Anthem of the Seas-Wow Bands

[UandMe4Ever]

I won't bother to buy one on the Ovation in May. I have my old one from the Anthem and it was really only useful to open the cabin door. Unless you were sat right by the till at a bar, you had to take the band off to pay for drinks as their readers aren't wireless and so not portable, as such (I know they're on a wire!). As has been said before, you still need the card get on and off the ship and I found mine to be quite uncomfortable too.

 

Neither will we. If you have to take it off for drinks, its easier to whip out your card........

[fletch1027]

This sounds more and more like a very expensive "look what we have" gimmick that is falling flat for RCI. RCI should have either not done it at all or should have gone all in with it and totally replaced cards with bands on one of the new ships as a way to roll it out.

 

If they wanted to, the bands could replace everything that a SeaPass card does now (like Disney has done with their magic bands).

 

On top of that, they would see lower overall maintenance costs, as "non-impact" things that use RFID (like the bands) don't wear out & break as often as readers that require a physical card swipe (CC terminals, cabin doors, etc).

 

[besberry]

Neither will we. If you have to take it off for drinks, its easier to whip out your card........

Exactly!

[klass2]

I say yes. We bought them and felt they were worth the nominal fee ($5). Worth it to me each and every time I opened the door to my cabin without fumbling for my card.

[Pony Player]

That's probably why they're now charging for them. They were giving them to everyone, and the majority probably weren't even using them.

 

What I think they should've done is just made them available for free at Guest Services, but you have to go pick it up, so there would be less waste. But if they can make a buck...

 

Or Charge for them, but give you a $5 OBC

[robtulipe]

I say yes. We bought them and felt they were worth the nominal fee ($5). Worth it to me each and every time I opened the door to my cabin without fumbling for my card.

 

Like I mentioned in my previous post I could just dangle the my RFID card in it's holder on a lanyard from my neck in front of, close to our cabin's door lock to unlock it when doing a coffee run in the morning from the concierge lounge when both of my hands were holding items. Also this set up made the card easy to access when you needed to give it to the drink waiters and without having to undo a waist band.

Even the lanyard and card holder was a freebie from Celebrity. :D

 

Edited January 23, 2016 by robtulipe

[muppetsguy]

They could provide them free for those interested, but charge a $5 deposit. If you return it at the end of the cruise, you get your deposit back. Then they can reuse the band and not have waste. Plus, they'd still make some money (and help cover their cost of the program) since some people would keep it as a souvenir or forget to return it.

[Merion_Mom]

Thanks for the info. Pretty sure I know most of it. Point in fact. We still NEED the card for getting on and off the ship...Still need card to put in slot at machines in the Casino to keep track of your points. Bracelets won't fit LOL.

 

I know we won't waste money for that.

 

safe travels to you and enjoy your bracelet.

 

Not true about the casino. You put your wow band up to the sensor on the slot machine. No SeaPass card needed.

[Roce48]

I think that the use of a band is a personal choice, which for me is worth the $5.00. We used them at Disney even though first very skeptical. Yes, they are free at WDW, but if it is only $5.00 for my entire upcoming 12 night cruise, it certainly won't break my bank. lol

[Roce48]

This sounds more and more like a very expensive "look what we have" gimmick that is falling flat for RCI. RCI should have either not done it at all or should have gone all in with it and totally replaced cards with bands on one of the new ships as a way to roll it out.

 

If they wanted to, the bands could replace everything that a SeaPass card does now (like Disney has done with their magic bands).

 

On top of that, they would see lower overall maintenance costs, as "non-impact" things that use RFID (like the bands) don't wear out & break as often as readers that require a physical card swipe (CC terminals, cabin doors, etc).

 

 

$5.00 is expensive to you?

[Merion_Mom]

Three weeks on the Quantum.

 

Two weeks and continuing on the Anthem.

 

I love my WOW band more than ever.

 

:)

[fletch1027]

This sounds more and more like a very expensive "look what we have" gimmick that is falling flat for RCI. RCI should have either not done it at all or should have gone all in with it and totally replaced cards with bands on one of the new ships as a way to roll it out.

 

If they wanted to, the bands could replace everything that a SeaPass card does now (like Disney has done with their magic bands).

 

On top of that, they would see lower overall maintenance costs, as "non-impact" things that use RFID (like the bands) don't wear out & break as often as readers that require a physical card swipe (CC terminals, cabin doors, etc).

 

$5.00 is expensive to you?

No, $5 isn't expensive. Crap, I'm paying RCI $9.44 per day to support my Diet Coke habit! :) The "expensive" part of my original comment about it being an expensive gimmick was referring to it being an expensive waste of money for RCI to implement the way they did, and that is proving out by them not being free anymore (unless you are in a suite).

