Medallion Class™ and Ocean Medallion™ Updates on the Caribbean Princess

If you're looking for Medallion Class™ and Ocean Medallion™ Updates on the Caribbean Princess for the week of August 18-August 25, here ya go!

August 24

It's super busy back in the photo gallery area (being the last day) and in the area around Club Fusion with Zumba wrapping up and the Scavenger Hunt getting ready to begin, but I did get a bit of a look at some Medallion construction on that part of the ship.

The sitting space between the photo gallery and Club Fusion right now looks like this:

But the sign nearby shows it will soon look like this. It looks like maybe it'll be part of the Casino thing you can play online or play on the screens? Not sure yet.

And the photo gallery wall opposite the outside windows will look like this:

But right now looks like this:

We have two more weeks on the ship so hopefully I'll be able to get a look behind those construction panels before I leave!

August 23

Nothing new on that front. I do know that when we no longer get the unlimited free Medallion.net™ (whenever that stops that for Elite and Platinum) we would definitely pay for it. $9.99 a day is a bargain for non-stop fast streaming Internet, especially with me needing to upload photos and videos.

August 22

They've added Aloha deck this cruise. Baja is scheduled for next week. But really, it's still just a cabin key. I asked when disembarking (and embarking) at ports if I could have them scan it instead and it was a no. While those of us with Medallions can use them to pay at the shops and pay for drinks, we still need our cards to get on and off the ship. A bit disappointing.

August 21

My Medallion works to open the door! Yay! Now I see what hubby was so excited about. I also noticed if I put my Medallion up to the blue sensors on the screens near the elevators the sensor turns from blue to green.

But that's it. The screen doesn't change a bit. I'm totally okay with that. I don't need my name broadcast to all those grumpy people pushing in the elevators.

The Internet really is awesome. We each have our own account so we can both be streaming at the same time. I use two devices and when I log into one it bumps me out of the other. (It asks me first if I want to log off of the other.) It's easy to go back and forth between the two devices.

August 20

First, thank you to the person who got me the ™ I could copy. Otherwise, no new updates. Still a glorified cabin key. I talked to the steward about whether he could tell if we were in or out of the cabin based on where our Medallion was. He said they will be getting tablets at some point in the future and he'd be able to know that. As of now, the steward has nothing to do with the Medallion. Other than helping folks trying to get into their cabins.

Ocean View, the new on demand TV system is pretty nice. For someone who doesn't watch TV or go to the movies back home, it's nice for me to have so many choices to watch. And the Movies Under the Stars movie pops up the next day on the in-cabin system. While I didn't take photos of each of the movies and TV shows available, I did snap photos of each of the screens. Just in case you're interested.

August 19

My hubby has decided he loves the Medallion because he can keep it in his pocket and it'll unlock the door for him. Still not for me. He checked out how to use it in the casino. At the cage there is a pad you can place the Medallion on a pad instead of swiping your card. At the slot machines you can either place your cruise card or Medallion up again the blue sensor instead of inserting it into the card reader. He said the cruise card was ready quickly but it took it a while to recognize the Medallion.

My take on the Medallion at this point? It's a glorified room key. 

Unfortunately our mailboxes outside the door are gone because of the Medallion screens. Cabin stewards are having to put the papers in the door handle or slide them under the door. I knew about this ahead of time so the day before we left home I whipped up a super quick little magnetic mailbox holder for our cabin door. I had started with pretty fabrics but then realized if it looked too good someone might take it. (Door decorations are known to disappear.) I went with something without visual appeal. It works and that's all that's important. The cabin steward seemed pleased to be able to just drop papers in it instead of having to balance them in door handle.

The Medallion Internet: 

MedallionNet is amazingly fast. I did a speed test and came up with some great numbers, especially for a cruise ship.

Best thing to come along on a ship since I don't know when.

August 18

We received our Medallions at check in.

 

 We also received some paperwork specific to the Medallion.

 And had a 2:00 meeting with John Padgett who is heading up the project. We watched a video and one of the staff stayed afterwards for some questions which was helpful.  

Some things to know:

*This week Lido and Riviera decks are Medallion Class cabins. Next week (or even later this week) they will be adding Aloha and then Baja. The plan is for this ship to be the first one for full deployment.

*I've heard the term Ocean Medallion plenty, but they haven't used that word on this cruise so far. They are just using the term Medallion Class.

*There are 7,000-8,000 sensors around the ship.

*Medallions are completely optional. If you want to only use your cruise card it's completely fine.

*Your card can also be used in places the Medallion is used. For example, the shops have a machine you tap to pay. You can tap your Medallion or your card. Same for the casino. There are no longer spots to insert your cruise card in the slots.

We haven't ordered any drinks so I don't know if the bartender can call us by name before we ever order. We might check that out another day. Actually, the Medallions haven't done much for us yet. Here's a video of how it works (and doesn't work) when trying to get into our cabin.

Other things to know:

*MedallionNet is awesome. Fast and free for Platinum and Elite passengers (at least for now). 

*If you're not Platinum or Elite there is a Voyage package you can purchase. You have to buy it for the entire cruise and it evens out to $9.99 a day. If you need to purchase just a single day it is $19.99. Everyone who pre-purchased plans this week had to go to the Internet Cafe to get it added to their account. 

*Free wifi on Princess Cays for everyone. We will be there tomorrow so I'll check it ou