Ocean Medallion = Glorified cruise card?

[fishin' musician]

Please help me.  The Ocean Medallion was announced in over 2 years ago (January 2017) with the promise of a bold new era in cruising by means of a ground breaking, new technological wonder!  The Regal was to be first to receive this upgrade and it was to be completed by November 2017.  This marvelous new spectacle was pitched feverishly by the marketing folks at CCL throughout the summer.  When I sailed her in December there were but a few far forward rooms on the top two floors with Ocean Medallion and they had very limited capability… I guess the door usually opened, but that was about the extent of it.  I sailed her again in the spring and nothing had changed (had they thrown in the towel?).  I will be sailing her again soon and it looks like while they have completed the rollout to include all rooms, it appears the ground-breaking enhancements originally splashed in early 2017 are mostly still in the works, or perhaps given up on??? 

 

We did receive these little button thingies and they are packaged in grandiose, glossy little boxes like exquisite jewelry (seems like a padded envelope would suffice?). 

 

So what am I missing?  My wife and I are baffled about all the pomp, hype, and promise given to this project over the past two years for what apparently is a glorified cruise card. 

[XBGuy]

Yes.  Nothing to be baffled about.

 

Have a great cruise.

[pms4104]

Can't honestly speak to your question as I have not yet had the pleasure (?) of an OM cruise ... but it sure seems like a huge wad of $$$$ and an awful long time to bring the program to a fully operational state.

[c-boy]

it's like marriage,.... constant work in progress 

[lola2013]

We were to have it on Caribbean Princess last March.  When we found out it wouldn't be functional yet, I was happy to receive a generous OBC that Princess offered as a "consolation prize"...still had a fabulous trip.  Since I'm not a techie, I was baffled by the hype.  I plan to sail on the brand new Enchanted Princess in a couple of years (yes, I like to plan ahead) so I'm sure I'll have to figure it out by then.😆

[skynight]

4 hours ago, fishin' musician said:

Please help me.  The Ocean Medallion was announced in over 2 years ago (January 2017) with the promise of a bold new era in cruising by means of a ground breaking, new technological wonder!  The Regal was to be first to receive this upgrade and it was to be completed by November 2017.  This marvelous new spectacle was pitched feverishly by the marketing folks at CCL throughout the summer.  When I sailed her in December there were but a few far forward rooms on the top two floors with Ocean Medallion and they had very limited capability… I guess the door usually opened, but that was about the extent of it.  I sailed her again in the spring and nothing had changed (had they thrown in the towel?).  I will be sailing her again soon and it looks like while they have completed the rollout to include all rooms, it appears the ground-breaking enhancements originally splashed in early 2017 are mostly still in the works, or perhaps given up on??? 

 

We did receive these little button thingies and they are packaged in grandiose, glossy little boxes like exquisite jewelry (seems like a padded envelope would suffice?). 

 

So what am I missing?  My wife and I are baffled about all the pomp, hype, and promise given to this project over the past two years for what apparently is a glorified cruise card. 

Yes and no. It depends on how attached you are to your phone and device. Our phone is placed in the cabin safe, find no need to carry it around, only use it to check e-mails now and then and to check our account with Princess@Sea. For us a medallion would have just a little extra value over a cruise card. By the way the Caribbean Princess actually was the first ship to be fully medallion, but you still get a cruise card. New ships are being built with the system installed.

Princess seems to have the programs working better as more ships come on line.

Why all the fuss from Princess? My take is that if you don't have this kind of carry around access to all kinds of relevant and non-relevant information you will eventually loose your customer base. Watch in the future for versions 2.0, 3.0 and so on. They are sure to come.

[kywildcatfanone]

I think it is just a glorified cruise card.  Don't matter much to me if I have to show my cruise card to get a mocktail or not, and while I guess it's nice that it would open the door to my room as I approach, will my door unlock everytime I go to the bathroom and let unwanted guests access to my cabin (I'm sort of joking, but also sort of not). 

 

I don't personally see the benefit of it.  I like my smart phone, but on vacation I don't want to carry it around all the time on the ship. 

 

Seems like a huge expense, but I'm sure there are ways they make money from it which was the goal. 

[jeanandjim]

6 hours ago, fishin' musician said:

Please help me.  what am I missing?  My wife and I are baffled about all the pomp, hype, and promise given to this project over the past two years for what apparently is a glorified cruise card. 

Only you can answer this question. Please come back to this thread when you return and let us all know exactly what you got out of it. 

