I suspect that many of the people involved have never been actually on a cruise and thus do not understand what the programming is supposed to accomplish and thus unable to point out flaws in its design or implementation.

 

In my working life dealing with software contractors, there was one time I complained about the total inexperience of one programmer assigned to a project. When I requested that he be replaced with an experienced person, the response I received to be asked how little I would be willing to pay for his hours to keep him on the project.

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This stockholder wonders just how much money Princess has already invested is this new technology...that will actually unlock a cabin door. Wait! I thought we already had technology to open cabin doors (a key card). The expense of this project must be immense.

 

Remember that the Regal implementation is the first for a project that is to be implemented on every ship of all of the CCL Corp. brands, over 100 ships.

 

On the recent phone conference call with stock analysts, CCL Corp management did not reference any problems with this project. The ***** technology is not trying to fix existing problems, but is being developed to "enhance customer experience." After the Regal will be the Caribbean Princess.** At the time of the conference call last month, eight ships were "Ocean Ready." They are having fun watching guest reactions. Happy users are "ramping up slowly."

 

 

(** I wonder if this will be before or after the year old CB propulsion problems are resolved.)

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some land based hotels is doing this, requiring you to insert something in a slot next to the door to turn on the electricity. other cruise lines like Norwegian have this too.

 

The Royal and Regal (and Majestic?) have this "feature."

 

People figured out really fast to bring an old cruise card with them and stick in the light switch thing, LOL.

 

We did not have to bring an old cruise card to use on our Royal cruise. The cabin steward already had an old cruise card in the slot when we first embarked.

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The Royal and Regal (and Majestic?) have this "feature."

 

 

 

We did not have to bring an old cruise card to use on our Royal cruise. The cabin steward already had an old cruise card in the slot when we first embarked.

I think any credit card sized card will work doesnt need to be a cruise card.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

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They are having fun watching guest reactions. Happy users are "ramping up slowly."

 

Wow, that seems to be extremely disrespectful and out of touch.

 

When we read reports here of ***** users having ongoing problems opening their cabin doors,

or wasting lots of time waiting in lines to resolve ***** issues...

 

Are these the reactions "they" enjoy watching?

 

I would think cringing would be a better word than enjoying.

 

And, as others have said ... princess might be able to come up with some lame excuses about

why their shipboard pieces don't work.

 

But, for their associated apps to not work?

Their developers should go back to the junior college they flunked out of...

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So after thinking about my frustrations with ***** over the weekend and also reading all of your comments, I called Princess again this morning (see Post 1). I was on the phone with a very nice lady who told me she had not received a single complaint or concern with *****. She told me she had received calls from passengers asking to be included in the ***** Pilot. Of course, she could not help me. I sent a note to Customer Relations to express my concerns.

 

Now I am concerned the check in process will be much longer and we will experience problems the entire voyage. Time will tell.

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The medallion has nothing to do with the lights or the outlets. This technology was started on the Royal (no medallion). It is similar to what a lot of hotels do.

There is a little slot near the door where you put your room key or a reasonable facsimile. When the key is removed from the slot i

t probably breaks the circuit and turns off the power in the room after a minute or two. I believe all the cabins on the Regal, Royal and Majestic have this technology. I was in a non-medallion cabin on the Regal in December and then in a medallion cabin two weeks ago. Both cabins were equipped with the slot near the door to control the power.

 

I cannot remember what it did to the outlets but I have a fuzzy memory of thinking that something got turned off and then thinking oh yeah I had the key out. But don't quote me on that. Like I said it was fuzzy and my brain doesn't work like it used to. :D

 

Energy saving technology widely in use across Europe, Latin America and other continents, yet just now coming to America.

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So on Friday afternoon the FedEx truck arrived and delivered our Ocean Medallions for our Regal Crossing on April 15. Very attractive box included engraved medallions with our names, ship, and date. Included was a nice note thanking us for being Pilots on the upcoming cruise. There were no instructions anywhere to be found.

