New to Medallion cruising

[joeyancho]

I have taken nine Princess Cruises but never with The Medallion program. Could someone please explain the process to me? I have downloaded the princess app which is pretty wonky. Do I have to carry my phone with me everywhere I go? Can I just ignore the entire Medallion thing and use the cruise card that I am used to? I hope that The Medallion is not a major annoyance. Please excuse my ignorance on the subject. Thank you in advance

[JF - retired RRT]

4 minutes ago, joeyancho said:

I have downloaded the princess app which is pretty wonky. Agree. For many it's horrible.

Do I have to carry my phone with me everywhere I go? No

Can I just ignore the entire Medallion thing and use the cruise card that I am used to? Yes. You can get a card at the Passenger Svs desk, bu why stand in line for that? The Medallion works jusk like your card (if you don't use your phone to look at all the extras).

Information above is from what others have posted.

[Tedferg]

You can use the Medallion device just like a Cruise Card and forget the App. I think you can go to Customer Service and get an actual Cruise Card, but don't see any point in that.

 

Also, though I am not 100% sure, you can avail yourself of medallion App services, like reserving dining, using the TV in cabin and some portals around the ship.

[joeyancho]

Do they issue you this Medallion when you check in?

[KreinKrunker]

1 hour ago, joeyancho said:

Do they issue you this Medallion when you check in?

You can pick it up at the pier, or have it mailed to you.  It is usually mailed about two weeks before sailing.

[1gr8cruise]

I found out I had to update my Medallion App on my phone (new version was released 9/22/21).  Uninstall the current app and reinstall, it is a better version but still very slow to respond.  I ordered my medallions today.  I also made my dining reservations, they are staggering seating times (every 20 minutes) in all dining rooms.  You pick what dining room you want, private table or group seating, and the time.  You wont need to carry your phone the entire cruise, it is handy if you want to book an excursion or select dining reservation.                                                                                                                                                              

When I called Princess today they would not take my dining preference or help me with the medallions, I was told to install the new version of the app (was not impressed with that response).  If that doesnt work, call back.   

[Ombud]

Based upon my experience with the 8/15/21 MedallionClass cruise (disregarding my 3 previous medallion cruises)

> if you don't select an arrival or departure time, it will be assigned to you. All the app did was let me select a time before 1pm. I was in the 1st boarding group as I managed to get one. Not trying to get one for my next cruise as I'm on the Princess shuttle so they'll give me one based on that. Auto assigned departure time

> if you don't complete the Ocean Ready section of the MC beforehand (or do anything on the app at all) you will go to the much shorter yellow line. Somehow only a few were there. That's where they do 'OCEAN READY' at the port

> the actual medallion is needed. That's your new room key. They give you a new lanyard especially for it. So either you get MC to work and it arrives in the mail, or they hand it to you at the pier. If you lose it onboard PSD just makes you another (yep, did that).

> If you order accessories through the app you will be charged shipping. Accessories are the same price onboard

> it's wonky to use Ocean Now which is ordering on the app. Sometimes stuff showed up in a 1/2 hour. Sometimes in 2 hrs. Once I got a Key Lime Martini instead of what I ordered. No problem. I had the charge removed & still had the martini

> I could do everything on the stateroom TV. Phone unnecessary onboard. That's where I did Journey View (event registration). 

> Muster is also on the TV, then you go wherever assigned, wave, you're automatically noted as having completed the Muster Drill

> Dining - I just walked up when I wanted to eat. That is the most frustrating part of the app and I'm not going to deal with it

 

Sorry this is so very long 

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Ombud

[caribill]

8 hours ago, joeyancho said:

Can I just ignore the entire Medallion thing and use the cruise card that I am used to?

 

Yes, but there is no need to.

 

The Medallion can be used exactly as a cruise card: Open cabin door, sign off and on the ship, make charges at shops and bars, etc.

 

No requirement to use any of the new features that the Medallion can be used for if you do not want to.

[Merly]

In the various bars etc they have a card on each table with a QR code which if you scan it with your phone will bring up a drinks menu.  I liked this as it listed the various cocktails 🍸, wines🍷beers 🍺coffee ☕️etc you could have.

[Merly]

Also, forgot, if you are with other people ( we were with friends) or you want to keep track of where your partner is you can link apps and can see where they are on the ship.  This was useful at times, eg if we were meeting I could see if they were there or still in their cabin.

[1965]

1 hour ago, Merly said:

Also, forgot, if you are with other people ( we were with friends) or you want to keep track of where your partner is you can link apps and can see where they are on the ship.  This was useful at times, eg if we were meeting I could see if they were there or still in their cabin.

My DH & I are on the app that's on my phone. There's no app on his phone, & his phone will be locked in the safe. On our 1 & only medallian cruise there was an interactive feature on the walls near elevators. We used that to find each other. Do you know if they still have that? Thanks. 😊

[Ombud]

34 minutes ago, 1965 said:

My DH & I are on the app that's on my phone. There's no app on his phone, & his phone will be locked in the safe. On our 1 & only medallian cruise there was an interactive feature on the walls near elevators. We used that to find each other. Do you know if they still have that? Thanks. 😊

Still there

[Husky61]

test

[1965]

51 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Still there

Thanks! 😊

[kbt cruiser]

The process is - it doesn't work. Been onto Princess for 55 minutes tonight before they cut me off. Completely untested useless software. I've been going now for over 2 hours and still not got my own data in completely yet. My wife and daughter throw errors that Princess say they know about, but cannot fix.. The passport scanner doesnt like reflections, but UK passports have a reflective strip on them.

 

The impression I get is that Princess are completely OK with 3500 passengers turning up at Southampton on Tuesday with no data submitted. How they are going to check everyone in in 4 hours is beyond me.

 

My advice, avoid Princess until they can supply a web based solution  to check-in. It used to take 15 minutes, at this rate, I'm looking at 8-10 hours.

People should be resigning over this shambles. This should be on the TV news

[HBCcruiser]

On 10/5/2021 at 6:25 PM, Ombud said:

he actual medallion is needed. That's your new room key. They give you a new lanyard especially for it. So either you get MC to work and it arrives in the mail, or they hand it to you at the pier.

Great info, thanks. Question: I am doing a B2B leg 1 with a friend and leg 2 with my DH. We received the medallions for leg 2 but NOT leg 1. In other words, My DH and I received our medallions but my friend did not. Granted, she did not order any Medallion holders like we did but that shouldn't matter. Any ideas as to why hers has not shown up? We leave Oct 23. 

[Ombud]

@HBCcruiserno idea at all why it'll be at the pier if she ordered it in time. 

[HBCcruiser]

16 minutes ago, Ombud said:

@HBCcruiserno idea at all why it'll be at the pier if she ordered it in time. 

 

We ordered it two weeks ago - one month prior to sailing. Thanks!  

[Ombud]

3 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

We ordered it two weeks ago - one month prior to sailing. Thanks!  

She ordered it a month before sailing?!? Yeah. It should arrive at her home in time then (I don't think you can order it for her unless you did it within her MC App)

Edited October 12, 2021 by Ombud

[HBCcruiser]

1 minute ago, Ombud said:

unless you did it within her MC App)

Exactly what I did. 

[Ombud]

It'll be at the pier. 

[SFtraveller]

What is the point of the Medallion? They mail it to you so there’s less germs on it? So it’s like before, it’s your room key and everything on it? If it’s the same then why don’t they just call it a room key.  Or the new and improved room key.  

[PMGS247]

34 minutes ago, SFtraveller said:

What is the point of the Medallion? They mail it to you so there’s less germs on it? So it’s like before, it’s your room key and everything on it? If it’s the same then why don’t they just call it a room key.  Or the new and improved room key.  

 

It's got a few enhanced features. 

 

Most notably location tracking which means drink/food orders from the app can be brought directly to your location regardless of where you're at. Travelling with a party you can look up each other's location on board at any given moment.  To be fair, both of these are kind of a "for better or worse" feature depending on your point of view...I've enjoyed them though.

 

Another enhanced feature would be proximity locks on cabin doors.  You don't have to hold the medallion up to the door lock it will sense when you're nearby and unlock automatically - similar to keyless entry & start cars.  This can be quite handy if you've got your hands full! Similarly when you're paying for something you don't necessarily have to take your medallion out - as long as you're nearby the crew member will see you on their system and charge your account without you having to pull out a card (after validating your identity).  

 

A few other things but those are the biggies from my perspective.  I guess the hardware required for this means it needs a thicker medallion style enclosure rather than a flat card like the old cruise cards.

[Ombud]

6 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

location tracking

I'm thinking its also used if someone on a tour pops positive they can rapidly locate others on that tour, separate them, rapid test onboard, quarantine if necessary 

[PMGS247]

1 minute ago, Ombud said:

I'm thinking its also used if someone on a tour pops positive they can rapidly locate others on that tour, separate them, rapid test onboard, quarantine if necessary 

Yep good point.  My POV was entirely based on pre-covid experience  This would be a new Post Covid implementation but the technology to locate people wherever they were at was already built in. Makes sense!