Cruise card>Door unlock

[elliotlake12]

Are the cabin cards inserted in slot to open door, or is there a scanner?

Asking as wish  to know if can keep card in plastic cover on lanyard

Edited February 9 by elliotlake12

[Asawi]

It's NFC. So inside a plastic pocket should work. In the bars they might swipe it though, so you need to take it out then.

[elliotlake12]

what is NFC?

[debenson0723]

59 minutes ago, elliotlake12 said:

Are the cabin cards inserted in slot to open door, or is there a scanner?

Asking as wish  to know if can keep card in plastic cover on lanyard

Which ship?

[hazelnut68]

9 minutes ago, elliotlake12 said:

what is NFC?

NFC stands for Near Field Communication.  Basically, it means that the card just has to be "near" the reader for the 2 of them to communicate and unlock the door.

[shof515]

Older ships is usually the swipe style by inserting the card in the slot on the door 

 

newer ships has NFC reader where you tap the card to the reader on the door 

[MeHeartCruising]

On the newer ships that use the touch/tap locks, I have been able to leave the card in the plastic holder attached to my lanyard.  Did it a couple weeks ago on the Breakaway.  No problems.  For older ships that don't have touch/tap, obviously you need to pull the card out and slip it into a slot.

 

Note, however, (most?) newer ships also require you to insert a card into a slot once INSIDE the cabin to keep the lights/power on.  Most cabin stewards provide blank card that you can keep in that slot full time.  But if they don't, you need to use your card (out of its lanyard holder) to put it in the slot.  This room "feature" is supposed to help conserve costs by shutting off the room power when no one is home.

Edited February 9 by MeHeartCruising

[Asawi]

I haven't been on a ship that requires a keycard for the elctricity in the room, but it's more or less standard at hotels I go to. You can just use a stiff enough business card or some old plastic loyalty card or whatever. Cut a piece of cardboard the size of a credit card and you're good to go. Or stay...

[JGmf]

9 minutes ago, Asawi said:

You can just use a stiff enough business card or some old plastic loyalty card or whatever.

 

Confirming that any old plastic loyalty card will do the trick.

[elliotlake12]

2 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

Which ship?

Escape

 

[shof515]

i use a folded piece of paper to turn on the power. anything that can fit in the slot will work 

[Sailing12Away]

Depends on the ship, and even then it will depend. Some trips have been a 'tap and go' for the cabin doors and at disembarking at ports. Other times they had to swipe the card to get back on the ship. I'm a fan of the tap & go, so when that system stops working it's a pain to now have to pull the card out of the wallet while juggling armfuls of beach bags, gifts, water bottles, etc.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, MeHeartCruising said:

On the newer ships that use the touch/tap locks, I have been able to leave the card in the plastic holder attached to my lanyard.  Did it a couple weeks ago on the Breakaway.  No problems.  For older ships that don't have touch/tap, obviously you need to pull the card out and slip it into a slot.

 

Note, however, (most?) newer ships also require you to insert a card into a slot once INSIDE the cabin to keep the lights/power on.  Most cabin stewards provide blank card that you can keep in that slot full time.  But if they don't, you need to use your card (out of its lanyard holder) to put it in the slot.  This room "feature" is supposed to help conserve costs by shutting off the room power when no one is home.

It does not have to be your cruise card. It can be a credit card, a library card, or even your driver's license.

[Asawi]

12 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It does not have to be your cruise card. It can be a credit card, a library card, or even your driver's license.

True. What it's about is a switch at the bottom of the slit. All you need is something to push that switch. Paper folded acouple of times, cardboard, plastic...

[BirdTravels]

20 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It does not have to be your cruise card. It can be a credit card, a library card, or even your driver's license.

Old hotel key. Old cruise card from your last cruise. Paper is o.k. until it is not and gets jammed up in slot. 

[UKstages]

rather than risking losing a driver's license, credit card, loyalty card or library card, i always keep one or two old hotel key cards in my bag and take them out and use them, if i need to activate the electricity in my cabin.

 

increasingly, NCL seem to have given up on this energy saving measure and now include a paper card in the slot for you to use for the duration of your stay. that card, of course, has likely been touched by dozens of other passengers before you get to it, so it may be best to bring your own, if that's a concern.

Edited February 9 by UKstages

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Asawi said:

True. What it's about is a switch at the bottom of the slit. All you need is something to push that switch. Paper folded acouple of times, cardboard, plastic...

I actually learned first hand that it did not have to be the cruise card. After returning from one of our ports where we were told to bring picture id as well as our cards, I accidentally put my cruise card in the safe and kept my driver's license. It obviously did not open the door. I found one of the stewards in the hall and asked him to open the door for me. I then went to the safe, but the electricity shut off before I could open it. After stumbling around in the pitch black inside cabin, I managed to find the card reader and put my license in. And it worked allowing me to open the safe and get my card so I could put that back in the slot and my license back in the safe.

[EngrJones]

AAA and AARP cards work just fine.

[Asawi]

53 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

 I accidentally put my cruise card in the safe and kept my driver's license

So I'm not the only one that grabbed the wrong card when leaving the room... Ooops! 

[zqvol]

NCL has started leaving a card in the slot for your use, it’s just a piece of cardboard they have made to make it easier. No need to worry about having a card to put in the slot, just remember to pull it half way out when you leave the cabin.

[RenoDuck]

1 hour ago, EngrJones said:

AAA and AARP cards work just fine.

Just remember to take it with you when you disembark.  Replacement AARP cards take about a month.  Don't ask how I know this 😉

Edited February 9 by RenoDuck
Additional comment

[TPgal]

1 hour ago, EngrJones said:

AAA and AARP cards work just fine.

So, that's the value of the AARP card... I've been wondering.  😉 

[cruiser2015]

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

It does not have to be your cruise card. It can be a credit card, a library card, or even your driver's license.

Just off of the Bliss. I was planning on using the card from my last cruise, but before I got it out my wife found the hotel key from the night before that she had inadvertently kept.

We left it in place; the steward pulled it up whenever he serviced the cabin. He also sometimes unplugged devices we had left charging on the desk, like my electric shaver.

[IAcruising]

34 minutes ago, TPgal said:

So, that's the value of the AARP card... I've been wondering.  😉 

 

I've had an AARP card in my wallet for 10-years. Can't remember a single time I've been asked to show it.

 

[hallux]

2 hours ago, zqvol said:

NCL has started leaving a card in the slot for your use,

They didn't for me on my current cruise.

7 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Old hotel key. Old cruise card from your last cruise. Paper is o.k. until it is not and gets jammed up in slot. 

I actually dropped one in my backpack for just this purpose, but then the room I requested for my hotel stay the night before wasn't ready (when I arrived an hour after I said I would) so they programmed two keys for me (to open the door a total of 4 times, lol) since the digital key might not have arrived on my phone by the time I got up the elevator (it did)