 

On one of the inserts were pictures of six different apps that can be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple App Store. The first app in Ocean Ready and is where you expedite the boarding process by entering all your information, including passport info, etc. I downloaded the app and my frustrations began. I could not for the life of me figure out the sign-in. It asked for your Ocean Credentials. As you will remember, there were no instructions included in the box. I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out the sign in and also searching google to see if I could learn any additional information. I must say all this effort was for naught so I called the Princess number for assistance. The young lady told me she would transfer me to the Medallion help desk. I held the line and finally got a message saying they were either closed or there was no one to help me. Not giving up that easy, I called back to the Princess number and insisted I needed to talk with someone. She was very polite and asked if she could put me on hold and see if she could locate someone to help. After several minutes, she connected me to a very nice young man and the frustration continued to build. He finally admitted the Ocean Ready is having severe problems but he would do his best to help me sign in. He told me the Ocean Ready app is required to use the other 5 apps. After about 30 minutes of him telling me exactly what to do with no positive results, he finally told me he could not help.

 

With my frustration at a high level and after wasting now about three hours, I told him I would just throw all this medallion stuff in the trash can. He did chuckle a little and said I understand. Never did he say the technology was not ready for deployment and I asked him this question several times. He did say that we should bring the medallions with us on the 15th as maybe something would be working by then.

 

So my question --- has anyone used the Medallions or any of the six apps available to make your life and cruise easier? I admit I am not very high tech, but this is ridiculous. I would love to hear any thoughts or comments. I am sure I will get flamed for this note but I really am frustrated. Maybe I will Come Home New from the cruise but I am surely leaving home feeling old and frustrated.

 

 

So no

 

I remember how the implementation of the ACA website by the federal government had a few hiccups and was hugely criticized by those who don't want all Americans to have access to health care. A significantly more complex endeavor involving millions of people and hundreds of companies offering insurance plans for profit. Here, a private company with the aid of significant IT giants cannot implement existing (Disney, etc) in one ship for 3,500 "guests." So funny!

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So after thinking about my frustrations with ***** over the weekend and also reading all of your comments, I called Princess again this morning (see Post 1). I was on the phone with a very nice lady who told me she had not received a single complaint or concern with *****. She told me she had received calls from passengers asking to be included in the ***** Pilot. Of course, she could not help me. I sent a note to Customer Relations to express my concerns.

 

Now I am concerned the check in process will be much longer and we will experience problems the entire voyage. Time will tell.

The check in process was not long at all. There are special counters for the medallion guests. They are to the far right as you enter the large hall. The staff will direct you. I wanted the medallion just to see what is was. I knew before had that there might be some hiccups but I did not let anything bother me. On the whole I liked the experience even if it was just to open the door. I don't know if you have a keyless entry system on your car but the medallion worked on the cabin door very similarly. I really liked walking up to the door and have it unlock. I would not worry too much about experiencing problems. You will have a backup cruise card which should take care of any problems. Just go and enjoy your cruise. You will have lots of time to kick back and relax on the crossing. Have fun!
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I think any credit card sized card will work doesnt need to be a cruise card.

 

Sent from my SM-T580 using Forums mobile app

 

Exactly. We have been using old hotel card keys for years on both the Regal and Royal Princess. We just leave it cocked in the slot so the lights do turn off until we return and insert the card into the slot.

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I'm beginning to wonder if folks are booking voyages to experience the ***** rather than the cruise itself. Yeah, I get it that there is the major disappointment in not having this unique system fully operational.

 

We had a voyage on the Regal a couple of months ago which was booked when we thought the system would be up and running, but no. Did it spoil our experience? Nope. We just did what we usually do before the ***** and had a great time. Our next voyage booked on the Regal Princess is this year's New Year's Eve voyage and we should be able to use the ***** then. In the meantime, we have a 10-day on the CB in a couple of weeks and it will be fine.

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we 'were' booked on the inaugural b2b - 2b4 days cruises in Nov 2018 - when we got notice that we weren't ***** on either and coupled with the cancellation of Grand Turk on the 4 day ( sub to Princess Cay) - we cancelled both for FULL refunds of everything.

 

booked a 5 day Crown for the same period...

 

just recently off the Regal (3/25) as the result of a fantastic move over offer from ironicaly a 5 day Crown to Turks which was sold out the week before

 

Quite honestly, it made 0 difference that we weren't ***** on that cruise either as the newness/novelty had worn off for us...

 

meh

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Like many engineering projects, I think the biggest mistake was allowing marketing to enhance the features before the product rolled out. But the system shows promise .. and having a digital ship is the right direction to go. Regal is the focus group, especially since only limited cabins have gone live. And there is always staff as a back-up.