 

There's no reason to do it if it's going to be done half-assed. If they are going to do it, they need to TOTALLY replace the SeaPass with them.

 

If the bands are truly meant to be functional and not just a gimmick, then why doesn't RCI implement the technology to use the bands to get on and off the ship? I wonder how many people get to a port, get all the way down to deck 2 then remember that they need to go back for their SeaPass because they forgot that the bands aren't able to be used for that?

 

RCI brags about the robot bartenders, but does not spend for portable scan machines for the human bartenders to use for transactions. There are posts all over CC about people complaining about having to take it off to hand over to someone to pay for something.

 

I think for a lot of these reasons, they are not being used as much as they expected, so now they start charging $5 for them to try and recoup some of the investment.

 

I won't even go into how the RFI in the bands could be used to gather data on the people wearing them, so people are potentially paying $5 for doing RCI the favor of giving them tons of analytical data.

 

I don't think the bands are a bad idea, I just wish they would implement them fully to make them more useful...

 

[Roce48]

Questions

 

If I purchase the band, will I still be able to use my card?

 

My band will not get me on and off the ship?

[Pony Player]

Questions

 

If I purchase the band, will I still be able to use my card?

 

My band will not get me on and off the ship?

Correct on both counts

[jennote2]

Can someone who recently sailed on Anthem please confirm whether or not the WOW bands can be used for drinks? I'll have a drink package and thought the band would come in handy?

[Turtles06]

Can someone who recently sailed on Anthem please confirm whether or not the WOW bands can be used for drinks? I'll have a drink package and thought the band would come in handy?

 

The bands can be used for drinks, but you generally have to take them off and hand them to the server or bartender so that he or she can take them to a scanner. A failure by RCI to invest in the requisite technology to make the bands as useful as they could be.

[jennote2]

Thank you!

[libertybelle41]

ok so I've read conflicting answers in here.

 

The bands WILL work at the casino?

The bands WILL work for a drink, but I have to remove them for the bartender?

The bands WILLNOT get me on and off the ship?

[Seaworthy01]

Come on, it's only $5 go for it. If it will make you feel better order an extra lobster tail or buy one less drink.

Edited February 1, 2016 by Seaworthy01

[Merion_Mom]

ok so I've read conflicting answers in here.

 

The bands WILL work at the casino?

The bands WILL work for a drink, but I have to remove them for the bartender?

The bands WILLNOT get me on and off the ship?

 

Listen to me.

 

You still need the actual SeaPass card to leave and return to the ship.

 

The wow band works perfectly at the slot machines.

 

The problem at bars is that the sensor that scans your wow band or SeaPass cards is not mobile. It can't come to YOU. So you or your wow band or your SeaPass card has to go to IT.

 

Make sense now?

 

:)

[MAJ216ROCK]

It's true RCI nickels and dimes their guests.

However, they cannot take what you choose not to give!

I'll probably get a WOW Band, because I'm a gadget freak. I'll spend the $10 for two (one for me and one for The Mrs) :)

[Poohb]

Three weeks on the Quantum.

 

Two weeks and continuing on the Anthem.

 

I love my WOW band more than ever.

 

:)

 

Soooo. They can reprogram the ones we already own? I like that idea if it works. What is the procedure when you want to do this, please? TIA

[jenfromjersey]

We bought them on our recent Anthem cruise, as my husband really wanted to try them. There was no table that we saw, we were sent to Guest Services to buy them. The crew member helping us said he would give us a break and only charge us for one, which was really nice.

 

Unfortunately, we had to make 4 trips back down to Guest Services as they weren't working properly. At one point, my husband had to go wait for Security AND Engineering because they decided it was an issue with the door (which it wasn't).

 

They did eventually get it to work and refunded the cost of the one they charged us for to apologize for the inconvenience. For a cruise like ours, which was really sea day intensive, it was worth the time and effort it took. It was nice to not worry about having a pocket!

[whirlybird3]

They could provide them free for those interested, but charge a $5 deposit. If you return it at the end of the cruise, you get your deposit back. Then they can reuse the band and not have waste. Plus, they'd still make some money (and help cover their cost of the program) since some people would keep it as a souvenir or forget to return it.

 

I am sure that they are experimenting with "how many people will pay if we charge for them?".

 

I am wearing and using mine, but I didn't have to pay for it. I brought mine from the Quantum and "traded it in" for a new Anthem band.

 

:)

 

My cabinmate lost hers already, and they replaced it for free.

 

May I ask why you traded yours in for a Anthem band? I received a complimentery wow band on the Quantum too and was wondering if we can use it on our cruise on the Anthem in April. Is there a difference between band between the ships? I wonder if the battery life on my band is depleted.

[Biker19]

These must not be that popular yet - still can't find any on eBay.:cool: