I am going to try to answer questions I've been asked about the Princess Medallion.
If you don't have a cell phone, you will be okay. You don't need a cell phone for it to work. The medallion they give you when you board will get you off and on the ship, give you access to your room and the staff will be able to identify you. You can access your medallion information on your stateroom TV, so all the information is still available to you in your stateroom. There are interactive tv's all over the ship with the activities, deck plans, and any information you need. They are huge and touch screen.
If you have a cell phone, this is an excellent tool for your cruise. It's had some problems in the beginning but on this cruise ours worked just fine. It takes it's time opening so be patient. It's a good tool and I will try to show you the sites that really helped us:
Before you leave home, you need to download the app. Go into Travel Checklist and fill in all the information. They will ask for a picture of you. Make sure it's in .JPG format. The rest is self explanatory. We were able to choose our arrival time at the port 59 days before our cruise. As long as you are in the Green Lane - you are ready to sail. Do not try to choose your departure time because we never could and on the sixth day of the cruise, we did it the old fashioned way, by filling out a paper questionnaire. Hopefully that part of the app will work soon.
Journey View Activities timeline, all your daily activities are on here. Scroll across and scroll down. They were put it for us before we sailed. You don't need to reserve venues at this time. We asked our stateroom attendant for a Princess Patter and got one to carry around with us.
Shore Excursion Bookings - This is where you can book your shore excursions. When you book you pay immediately but you are guaranteed to get on your tour. You can always wait until you get on the ship.
Travel Companions - Choose your travel companions if you have friends on the cruise.
Shipboard Account -You can go online anytime and check your shipboard account. If you have a problem, get it resolved quickly as the last day there will be a long line at the Pursuers Office
Shoreside Transactions - for shoreside purchases - we didn't use this
Message Center - We used What's App as it works so well. If you don't have the app open on your phone it takes time to load. What's app is faster but I'm sure this works well.
Future Cruise Planning - if you want a Future Cruise Credit, this is where you request one. It's self explanatory and very easy to complete. I requested one and within the hour, I had an email confirming it.
View Port Guides - very informative.
Order Food, Drinks Retail Service etc. In my room, I ordered a coffee and cookies on my phone. They brought it to the room. It said it may take up to 30 minutes, but it was 45. I wasn't in a hurry I just wanted to see how it worked. If you are the pool, you can order food or beverages and with the GPS they will find you and deliver your food and drinks. I ordered a coffee on another day and got it in 5 minutes in the piazza. It probably depends where you are and how busy they are.
Dine my way - You choose the restaurant and time you want to eat. Do this asap before you sail so you get the time and table size you want. If you want to change your time during your cruise, you do it here. Once on board, when we went into this section and all the dinner menu's were online!
Crew Call Chat - I tried this to see how it worked, It was so fast. I sent a text and asked what night was the next formal night. I got a reply immediately and this:
There is no need to wait at the Pursuer's Office any more. Questions? Just go to chat!
Explore the Ship - deck plan of the entire ship.
Locate your Shipmates - This is the BEST part of this app. If you want to know where someone is, you open, select "Shipmates". It takes you to the deck plan to exactly where they are. If they are in the theatre or a restaurant, you know their exact location. If you aren't sure how to get there, select "Get me there" and it shows you the way!
Shipmates Chat - we didn't use this but used What's App as it is faster than the medallion app!
Ship Heading - It's a compass that shows you the direction you are heading
Every stateroom door has a display. When you approach your door, it will recognize you and unlock the door. That makes it handy if you are carrying something. When you want the privacy, you just lightly touch the "privacy please" at the bottom left and it lights up so the cabin attendant knows not to bother you. If you want your room to be cleaned hit the "service button" at the bottom right and it lights up.
If you want anything like your laundry picked up or clean towels after your room has been cleaned, light up the service button before dinner and it's done in the early evening.
If you have more than one device in your room, pay for 4 devices. What everyone found is if one phone is on the app the other phone is off. You need to switch between devices every time you want to look at something. If you have a plan for each device, it's much easier. I met a passenger that has her hearing aids on an app. Her husband's phone was on the app and she was cut off and couldn't adjust her hearing aids. It's cheaper to upgrade before you board.
If anyone has any other questions, please email me at lfisher385@gmail.com
