Ocean Medallion App - Part 3

[CAZephyr]

20 hours ago, grak said:

My booked cruise changed ships. The medallion app doesn’t reflect the new booking. I’ve tried accessing with the new booking number but won’t allow me….still has old number and says the cruise was cancelled.  Suggestions?

Same with us.  Royal Princess took Ruby Princess' place as the San Francisco based ship after we booked Mexico Riviera cruise last year.  I was dissatisfied with our assigned location on the Royal Princess, so I cancelled the original booking and booked in a better location.  The old booking number continued to be displayed in the Medallion App.  After six calls to Princess, and the obligatory reinstalls of the software, the problem was resolved.  I finally got a tech that took charge of the help ticket (I actually insisted on a help ticket number earlier in the process) and truly escalated the ticket.  The old booking number appeared Thursday; the correct booking number appeared Friday without a reinstallation of the Medallion App software. 

 

So, that tells me the ticket finally got to the right level.  I was able to make dinner reservations yesterday.  On one of the (plus or minus) six calls, a tech suggested we wait until embark day to resolve.  You may have to let them know that resolution is unacceptable....that you want to be able to make reservations, get your medallion, etc. ahead and have a smooth embarkation day.  Good luck.

[Thrak]

20 hours ago, Summerdaze33 said:

We are booked on a Princess cruise that departs in 2 weeks. However, I cannot get the Medallion App to allow me to choose our boarding time. It just keeps saying we have to wait until closer to departure.

 

I was able to choose my boarding time with ease and then later moved it to a later time as I didn't think I could make the originally chosen time slot. We arrived around the proper time but, due to the idiotic way things were handled in Vancouver, it still took us a very long time to manage to get to the ship. There was one line for all passengers of two different cruise lines. It made no difference if you were Elite or had a set arrival time. It was a completed joke. Don't worry about your arrival group. Show up when you can and deal with whatever idiocy they throw at you. Eventually you will make it onto the ship.

[Slyfox16]

Our embarkation status had been green for weeks. Trying to figure out why it suddenly changed to yellow. How long after you put in your vaccination picture does it take to get approved? We added ours 3 weeks ago and it still says "document pending approval."

[Steelers36]

20 hours ago, Summerdaze33 said:

We are booked on a Princess cruise that departs in 2 weeks. However, I cannot get the Medallion App to allow me to choose our boarding time. It just keeps saying we have to wait until closer to departure.

How much closer to departure do you have to be? Their online help only tells me that I should keep trying, that I should uninstall and reinstall app, re-login, .... nothing helpful.

Has anyone else experienced this issue with the Medallion App? When have you been able to choose your boarding time? TIA

All I can say is that Arrival Groups should have been open for choosing before now in your case. 

 

Just show up when you intended to and you will be able to proceed through the check-in process.

[Earthworm Jim]

Both my security photo and the picture of my vaccination card appear correctly when I first upload them. But when I hit save and then go back to view them, they appear sideways. Is it a landscape vs. portrait mode thing? If so, I don't know why it would have appeared right side up before I saved it, then changed.

 

(Searched this 137 page thread for the word "sideways" and didn't find an answer. Though Thrak did mention it on page 26. Sorry if this is a known problem.)

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, Earthworm Jim said:

Both my security photo and the picture of my vaccination card appear correctly when I first upload them. But when I hit save and then go back to view them, they appear sideways. Is it a landscape vs. portrait mode thing? If so, I don't know why it would have appeared right side up before I saved it, then changed.

 

(Searched this 137 page thread for the word "sideways" and didn't find an answer. Though Thrak did mention it on page 26. Sorry if this is a known problem.)

FWIW, first I am reading this about vaccination card upload.  Have you tried "tricking" the App by turning your phone, so that if the photo turns again, it will be oriented as you expect?

[leck57]

15 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

All I can say is that Arrival Groups should have been open for choosing before now in your case. 

 

Just show up when you intended to and you will be able to proceed through the check-in process.

 

Looks like Arrival Groups mean nothing. We were on Emerald two weeks ago and had selected the first boarding time of 11am. There were heaps of people in the terminal at that time and no one ever checked our supposed boarding time. Why have boarding groups if they don't bother with them. 

