Medallion Medallion....do I really need to have this on the ship????

[Kelownabccan]

We have not cruised with Princess for about 4 years now....confused somewhat.....is this an item that you need on the ship or can you still be "old" fashion and be self sufficient???? and organize things yourself???.....We are booked for an Alaska one in the spring.....starting to get into the planning......Thanks

[davekathy]

7 minutes ago, Kelownabccan said:

We have not cruised with Princess for about 4 years now....confused somewhat.....is this an item that you need on the ship or can you still be "old" fashion and be self sufficient???? and organize things yourself???.....We are booked for an Alaska one in the spring.....starting to get into the planning......Thanks

I plan on it as my phone will be stashed in the safe until the end of our cruise. We haven't been on a Princess ship since 2010. 😱

[cruzsnooze]

You can get a regular cruise card at guest relations if you wish. I use the medallion only to unlock my cabin door. I keep it in an RFID credit card sleeve because I hate the idea of being tracked every minute. The credit card sleeves do indeed block the signal and costs less then 25 cents.

[voljeep]

there is the physical medallion - round  'button like' - think of it like the old cruise card.

 

then there is the medallion 'app' - 

[Rick&Jeannie]

The medallion is what opens your cabin door for you.  Keep in mind that the medallion and the Medallion Class App are two different things.  

[Kelownabccan]

Oh....now I get it........two different ideas.....lol........the medallion button?? is the old cruise card.....that I can deal with.....just to open the cabin door.....great......I see I can just go ask for a cruise card also.....used to hang it on a lanyard....I guess when you check in you get this button thingy....lol....

[Tedferg]

15 minutes ago, Kelownabccan said:

Oh....now I get it........two different ideas.....lol........the medallion button?? is the old cruise card.....that I can deal with.....just to open the cabin door.....great......I see I can just go ask for a cruise card also.....used to hang it on a lanyard....I guess when you check in you get this button thingy....lol....

And it also hangs on a lanyard 🙂

 

 

[capriccio]

16 minutes ago, Kelownabccan said:

Oh....now I get it........two different ideas.....lol........the medallion button?? is the old cruise card.....that I can deal with.....just to open the cabin door.....great......I see I can just go ask for a cruise card also.....used to hang it on a lanyard....I guess when you check in you get this button thingy....lol....

You might want to take a look at the on-line descriptions of the App and the Medallion wearable:

 

https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/cruise-destinations/cruise-tips-advice-and-information/what-is-medallion-class.html
 

More on the APP:

https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/video/onboard-experience/oceanready.html

 

More on the wearable:

https://www.princess.com/cruise-tips-vacation-ideas/video/onboard-experience/the-oceanmedallion.html

[SargassoPirate]

I carry mine in a small leather credit card holder designed for those Apple tracking devices. I can carry a few bills for cash tips and an ID if necessary.  I use it to open my door and when I order a beverage and that's about it.

 

 

 

 

 

[pathi]

You may try the app onboard also. Lots of useful things there. You can order drinks, and food anywhere on ship. You can find travel partners(Note they have to accept you unless in the same cabin) Kinda fun to do the saftey drill at a bar also! 😉 You will need to report to your muster station and scan your medallion.

 

If in your cabin you can do a lot of this from the TV.

[MissP22]

58 minutes ago, Kelownabccan said:

Oh....now I get it........two different ideas.....lol........the medallion button?? is the old cruise card.....that I can deal with.....just to open the cabin door.....great......I see I can just go ask for a cruise card also.....used to hang it on a lanyard....I guess when you check in you get this button thingy....lol....

Both the Medallion and the old style cruise card can be used to access your cabin door but the Medallion is useful for other things as well.

• Like if you place an order for drink or food while you're out on the deck or at Princess cays, the crew member can locate you from your security picture. (not so with the card)
• If you want to find your cabin partner while on the ship, the display boards located around the ship (or your Medallion app on your phone) will pin point them for you. 

[capriccio]

Just now, MissP22 said:

Both the Medallion and the old style cruise card can be used to access your cabin door but the Medallion is useful for other things as well.

• Like if you place an order for drink or food while you're out on the deck or at Princess cays, the crew member can locate you from your security picture. (not so with the card)
• If you want to find your cabin partner while on the ship, the display boards located around the ship (or your Medallion app on your phone) will pin point them for you. 

And

• If you are traveling with others (not in your cabin) you can locate them on the app.  That worked great when we had 6 family members on our Enchanted cruise last March and are looking forward to when we will be in a group of 6 in April and a group of 8 in July.

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, cruzsnooze said:

You can get a regular cruise card at guest relations if you wish. I use the medallion only to unlock my cabin door. I keep it in an RFID credit card sleeve because I hate the idea of being tracked every minute. The credit card sleeves do indeed block the signal and costs less then 25 cents.

Do you wear a mask to prevent the very large numbers of cctv cameras from seeing you throughout the ship. Of course anytime you use the medallion you can be picked up so the ship will certainly get the information they really want. Where you spend money.

[CruisefunSAN]

It is much easier to use medallion APP to order drinks.

 

[VibeGuy]

Some people want bar waiters hovering over them in constant circulation.  Some people are annoyed by that.   The Princess app (f/k/a Ocean Medallion app) solves for both.  There’s always someone right there to take your bar order and bill it to the proper account.  It’s you.  You place the order.  When it’s convenient.  Not in the middle of a really good story or a really key movie plot element.  
 

The app makes Princess as responsive as a cruise line costing 5x as much.  Really. 

[PMGS247]

If you have a smart phone I'd definitely recommend checking out what the app offers. You don't need it but there's some really good stuff on there as people have pointed out. 

 

If you never load up your phone your medallion will just serve as a cruise card.

