7 Reasons Why Princess MedallionClass is the Best Cruise Innovation
By Cruising With Honey - 07:56
7 Reasons Why Princess MedallionClass is the Best Cruise Innovation in recent years.
Before boarding my cruise aboard Coral Princess, I had heard a lot of hype about Princess MedallionClass. And, if truth be told, I really wasn’t overly excited, I mean wasn’t it just another app? All cruise lines now had phone apps where you can check daily activities, on board account, book shore excursion and make dining reservations among other things. Some work better than others, and since the return of cruise, these apps, especially to ease boarding (uploading vaccination status, testing results, passports etc) have become standard practice. So again, I wasn’t expecting this one to be much different. But boy, was I wrong.
Below are my 7 reasons why I believe the Princess MedallionClass is the best cruise innovation in recent years.
1 Pre-cruise ease
1 Pre-cruise ease
In this new era of post-pandemic cruising, checking-in and uploading of docs has become standard. Since May this year, I have cruised on 6 different lines and the process has been, in some cases, somewhat cumbersome – especially the Verifly app! (Yes, I can hear your groan).
Not so with Princess MedallianClass. I uploaded RAT results, ID and completed all the check-ins for myself and my parents - and ordered our medallions - very easily.
2 Check-in and boarding
Boarding can be stressful – there’s a lot of excitement and crowds and additional steps post-pandemic. Once again, the MedallionClass App proved itself to be a great resource, and with a flash of my phone, and a few questions, we were handed our wearable Princess Medallions and heading across the gangway in under 10 minutes.
3 On board – Goodbye Cruise Card
Cruise cards have become synonymous with cruising, and they’ve been a great way to introduce cashless cruising, open your cabin door and identify you while aboard. They’ve also become a souvenir of your travels, with most cruisers collecting these keepsakes. I know I have a nice little collection.
But cruise cards can be annoying to some cruisers and are easily lost – even with the use of a lanyard. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dropped my card and sheepishly headed down to Guest Services to get another printed, or taken off my lanyard to change, then oppps forgotten to place it back around my neck and locked myself out of my cabin.
This is where the Princess MedallionClass is superior. Yes, the standard medallion is still worn on a lanyard, but it is much smaller. N.B If you have a pacemaker, do not wear the medallion near your pacemaker.
However, and here is the beauty of the Princess MedallionClass; there are numerous ‘wearables’ that house your medallion. From the ultra-fancy necklace/pendant (like the one I was gifted) to clip-on plastic holders, bracelets, ‘watch straps’ and other options that suit your individual preferences. These wearables are inexpensive and can be reused. While they can be purchased on board, some cruisers bought wearables from eBay (which I’m not recommending, just a tip that was relayed to me).
4 Open Sesame – It’s your key to your cabin
Imagine my surprise when, on approach to my cabin door, I noticed the light on the screen switch from ‘red/locked’ to ‘green/unlocked’. Bonza! I had no idea that the Princess MedallionClass could be detected about a metre away and removed the need to be up close to swipe to enter your cabin. It might seem like a simple thing, but I thought this was brilliant. Sometimes you have your hands full with bags or carrying a child or you’re not sure where your card is and you’re left fumbling in your pockets. 10 points to Princess!
5 Your own personal ordering system
I must preface this with an admission – as I was only onboard Coral Princess for three days, I didn’t have the chance to order everything available, but I certainly gave it a workout.
• Drinks
o Simply select any drink you want – hot, cold, alcoholic, soft drink - and within minutes your selection is delivered to wherever you are! Just like magic. Well, not magic but Princess MedallionClass magic. You see, your medallion allows the waiters to find your location, kind of like GPS, and it’s very accurate. Sheepishly, I have to admit when I ordered my first drink, I was bouncing around from one side of the room to the other, talking to all my guests and the ever-patient waiter was following me around, ensuring he delivered my drink. Now, that’s service! The other handy thing is that if you have a Drinks Package, the app keeps track of how many drinks you’ve ordered so that you know how many you’ve had – and how many left until you max it out. Which I may or may not have on those scrumptious margaritas.
• Food
o At any time of the day, wherever you are, you can order complimentary food. From hot food to sweets, savouries, fruit, burgers, there’s a wide selection. As with the drinks, your food is delivered straight to you. Room service works exactly the same way and is delivered straight to your cabin.
• Amenities
o From extra towels, slippers, bath robes, pillows etc, order your creature comforts on the app, and again, like your own personal genie, they’ll be delivered to your door.
6 Guest services at your fingers
Have you ever lined up at Guest Services to ask a simple question only to have wasted an hour of you time? I have. Well, through the Princess MedallionClass App, you can ask ANY question and get you answer without having to wait in line. This alone completely obliterates one of my biggest frustrations while on board. Brilliant, right?
And, due to this innovation, I NEVER saw a queue of cruisers at Guest Services.
7 Find your friends – No more wandering the decks
I am almost 100 per cent certain that I am not the only person who has wasted oodles of time wandering around a ship looking for my partner, kids, friends, travelling companions. This is by far my BIGGEST frustration. Well with the Princess MedallionClass, your frustrations are forever over. As I was travelling with over 80 people, this was the best way to ‘find’ each other and to meet up for our various activities.
The process is simple enough, you create your travelling companion list on your app, you request for your friends to allow you to be able to find them, and at any time if you’re looking for them, you just look it up on the app. For me, this was so reassuring, especially with having my parents on board.
Keep in mind, you can’t just locate any passenger, that would be a breach of privacy. You have to give permission to be located by your friends.
As I prefaced in the intro, I barely scratched the surface as I only had three days aboard Coral Princess, there are loads of other features. In my humble opinion, I reckon it’s the best on-board cruise innovation in recent years. It’s easy to use, handy, improves your cruise experience, cuts frustrations and is fun.
Congratulations Princess, you’ve set the benchmark and I have no doubt other cruiselines will (and should) follow suit soon. As for me, I promise I won’t leave it 13 years between cruises on Princess. You’ve won me over.