[AF-1]

On 6/9/2022 at 2:26 PM, kamelia said:

Thank you both @AF-1 and @WAvoyager for weighing in on my post #3375!  I keep hoping that the MedallionClass app will finally perform as promised, but over the past 13 months it has been an exercise in perpetual frustration for me.  As a huge fan of Princess Cruises, it concerns me that there are new(er) cruisers who will not be so willing to stick with the growing pains.  

I sail Enchanted Princess in October.  I have used the app on previous cruises.  For my October cruise I will open the app on 1 September.  Have too much  going on to worry about the app not working correctly.  I am not going to stress over which forms the app accepts or rejects.  In September if the app works that is a plus,  if I am still in Blue Lane I will complete everything at the port.  Have a great day.

[AF-1]

On 6/11/2022 at 12:29 AM, insidecabin said:

 

Those two features are not part of the app they are a separate system that uses the medallion unique  ID( a single number) as the trigger( open door) or bring up your mug shot for security. 

 

Same at the bars the medallion  just sticks a number into the POS system that brigs up your account(they could type in the number or just use cabin number)  it has nothing to do with the app.

 

I am confused by your response.  If opening the cabin door is not part of the app;  then how does my door open when my app comes in close proximity to the cabin door?  

[Earthworm Jim]

11 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

FWIW, first I am reading this about vaccination card upload.  Have you tried "tricking" the App by turning your phone, so that if the photo turns again, it will be oriented as you expect?

 

I got it to work, thanks. Once I retook the photos using landscape mode they stayed right side up even after saving.

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, leck57 said:

 

Looks like Arrival Groups mean nothing. We were on Emerald two weeks ago and had selected the first boarding time of 11am. There were heaps of people in the terminal at that time and no one ever checked our supposed boarding time. Why have boarding groups if they don't bother with them. 

The scheme was devised at the height of Covid-19 as a means to control crowds in terminals.

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I am confused by your response.  If opening the cabin door is not part of the app;  then how does my door open when my app comes in close proximity to the cabin door?  

Try leaving your Medallion with your partner/cabinmate and approach your door with your smartphone and see what happens.  This presumes App is running and you are logged in?

[insidecabin]

3 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I am confused by your response.  If opening the cabin door is not part of the app;  then how does my door open when my app comes in close proximity to the cabin door?  

Turn the app off you will still get in

It's the medallion that does it

 

That's not even smart, it just broadcasts a unique ID

Edited June 12, 2022 by insidecabin

[AF-1]

Ok I get what you guys are saying.  Let me clarify something.  I have my iphone with me always; so I guess it was hard for me to see which was actually opening cabin door;  the medallion itself or the app. Sorry for any confusion; I get what you're saying about the app itself.  As for carrying my iphone always;  well I do a facebook family blog on every cruise; and I post from all over the ship.  Thus my phone is always with me.  I know; I am tethered to tech;  which I actually like

[Grislap]

4 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I am confused by your response.  If opening the cabin door is not part of the app;  then how does my door open when my app comes in close proximity to the cabin door?  

It's the medallion that opens the door. It would open the door whether or not you have your phone with you.

[Grislap]

40 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Ok I get what you guys are saying.  Let me clarify something.  I have my iphone with me always; so I guess it was hard for me to see which was actually opening cabin door;  the medallion itself or the app. Sorry for any confusion; I get what you're saying about the app itself.  As for carrying my iphone always;  well I do a facebook family blog on every cruise; and I post from all over the ship.  Thus my phone is always with me.  I know; I am tethered to tech;  which I actually like

Oh sorry for cluttering things with my last response. Somebody else had just said the same. Anyway, nothing wrong with carrying your phone around, taking pictures and posting on FB. At least there'd better not be anything wrong with it, or I'm in trouble! 😄 I was happily surprised at how quick my photos uploaded into FB on our May 28 Alaska trip on the Royal. I kept reading from people on CC that the WiFi was super slow north of Vancouver. For us, it was only a little slower than at home, at least for FB. 

[PacnGoNow]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Try leaving your Medallion with your partner/cabinmate and approach your door with your smartphone and see what happens.  This presumes App is running and you are logged in?

Are you serious?  I never tried that.  I always just have my medallion on me.

I forgot my OM once and had to find my Steward to let me in.  I had my phone with me…would have been nice to know.

 

I’m gonna try it.  🤔

Edited June 12, 2022 by PacnGoNow

[Grislap]

I'm not sure if this is the best place for the following or if I should put it out as its own post. But in any case here are several tips about using the app onboard, based on our recent experience in Alaska aboard the Royal Princess. 

 

Once we got on the ship, the medallion and its phone app were great. The medallion unlocked our door as we approached,  and the phone app helped us find each other onboard and allowed us to order food and drink whenever we wished. We didn't use it to make dining reservations; in club class you don't need reservations, and for the specialty restaurants we made one ourselves shortly after boarding, and our concierge made the other one.
 

The Medallion does have its glitches, though, and I would advise people to be patient. Also, a couple of tips for better success: 
 

1) Don't order food or drink while seated in the Piazza. Deck 5 might be fine, but if you're on 6 or 7 the servers find it very hard to locate you, as the app cannot tell between deck levels in the Piazza. 
 

2) Success is much more likely if you're seated in an identifiable place, such as Crooner's or the Wheelhouse Bar. But when placing your order make sure the app shows your location (in the upper left) correctly. Ours often said we were in our staterooms. So we would back out of the app and then open it again, and it would be correct.
 

3) If you want to order both some food AND an alcoholic drink, don't place them both into your cart and order at the same time. We found that this combination confuses them, because the food comes from one place and the alcoholic beverage from another. So only one would arrive. So we started ordering the food first. Then, once the app said they were starting to prepare that order, we would place a second order for the drink. (We didn't have this problem when the beverage was soda.)

I've posted before about the truly awful time we had with the app from September right up to boarding. No need to rehash that. I realize now that it was a tremendous waste of time and mental energy, because they finally fixed it at the terminal and other than a delay of about 20 minutes we had no problems getting onboard. My advice to everyone having terrible troubles using the app before your trip: let it go, bring your documentation with you, and you won't have trouble boarding.

[Tedferg]

Another tip for App onboard is to make sure Auto Join is set in WiFi settings. I had to keep logging in to the network until Medallion Rep pointed this out.

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Are you serious?  I never tried that.  I always just have my medallion on me.

I forgot my OM once and had to find my Steward to let me in.  I had my phone with me…would have been nice to know.

 

I’m gonna try it.  🤔

No... my post was to setup proof that the MC App does NOT open cabin doors.

[PacnGoNow]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

No... my post was to setup proof that the MC App does NOT open cabin doors.

OMG…that is so funny!!!  I was going to try it…

Wouldn’t I look crazy with my phone…

trying to open it.  🤣

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

OMG…that is so funny!!!  I was going to try it…

Wouldn’t I look crazy with my phone…

trying to open it.  🤣

Hey, not so crazy since there are hotel chain apps that open doors in suitably equipped properties.

[PacnGoNow]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

Hey, not so crazy since there are hotel chain apps that open doors in suitably equipped properties.

Yes, that’s true.

Okay, I’ll try it. Just kidding! 😝

[WAvoyager]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

OMG…that is so funny!!!  I was going to try it…

Wouldn’t I look crazy with my phone…

trying to open it.  🤣

As long as you didn’t leave your medallion in the room, and then tried it with just your app…. Now that would’ve been funny!  😉

Edited June 12, 2022 by WAvoyager

[PurpleHays]

11 hours ago, AF-1 said:

I sail Enchanted Princess in October.  I have used the app on previous cruises.  For my October cruise I will open the app on 1 September.  Have too much  going on to worry about the app not working correctly.  I am not going to stress over which forms the app accepts or rejects.  In September if the app works that is a plus,  if I am still in Blue Lane I will complete everything at the port.  Have a great day.

This is my plan too. I'm not worrying about the app until closer to departure. Then I'll take all my documents as backup. If the app doesn't work, I don't care, as long as I can get on the ship, get in to my cabin, and pay for drinks. Anything beyond that is icing on the cake. I did order the Medallions for port pickup, but that's it.

 

I'm not even loading it on my husband's phone until we're under 60 days. He'll stress too much about it and it just ain't worth it to me.