 

Without using the app there's still a small "pro" for the medallion over the card in that it will unlock your cabin door automatically without having to take it out of your pocket - handy if your hands are full; allows you to just elbow the door open without putting down your stuff.

 

The only "con" I could think of would be that it wouldn't fit very well in a wallet credit card slot.  Pretty thin for a "con" but it's all I could come up with. Works the same.

 

As for the tracking it's not really a huge change over cruise cards which provide plenty of the same data points as often as you used it.   Some people by default hear the word tracking and wrap themselves in protective gear.  However, most people seem to reach the conclusion that the location finding elements are mostly helpful and at worst a non-issue.  It's tough to find much in the way of mal-intent with any of the location tracking.  Better tracks foot traffic and allows for providing enhanced service like delivering food/drink to you wherever you are.  Even having them know you're in your room or not I find hugely helpful - the room stewards become true ninjas at sneaking in and cleaning up your room while you're away because they know exactly when you're there and when you're not, even if they didn't see you leave.  They were always watching for this, it's just easier now and they're better at it.

[Kelownabccan]

Well....lots of eye opening thoughts.....prob will just use the feature to open our door.....pretty low tech.......I hate it when google sends me a map showing where I have been in my car for a month.....lol.....sometimes places I do not want to remember...haha......hey !!!! just a thought....I guess Princess will know how many times an old timer like me now uses the men's room.....just kidding.....anyways...Thanks for the info....

[AZjohn]

The one important reason for having the medallion that I didn’t see mentioned:

 

This is what was used to get you back onboard at every port. A quick scan and photo pops up on monitor for security to confirm your on the correct ship 🙂 

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, cruzsnooze said:

Attack what you don't want to understand or varies from your own opinion, very immature and insecure. Boards like this are meant to share opinions and experiences.

then explain why the rest of us are wrong when we find the concern about tracking to be an over reaction.

 

After all there are plenty of information about where one goes on a cruise ship with or without medallion.

 

If it a concern about other passengers being able to locate one, that can be turned off with the app.

 

If one if concerned about the cruise line tea king exactly where one goes on a ship that is very unlikely because if that was done for all passengers it would generate a tremendous amount of pretty useless data that would probably only be of interest if a crime was committed on board and an investigation needed. in other words collecting all of that data would be expensive and yield no value to the company.

 

Instead that data that is collected is probably cabin access logs, purchase information, ship embarkation and disembarkation info. and maybe used to count the number of people attending a particular event on board.

 

The other uses are primary triggered queries where an approved member of one travel party wants to see where they are (most likely not retained) or if the ship itself needs to see if someone is on board and where they are in an emergency or to locate a lost medallion.

 

most of that info the system could  be obtained under the old system, but would require more time from ship personnel.

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, ldtr said:

then explain why the rest of us are wrong when we find the concern about tracking to be an over reaction.

 

After all there are plenty of information about where one goes on a cruise ship with or without medallion.

 

If it a concern about other passengers being able to locate one, that can be turned off with the app.

 

If one if concerned about the cruise line tea king exactly where one goes on a ship that is very unlikely because if that was done for all passengers it would generate a tremendous amount of pretty useless data that would probably only be of interest if a crime was committed on board and an investigation needed. in other words collecting all of that data would be expensive and yield no value to the company.

 

Instead that data that is collected is probably cabin access logs, purchase information, ship embarkation and disembarkation info. and maybe used to count the number of people attending a particular event on board.

 

The other uses are primary triggered queries where an approved member of one travel party wants to see where they are (most likely not retained) or if the ship itself needs to see if someone is on board and where they are in an emergency or to locate a lost medallion.

 

most of that info the system could  be obtained under the old system, but would require more time from ship personnel.

left off the queried event when ships staff tries to find someone because they placed a food or drink order with the app 

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, AZjohn said:

The one important reason for having the medallion that I didn’t see mentioned:

 

This is what was used to get you back onboard at every port. A quick scan and photo pops up on monitor for security to confirm your on the correct ship 🙂 

As does the cruise card. You can't leave the ship with one or the other although losing either once on shore will just delay you getting back on. 

[caribill]

4 hours ago, AZjohn said:

The one important reason for having the medallion that I didn’t see mentioned:

 

This is what was used to get you back onboard at every port. A quick scan and photo pops up on monitor for security to confirm your on the correct ship 🙂 

 

Just like the cruise card did.

[SargassoPirate]

14 hours ago, ldtr said:

Do you wear a mask to prevent the very large numbers of cctv cameras from seeing you throughout the ship. Of course anytime you use the medallion you can be picked up so the ship will certainly get the information they really want. Where you spend money.

I only wear a mask when required by someone in authority. 😀 

 

I sort of enjoy knowing that they can track me when I leave a comedy show that's not funny or a production show that's way too loud - if they even care.

 

As far as using the app to order food or drink, my legs still work and I prefer to get a hot burger or a cold drink right at the source instead of them having been carried around gathering all of those flying covids that still haunt cruise ships while the servers try to figure out where I am.

 

Sometimes old school works better than the latest whiz bang.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, SargassoPirate said:

As far as using the app to order food or drink, my legs still work and I prefer to get a hot burger or a cold drink right at the source instead of them having been carried around gathering all of those flying covids that still haunt cruise ships while the servers try to figure out where I am.

The only problem is that not everything I want is available to be picked up in person.... but it is faster to do it yourself, if you can, most times.

 

I believe the food that was delivered was always covered anyway.

Edited December 14, 2022 by MissP22

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Also, if you don’t want to use the app to order a drink and would rather go up to the bar (the horror!), having the medallion with you allows the bartender to identify you and charge your account or know you have a drink package. Same functionality as a cruise card but you don’t have to show them anything. The scanner in the ceiling will read your medallion and your account (and your picture) will show up on the register and you are done!