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

Caribbean Princess Embarkation Day

You know about my Tutorial Tuesdays .

You know about my Wanderlust Wednesdays.

You know about my Cruise Ship Saturdays.

But did you know this particular Cruise Ship Saturday I am doing my writing from a cruise ship?

Yep, today we boarded the Caribbean Princess for our umpteenth cruise. We have a week of ports we've been to before, but a week of new things, too.

Hubby's recovering nicely. 24 hours of Tylenol PM and rest and ice and ice and more ice (thumb, knee, elbow, and that poor now-purple eye) made him feel well enough for us to walk to the pier this morning. We stayed at a hotel less than a mile away from Pier 2 so it was an easy walk.

Pier 2 at Port Everglades was updated last year with new decor. Unfortunately some of the folks working at the pier seemed to be in need of an upgrade on the information they were doling out. More than one contradicted something someone else had just said. It may be they were a bit frazzled having to explain every single thing to all the new cruisers. Hubby thought we needed t-shirts with some kind of saying on it. Something like, Hey, we're experienced cruisers. Leave us alone. Or We already know. Or We aren't stupid. 

Caribbean Princess is a Medallion Class™ ship and our deck (Lido, also Riviera) are running the Medallions this week. We received the Medallions at check in along with our cruise cards and a lanyard.

I've combined the Medallion information to make the progression of the roll-out more clear. Click here for more info:
August 18-25 updates can be found here.
August 25-Sept 1 updates can found here. 
Sept 1-8 updates can be found here.

And a couple random things:

*Lifejackets for kids were available at the pool.

*We have an amazing cabin steward. He offered to change out our mini bar for us - that's the first time we've ever had that offer.

We're off to Princess Cays tomorrow.

As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please click on the envelope icon at the top right of this screen.

A Ft. Lauderdale Un-Adventure

We got enough sleep on the plane to be ready to hit the town in Ft. Lauderdale. We had it all planned out. But plans don't always work out as expected.

Readers of the blog know hubby has cerebral palsy. He's not wheelchair bound, but he does walk with a limp. Most people assume he's had a stroke. He's slow moving but tries to go for a walk each day to keep things moving. He's had a good summer, and has even felt confident enough to venture around the block a time or two by himself. He hasn't had a fall in quite some time.

But that changed today. He made it through the Boise Airport and the Seattle Airport (and even down to 13 Coins). He made it through the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. Yet at our last flight of the trip - on the way to baggage claim - is where things went awry.

Hubby fell and hit the floor. Hard. And it wasn't a carpeted floor, either. Hard linoleum with (I'm guessing) concrete underneath. When most people begin to fall they reach out to catch themselves or at least try and minimize the impact. But hubby has no use of his right side. There's no catching unless he's falling on his left side. Which he didn't.

Broken glasses. Jammed right thumb and swollen right elbow. Swollen left knee with a raspberry to boot. And the worst of all - a big nasty goose egg of a knot just above his right eyebrow. He's battered and bruised.

So our Ft. Lauderdale Adventure day turned into an un-adventure day. Instead, we checked into the hotel early, are icing body parts, popping some meds, and just taking it easy. I'm guessing we'll be ordering in tonight as he's in no shape to go anywhere.

It's times like these we know how lucky we are. We are so thankful we have this life. And we are thankful:

• for the kind people around who always pitch in and help me get him up off the floor. It's a two person job as hubby can't help himself at all. 
• he was wearing long pants. Last time he fell while traveling he had on shorts and really tore up his leg. Took months and months to heal.
• he had brought a second pair of glasses.
• I had packed some Tylenol PM in my medicine stash.
• our room was ready for an early check-in. 
• I had packed plenty of Ziploc bags which are coming in handy for icing.
• things weren't worse. While he is pretty banged up, we know from experience how bad it could have been.

And we are ever-so-thankful each time we take a trip. We know each and every time it could be our last. We will keep a-goin' as long as the bodies and minds will allow us.

So if you see some guy limping on a cruise ship in the next few weeks that looks like he was in the latest Rocky sequel, it'll probably be hubby.

If you're interested, here's what our original plan was for today in Ft. Lauderdale. We had done it before and were planning on doing it again today:
*Stay at the Hilton Marina. Close by the cruise terminal and the Sun Trolley.
*Take the Sun Trolley to Ft. Lauderdale Beach.

*Head down the breezeway next to Bubba Gump's. Don't go to Bubba Gump's but instead grab a patio seat in that breezeway outside our favorite hole-in-the-wall bar, 5 O'Clock Charlies.

*Order a couple drinks.

*Get some food off their lunch menu.

*Then if we were still hungry we would head down the beach to Primanti Brothers for one of their over-the-top sandwiches.

That didn't happen today but we are feeling blessed nonetheless. Because tomorrow we are heading on a cruise ship for three weeks. Life is good.

A Pleasant Stopover in Seattle

When we booked this Boise-Seattle-Dallas Fort Worth-Ft. Lauderdale flight we made sure we had a nice long layover in Seattle. We like Seattle a lot. Travel there several times a year, even. So any opportunity we have to have a flight take us through Seattle, we try and get a generous stopover.

Our plan could have taken us to Pike Place Market to have delicious salmon croquettes at Lowell's, or to Ellenos to get some Greek Yogurt. If the Seattle Mariners had a home game (they didn't) we would have had enough time to get in several innings of a baseball game. We had enough of a layover we could have done at least one (even maybe two) of the things I have on my 5 things to do in Seattle list.

But we went with the simple, relaxing, non-rushed route instead.

We walked through the airport past all the Terminal C baggage claim carousels. And past the Terminal B baggage carousels and past the terminal A baggage carousels. All the way until we got to the door to the outside. From there we walked towards the scheduled shuttle service stops and the city bus stops.

We walked past all those buses and followed the sidewalk out from the airport area...

towards International Boulevard...

to where the entrance/exit of the airport and International Boulevard met. Our destination, 13 Coins restaurant, is just across the street.

It looks like it was a long walk, but it wasn't. I'm guessing from the outside door of the airport terminal to the restaurant was half a mile or so.

It was at 13 Coins where hubby had the most tasty spinach salad. Yeah, he kind of went overboard on the pepper.

And I had an even more delicious meat bites starter.

Prices were comparable to what we would have paid at the airport but so, so, so much better tasting than airport food!

After eating and walking back to the airport, we stopped at the section right inside the door. They have seating there, seating that includes rocking chairs. Hubby loves rocking chairs so we spent a good chunk of time with him rocking and me sitting with my feet up.

Definitely a nice way to spend 5 hours at the Seattle Tacoma Airport!

Here's the 13 Coins menu for future reference. Apologies for the blurriness. Not sure what happened there.

 

Minimalist Monday

It's time for another 15!

Another 15 items are leaving me. Actually, I gained two new items first. I finally purchased a computer monitor (no more squinting on the laptop) and a used pair of snorkel fins (for something fun coming up soon). So that means I have to get rid of 17 items this week instead of just 15.

It's just things that don't matter. Why the heck do we keep this stuff longer than we need to?

A Sale on a Sailing - We're Heading to the Caribbean!

We were finishing up our 15th cruise to Alaska a couple months ago when hubby received an email from Princess Cruises.

$199 per person for a week-long cruise to Alaska? We really thought long and hard about taking advantage of the offer. There were many sailings to choose from - we could have stayed on the same ship for about six weeks. Living on a ship in Alaska in the summer? Heck yes, count us in. We decided to head home from that 15th Alaskan cruise, get some things done around the house, then head back up.

But it didn't work out as planned. My husband's father got sick right after we got back home and passed away a few days later. Alaska would be a no-go and we decided it would be best to stay close to home.

Then once the funeral passed hubby got another email from Princess Cruises.

$149 week-long cruises to the Caribbean? It was hubby's call. He decided he was ready to leave reality behind and head back out. The Bahamas, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten are calling our names. This coming week, that is. We have other ports calling our names the next week.

I guess an evening flight from Boise to Seattle and a red-eye flight from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale (technically Boise to Seattle to Dallas to Ft. Lauderdale) is calling our names, too. Thank you, Alaska Airlines for having 12,500 frequent flier mile flights to get us to Florida, even if it takes us some time to get there.

Florida, here we come!

5 Things to do in Seattle

It's Wanderlust Wednesday! Today we're talking about what to do in Seattle, Washington.

While you can certainly drive a car while you're in Seattle, we always prefer to use the Link Light Rail, along with a little bit of walking. My 5 Things to do in Seattle uses the Light Rail (and Monorail) to get to each location.

1. Take the Link Light Rail from the airport to downtown. Get off at the Westlake stop. Walk to Pike Place Market. Fruit, vegetables, flowers, flying fish. Get there early - it gets crowded on summer days.

While you're there, head into Lowell's restaurant for the most delicious smoked salmon-potato croquettes with fresh herb sauce.

2. Head across the street to Ellenos for very tasty Greek yogurt. I've never had any yogurt like this before. Marionberry Pie Greek Yogurt? Yes, please. Lemon cheesecake Greek Yogurt? Yes, please. (Sorry, I can't find the pic of the mixture. It sure is pretty and tasty.) We love this place so much it is a must-do on every visit.

Get a half and half (half marionberry/half lemon) and head down to eat at the park just north of the market. Victor Steinbrueck Park is a good place to people watch. Tourists, drug dealers, prostitutes, police, homeless people, and cross dressers all intermingle to make for an interesting - and eye opening - experience. 

3. From the park you can also see the Seattle Great Wheel, one of the biggest Ferris wheels in the United States. Hangs out over the water, even. You can either take the steps outside the Market or use the parking garage elevator get down there.

 You get high up there.

 4. Head back towards Westlake to take a ride on the Seattle Center Monorail. It'll take you to the Space Needle. Purchase a ticket to ride to the top and take a look at Seattle from the observation deck. The area around the Space Needle has lots of other activities to partake in. You can even buy combo tickets.

5. Take the monorail back to Westlake. From there take the Link Light Rail southbound, getting off at the Stadium stop. Walk over to Safeco Field and take in a Seattle Mariners professional baseball game. The roof is retractable so you'll be able to watch baseball rain or shine.

Don't forget to try some ballpark food. How about a cheesesteak and some garlic fries?

You can find a video version of this post here: