New Ocean Medallion Technology Opening more Doors for Customers

A new initiative being rolled out by Princess Cruises will literally allow customers to “open doors”. Ocean Medallion will look to transform the cruise experience for guests thanks to a package of holiday-enhancing features.

The medallion is a small disc and is roughly the size of a 10p piece. It’s lightweight and small enough to carry around the ship, providing the same functions of the more traditional key card. With this around your wrist, or wherever you choose to keep it, you’ll be able to access staterooms and use as payment in the restaurant, bar, or casino.

Due to the success of this technology, Princess Cruises has already introduced it on Regal Princess where it has totally replaced key cards. Throughout 2019, it will be rolled out on Royal Princess, Crown Princess, and the new Sky Princess before eventually hitting the full fleet.

Open your cabin, the easy way

When approaching your cabin door, the portal will securely validate your access and unlock your cabin; handy if you’ve got your hands full or are trying to access via a wheelchair.

If you don’t fancy wearing the standard lanyard, then there are other chargeable options like a watch strap or necklace.

Combine Ocean Medallion with a smart device  

• Ocean Ready – allows passengers to download details at home before departure, which speeds up embarkation
• Ocean Now – order food and drink from around the ship using dropdown menus. The guest’s photo and location will automatically show on the server’s device.
• Ocean Compass – Helps passengers navigate the ship. The “ShipMate” feature shows where friends & family are located.
• Play Ocean - use this to set up an ‘Ocean Tagalong’ avatar in the shape of a seahorse, turtle, or butterfly fish. Use your smart device as a game controller and even play games on smaller portals around the ship.
• Ocean Casino – For anyone who fancies a game of poker, slots, roulette, or wants to play live bingo.
• Ocean View – enables users to stream TV shows from in the comfort of their stateroom.

Princess Cruises president Jan Swartz says that “Guests are finding their vacations enhanced with Princess Medallion Class as a new and memorable experience, and we’re ready to offer these experiences and personalised services to even more of our guests, including everyone who sails with us.”

“Starting in April, we will continue the expansion to a total of five Princess Medallion Class Ships expected this year, as we continue on our path to fleet-wide activation. And we look forward to bringing the experience to new groups for the first time, such as those sailing to visit exciting destinations in Alaska and Mexico.”

Sailing from the ports of Southampton, Crown Princess becomes Medallion activated from July and will spend the summer sailing around the UK.

It is a very exciting time within the cruise industry, and advances in technology could offer endless possibilities. Royal Caribbean has already started implementing similar features, I wonder how long until the rest will follow.

At Mobility at Sea, we have a wide range of mobility equipment that can be delivered directly to your cruise cabin. 

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