Thanx, Jim

[Elevatorman]

7 hours ago, fishin' musician said:

Please help me.  The Ocean Medallion was announced in over 2 years ago (January 2017) with the promise of a bold new era in cruising by means of a ground breaking, new technological wonder!  The Regal was to be first to receive this upgrade and it was to be completed by November 2017.  This marvelous new spectacle was pitched feverishly by the marketing folks at CCL throughout the summer.  When I sailed her in December there were but a few far forward rooms on the top two floors with Ocean Medallion and they had very limited capability… I guess the door usually opened, but that was about the extent of it.  I sailed her again in the spring and nothing had changed (had they thrown in the towel?).  I will be sailing her again soon and it looks like while they have completed the rollout to include all rooms, it appears the ground-breaking enhancements originally splashed in early 2017 are mostly still in the works, or perhaps given up on??? 

 

We did receive these little button thingies and they are packaged in grandiose, glossy little boxes like exquisite jewelry (seems like a padded envelope would suffice?). 

 

So what am I missing?  My wife and I are baffled about all the pomp, hype, and promise given to this project over the past two years for what apparently is a glorified cruise card. 

I think you are right on point. I also cruised on Regal early in the experimental stage, and didn’t like it because as an Elite I used to walk right on, not so for those early Medallion Cruises. Hoping my April cruise goes well and I can ignore the whole Medallion non experience

[geocruiser]

We were on Regal 3/3/19.  We  used the cruise card instead.  I don't need to carry my phone and the cruise card is nice and flat.  This is just us, we like the cruise card.

Edited March 22, 2019 by geocruiser

[richsea]

We sailed Caribbean Princess in January with the Medallion. IMO, it is just a very expensive (to Princess) gimmick which is a fancy way of opening your door. Every drink I ordered they required me to show my card, not the medallion.

[cmerun]

We are  mature cruisers. Lol

yes we have smart phones , computers etc

Not interested in medallion

want to totally.  Unplug  while on vacation!

 

 

Edited March 22, 2019 by cmerun

[Ep010835]

6 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I like my smart phone, but on vacation I don't want to carry it around all the time on the ship.

 

One does NOT, does NOT have to carry your smart phone around all the time on the ship to use the Ocean Medallion system. 

 

Put the phone in your room safe and the Medallion and all of its included components (except ordering food/drink) will function just fine. Of course, food/drink cannot be ordered from the cruise card while sitting at the pool either.   

Edited March 22, 2019 by Ep010835

[coopco]

9 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I think it is just a glorified cruise card.  Don't matter much to me if I have to show my cruise card to get a mocktail or not, and while I guess it's nice that it would open the door to my room as I approach, will my door unlock everytime I go to the bathroom and let unwanted guests access to my cabin (I'm sort of joking, but also sort of not). 

 

I don't personally see the benefit of it.  I like my smart phone, but on vacation I don't want to carry it around all the time on the ship. 

 

Seems like a huge expense, but I'm sure there are ways they make money from it which was the goal. 

I haven't been on a cruise with Ocean Medallion yet but am looking forward to our next cruise which should have it. At home, I have to wear a Fitbit to even know my cell phone is ringing. My husband says he doesn't know why he texts me since I don't pick it up for a day or two. But on a cruise I have my cell phone with me all the time for the camera. I take pictures of most meals and events to send to our 20 year old kids so we can keep in touch. I think with social media these days, offering technology ahead of the times is a smart move. Just my opinion as someone who learned to type on a typewriter and didn't have a TV in the house until she was 7 years old.

[derdejoh]

13 hours ago, kywildcatfanone said:

... and while I guess it's nice that it would open the door to my room as I approach, will my door unlock everytime I go to the bathroom and let unwanted guests access to my cabin (I'm sort of joking, but also sort of not). 

 

Actually, that was our experience on the CB earlier this month.  We would just be sitting in our room and hear our door unlock and then lock again; it wasn't constant, but it happened a number of times.  Our cabin was close to a public area, so we wondered if our medallion "location" was alternating between the public space and our cabin door so it would read it as though we were approaching the door.

 

As for the rollout, I think Princess is the guinea pig for a much larger Carnival Corp. program.  We watched a couple of the "OceanView" TV shows while on board and several times we noticed the hosts wearing generic (i.e. no sea witch logo), but clearly Medallions -- I assume that was intentional as the Medallion program will eventually get rolled out across other brands.

[Colo Cruiser]

You are on a cruise! IMO......don't sweat the small stuff. 😎

[AF-1]

Sailed last month with ocean medallion.  I loved it.  Some people will not.  You can make the choice when you sail. 

[Doug R.]

ATTENTION: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CARRY YOUR PHONE  TO USE THE MEDALLION. IN THAT MODE IT IS SIMPLY A REPLACEMENT FOR THE CRUISE CARD. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN THE MEDALLION TOTALLY REPLACES THE CARD?

[pms4104]

52 minutes ago, Doug R. said:

ATTENTION: YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CARRY YOUR PHONE  TO USE THE MEDALLION. IN THAT MODE IT IS SIMPLY A REPLACEMENT FOR THE CRUISE CARD. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN THE MEDALLION TOTALLY REPLACES THE CARD?

No need to yell.

 

You can take off caps lock now

 

[c-boy]

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

You are on a cruise! IMO......don't sweat the small stuff. 😎

Hey I like it !

[richsea]

11 hours ago, Ep010835 said:

 

One does NOT, does NOT have to carry your smart phone around all the time on the ship to use the Ocean Medallion system. 

 

Put the phone in your room safe and the Medallion and all of its included components (except ordering food/drink) will function just fine. Of course, food/drink cannot be ordered from the cruise card while sitting at the pool either.   

You are right of course. You do not need to carry your smart phoneto usethe medallion. However, tgen the only thing it’s good for is opening your stateroom door. In our sailing, whenver I tried to order a drink with the medallion phone app, it said it was not available, try again later.

[Ep010835]

40 minutes ago, richsea said:

the only thing it’s good for is opening your stateroom door.

 

Not so. It is good for a great many more things. 

Google Ocean Medallion and you will find many short but useful videos describing the capabilities of the system. 

[Doug R.]

1 hour ago, pms4104 said:

No need to yell.

 

You can take off caps lock now

 

Yes there was/is a reason to yell. Despite all the posts explaining the medallion people are still believing/spreading falsehoods and exaggerations about the medallion:

 

• Princess will be watching your every move. (Only cure for this is to line your hat with aluminum foil)
• Strangers will find your room if you lose it. (Possible but shows that it should be reported asap )
• You need a smartphone to use the medallion. (You do need one to take advantage of the advanced features.)
• You go on vacation to unhook and put phone in safe. (Put your phone on Airplane Mode and you will be able to use all the features of the medallion without the dreaded outside world bothering you, no internet to buy or use.)
• Because of our mistrust of the medallion, we are opting to use just the card. (Guess what? The card has a chip that makes it capable of anyone finding your room, just like the medallion)

As far as the scoffing about the medallion not using its full potential, would you rather have Princess roll out features before they are ready for prime time?

[WisCruiser2]

I don't know when the cruiselines started using the cruise card but I bet when they did there were a lot of people complaining then, too...

We used the Medallion on our Regal cruise in early February, didn't carry the cruise cards at all. The Ocean Now app wasn't working yet but didn't inconvenience us. The servers had to take the medallion sometimes to charge our drinks. We didn't notice any problem with the room door unlocking from the inside when we were in our room.

Edited March 22, 2019 by WisCruiser2

[billco]

There is more to Medallion than a glorified door unlocker. We are looking forward to enjoying as many features as possible on our upcoming Regal Princess cruises.

 

The Ocean Medallion pairs with an optional personalized digital concierge called the Ocean Compass, a digital experience portal available online, on smart devices, on kiosks in home ports, on stateroom TVs, on interactive surfaces located throughout the cruise ship and on devices carried by all guest service hosts.

Both the Ocean Medallion and Ocean Compass combine with a network of proprietary sensors and computing devices embedded throughout the ship, home ports and destinations that keep track of guest experiences and preferences in real time, allowing for a personalized cruise experience.

Medallion Class vacations offer guests a portfolio of Ocean Medallion-enabled features including:

• Keyless Stateroom Access: Stateroom entry is a seamless experience where each guest is securely validated and the door automatically unlocks, with personalized greetings launching soon.
• MedallionPay: All guests use an easy payment experience enabling crew members to focus on guest service interactions.
• OceanCasino: On smart devices and select portals, guests can wager real money on a portfolio of games, including slots, poker, bingo, roulette, keno and lottery from anywhere on board.
• OceanCompass featuring OceanNav and ShipMates: On select portals, guests can use OceanNav for point-to-point wayfinding throughout the ship via an intelligent navigation assistant, and utilize ShipMates to locate friends, family and kids.
• JourneyView: On portals throughout the ship, guests can access a real-time look at their itinerary, along with events and activities taking place during their cruise.
• OceanView: Guests can stream more than 100 hours of Ocean Original travel content – which airs nationally on weekends on ABC and NBC - to their smart device anywhere on the ship at no cost.
• PlayOcean: On portals located ship wide, guests can play family games, including trivia, word jumble, a matching game, and Ocean Treks Adventure – an interactive, ship wide digital scavenger hunt.

For more information, visit www.princess.com.