This post is sponsored by Princess Cruises. All opinions are 100% my own.
Last month I took a Caribbean cruise with Princess Cruises and had an amazing experience! If you’re looking for white sand beaches, turquoise waters and fruity drinks in a cabana in the sand, you should probably book yourself a Caribbean cruise with Princess! But before you do, let me tell you all about my incredible trip and the one piece of technology that made the trip memorable!
Our cruise left Fort Lauderdale and headed to Princess Cays, Bahamas; Amber Cove, Dominican Republic; Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Each destination was absolutely breathtaking – from the swaying palm trees in the breeze to the glittering teal water that’s crystal clear. I have sailed with Princess before on my Alaska trip which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I wondered how a cruising experience could get even better than Alaska on the Ruby Princess.
And then Princess unveiled their Ocean Medallion technology, and the game CHANGED, y’all.
Allow me to answer some burning questions of yours!
What is the Ocean Medallion?
The Ocean Medallion is a wearable device that houses all of your information in one tiny, compact, magnetic technology no larger than the size of a silver dollar. The medallion securely stores your credit card information, photo ID, passport, and room key information so you basically don’t even need to pack a purse while on the ship since everything is enclosed in this mini device!
Does every ship have Ocean Medallion?
Princess is unrolling the Ocean Medallion technology on their ships but many ships, such as the Caribbean Princess, have the technology already, so we got to take it for a spin!
Can everyone get a Medallion?
Yes! After you book your cruise, you’ll set up your cruise personalizer on the Princess website and in the corresponding app. From the app, you can order your Ocean Medallion(s), which will come in a little white box in a few days, or up to a week. (Be sure to order it at least 2 weeks in advance!). The Ocean Medallion comes with a lanyard to wear, but once on-board you can purchase Ocean Medallion accessories to enhance the experience at an additional cost. For instance, my sterling silver-plated pendant necklace was $60, and my mom got a silicone watch band for $12 (it comes in four colors!). They also have an elegant bangle, gold pendant, brooch-type pin, and more.
Do you have to carry the Medallion around?
Yes, the Medallion replaces your key card, photo ID, credit card, and passport so it is essential for your Medallion-class Princess Cruises! Don’t worry; the device itself is the size of a quarter and is lightweight and virtually undetectable. If you’re used to wearing lanyards or smart-watches for work, you won’t even notice it. But believe me, you will not want to cruise without it! After experiencing the Medallion firsthand, I can’t imagine cruising without one. And as you can see from my photos, the Medallion is personalized just for you with your name and cruise information on it.
The best part about the Ocean Medallion is it does not need to be charged and it is waterproof, sweatproof, and sand-proof, which is perfect for beachy vacations and all those excursions!
After you book your cruise, set up your cruise personalizer and order your Medallions, you can use Princess’ new app, Ocean Ready, to prepare for your trip! On Ocean Ready, you can upload passport documents, credit card information, and a photo ID to get ahead of the game come embarkation day.
Once it’s time to board the ship, you simply flash them your Ocean Medallion and it will pull up your security information in a flash. From the time we arrived at the port to the time we got on the ship, it was probably 30 minutes which is hardly any time at all! Embarking and boarding the ship was SO fast, efficient and easy thanks to the Ocean Medallion technology!
Here are some of my favorite features of the Ocean Medallion!
It’s your keyless room key! Yep, no need to carry (and inevitably lose!) a room key! As you approach your stateroom door, the screen next to your door greets you with your photo and registers your Ocean Medallion. As it registers your unique Medallion, it unlocks the door! No need to fumble around for a cumbersome room key when you’re tired or your hands are full.
It corresponds with helpful apps! Along with Ocean Ready, there are several other Princess apps that I highly recommend to enhance your cruising experience.
- Ocean Compass:Â Ocean Compass is exactly what it sounds like: a compass for all things on the ship! It’s like your personal navigation system, right on your phone. Or, if you’d rather, there are giant screens throughout the ship that you can click your way around on. Say you’re on the Lido deck and trying to find the main dining room. Pull up the Ocean Compass app, or tap a screen on the ship and it will show you the path to get to the dining room. Simple as that!
- Play Ocean:Â This one is equally fun for kids and adults! On Play Ocean, you can play interactive games with other shipmates, compete in ship-wide scavenger hunts, and more! Kids and adults alike will delight in making a Tagalong, which is a little creature avatar that represents you. As you walk past the interactive screens on the ship, your Tagalong will appear if the screen registers your Ocean Medallion! The ship also participates in game nights on the pool deck where you can snuggle up in a lounge chair and play games on a giant screen with other passengers. It was so much fun!
- Ocean Casino:Â Adults will enjoy playing roulette, slots, poker and bingo on deck or in the casino on board! You can wager on built-in interactive screens throughout the ship, or hit up the casino any time to play in person.
- Ocean Concierge:Â Princess wants you to have an immersive experience during your cruise, so you can use this app to learn more about the destinations you’re traveling to and even sip cocktails in the Good Spirits bar on-board inspired by said destinations.
- Ocean Now: This is by far my favorite and most-used app while cruising the Caribbean! Ocean Now is basically an on-demand delivery service available throughout the entire ship. Say you’re exhausted after a day exploring in a port and you’ve headed back to your stateroom… but you’re also craving something fruity and refreshing. Pull up the Ocean Now app and using the state-of-the-art technology, order yourself a pina colada. Within a few clicks, you can order the drink and watch its progress as it is made, walked to your room, and delivered within minutes.
My mom and I got burned pretty badly in the Bahamas but didn’t realize it until we were back in our stateroom. With a few simple clicks, we Ocean Now’d some aloe vera gel and it was delivered to our stateroom in less than 5 minutes. You can pretty much on-demand order anything from food and drinks to retail services, like a Stanley the Bear stuffed toy for a souvenir! And it gets delivered to wherever you are on the ship. You can be swimming in the pool and have a plate of french fries from the Salty Dog delivered poolside. Or say you’re chillaxing in the Sanctuary adults-only area and order yourself some sunscreen. I just adored the ease, efficiency and convenience of this amazing app!
Medallion Net
MedallionNet is Princess Cruises’ on-board internet and it was AMAZING. I tried not to work too much on the ship, but there were times I had to check in on my blog and social media, and the internet is SO fast. Like, just as fast as at home! It’s super easy to connect and for $150 you can have internet on 4 different devices for the entire week. Not too shabby!
The Downsides
There really are none, except that I can no longer get Ocean Now here at home 🙂 It may seem like a lot of apps to download, but once you have them, you’ll realize how helpful this new technology really is, and how necessary it is to enhance your cruising experience with Princess!
Now who is ready to book their next Caribbean cruise with Princess!? I know I am already itching to be back on the ship!
Have a super sweet weekend!
xo, Hayley
KEVEN POWELL says
hi is this on all of the ships or not i am going on the golden princess only see that we do get them,
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Keven! I’m not positive if it is on Golden Princess yet! When you book your cruise, you can go to your cruise personalizer to see if you need to order Medallions. If not, your ship probably doesn’t have the technology yet!
Debra says
Australians receive their Ocean Medallion at embarkation I understand. I want to be prepared for HOW TO CARRY the medallion. How much is the silver necklace accessory?
thedomesticrebel says
Hi Debra, I believe the silver necklace accessory was $50 for a silver plated pendant. What’s cool about it though, is that when you’re done sailing you can pop out the medallion and have a open-circle pendant necklace as a keepsake. They also have gold.