 

Internet was very good for our entire journey and for a week, 4 devices for $20 a day .. which is higher than I would like, but my son was thrilled to keep up with his iPhone chats (ocean conceirge had a messenger which might allow iPhones to get free messages without the plan .. but not sure). Would be nice if it was free or cheaper, but seems like an essential upgrade for those of us who don't want to come back to work after a week or longer and not know what is going on ... or to not have the ability to weigh in on in progress work ..

 

We had the non-medallion room with the card needed to keep lights on .. any old hotel key card works really well.

 

The big digital screens were nice and the kids loved playing the games. The schedules were well organized, touch screens and scroll down for more, to the right to see future on that day and a day tab to see next days activities. And showed the time. I think the ship map one was different from the

 

The only thing is the app had some missing info, like live links to the maps ..

 

if they can control lines and even send up kitchen and wait staff to the buffet during peak periods .. great.

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We did not have to bring an old cruise card to use on our Royal cruise. The cabin steward already had an old cruise card in the slot when we first embarked.

 

LOL! I hope you took it with you for next time :). We each keep one tucked in with our travel "stuff."

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Energy saving technology widely in use across Europe, Latin America and other continents, yet just now coming to America.

 

In one hotel I was at in Asia when the lights went out (when room key was removed from slot), so did power to all of the room electrical outlets go off including the one that the room fridge was plugged into.

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we 'were' booked on the inaugural b2b - 2b4 days cruises in Nov 2018 - when we got notice that we weren't ***** on either and coupled with the cancellation of Grand Turk on the 4 day ( sub to Princess Cay) - we cancelled both for FULL refunds of everything.

 

booked a 5 day Crown for the same period...

 

just recently off the Regal (3/25) as the result of a fantastic move over offer from ironicaly a 5 day Crown to Turks which was sold out the week before

 

Quite honestly, it made 0 difference that we weren't ***** on that cruise either as the newness/novelty had worn off for us...

 

meh

 

We were on the 2-day roll out of the ***** on the Regal Princess in November. We had tried to book this voyage weeks before hoping to experience the *****, but the ship was sold out. Our Princess vacation planner called to tell us there were cancellations so we booked it. (Living in south Florida makes these decisions easy couple with the opportunity to go to Nassau made the decision easy.) As result of not having a full rollout of the *****, the TA's canceled all their bookings which left us on board with only about 1,000 other passengers! Nice for us, lousy for our other stockholders. We knew we weren't going to experience the ***** since the cabins online where at the forward part of the ship and we had our favorite cabin aft, but the experience of the voyage was great and we had a chance to meet Jan S., Mickey Aronson and have the "run of the ship".

I'm sure we will have the ***** experience in December......or else there will be a huge problem with the program.

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Restoncruiser-----We will be on the TA with you leaving this weekend. We are not in the preview group and at first were disappointed, but after reading your experience so far I think we may be the lucky ones. We are anxious to see how the ***** system onboard is working for those who have it. Regardless, we plan to have a great cruise! See you onboard!

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From what I could tell on our April 1-8 Eastern Carribbean, there were few Medallions and the only cabins equipped with the new technology (an iPad type device to replace the scan card and your mailbox) were in the forward section and maybe only on 14 and 15 very furthest section, the only sections I walked through. Did not seem the Medallion people were either giddy with excitement or angry.

 

Again high speed WiFi was nice .. got a bit slower as more and more people jumped on. Pricing was $10 a day for 1 device, $30 a day for 4, with discount to $20 a day for 4 as you added more days .. so cheaper than advertised in our final few emails. I think my son might have streamed a movie or two, but definitely email and surfing on my phone was pleasant.

 

My guess is that the ***** will never be exciting, unless you like to be called by name or have a drink ready, but maybe it will help with tracking people on the ship to quickly adjust food or number or staff to help say escort people to their seats in theater. With the ship at 3950 people last week, including lots of 3rd and 4th people in bunks, there were still never crowds or lines of any appreciable length, but we did avoid trying to be the first ones off at port.

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The WiFi is completely free for elites and platinum, speed difference is like the difference between the old dial up and very fast WiFi. On the Regal in January it was fully operational whereas I would be surprised if the Medallion is operational by the Fall. The WiFi is much more important for the average passenger than the Medallion which is basically a side light and of more interest to the ship than the passengers. Mike

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We had ***** and were on April 1-8 Eastern Caribbean midship Baja.

 

We got one free connection with ***** for the whole trip by logging in with cabin and birthdate. My son was in a regular cabin and was able to connect without logging in and have access to a few Apps (FB, whatsapp) and iMessage for no charge.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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