Is Wearable Technology replacing Key Cards on Cruise Ships?

Princess' Medallion Wearable "keycard"

I WOULD have thought the answer to this question would be easy, and a resounding yes! The technology was introduced (in my opinion very successfully) by Princess Cruise Lines in 2019. My first exposure to "resort" wearable technology was when one of my partners and her family did their first Disney World trip several years back. She came into my office to show me the package she had received from Disney World, including 4 color-coded wristbands, appropriately called "Magic Bands"). The two for their children could be "dumbed down" appropriately, but the bands she and her husband wore had their credit card information embedded. The idea was to have identification and the convenience of not having to carry a lot of cards and I.D. around. Great idea. Great adoption of technology.

Cool! Or scary. You decide.

IT WASN'T until several years later that we booked a cruise on one of Princess' big new ships (The Regal Princess) that we saw it - rather newly (2019) - introduced into cruising. At first launched only on the larger, newer ships, Princess' Medallion is now integrated into all its cruise ships. Similar in size to Apple and Samsungs "smart tags," the medallion is - I believe - a home run (interestingly one of the principal "players" in the development of the Disney Magic Band is now a principal in the ongoing development of the Medallion). The medallion form factor was well thought out. Princess sells several different accessories to use the medallion. On Amazon, there are 100's more of a number of different styles of holder. You can just keep it in your pocket (thought my concern was that it might easily get lost or misplaced). The clearly most popular items are wristbands (from a utility-oriented rubber/plastic on to fancy bracelets - now offered by third parties on Amazon and the like - you can even get an adaptor to add the medallion to your own watch, though that seems like a lot of bulk to me). There was also a necklace and a pin or brooch style holder, and some third parties on Amazon sell an attachment to the back of your smartphone. My own favorite, which I purchased soon after we boarded, is a little popout belt clip (which worked great on my pocket cuff or waistband, even though I rarely wear a belt).

Belt-clip Style Holder for Princess Medallion

NEARLY ALL cruise lines have an "app" these days. Some are better than others, but in general, our experience with them hasn't been great. When they do work they are helpful. Again, I found the Princess app to be the best - in conjunction with the Medallion. Celebrity's app is supposed to facilitate communication on board. Our experience has been that using What's App on wife has been the most reliable.

the medallion is - I believe - a home run

THE INNOVATION of wearable technology takes the digital cruising experience to a different level. While maybe a little bit "2001" scary (for those who get the reference), it really pretty cool. When we are onboard, it is not unusual for my wife and I to have different schedules. Using the app on my smartphone and the medallion, it was much easier for us to keep track of where to find each other. With a glance, I could see whether she was in the room, in the buffet, in the theatre, in a bar, or by the pool (and vice-versa, of course). The (potentially disturbing - but it really doesn't bother us a bit) part is that ship personnel can also find you. In practice, that's really cool. Say you really want a slice of pizza, or a burger from the pool grill. You can order it on the app. Or, you can order it in person and then find out your shipmates are somewhere else on the ship. No need to wait. They will find you and bring it to you! We did have one wierdly unnerving experience. We decided to make reservations in one of the specialty restaurants one day, so we walked to the restaurant (which wasn't yet open as it was early afternoon) and as we approached a person came out and addressed us. By name! They saw us (and our medallions) coming. Cool! Or scary. You decide.

THESE WEARABLES completely replace the keycard concept and are used to unlock your stateroom also. Since the introduction of the Princess Medallion, a few other cruise lines have followed suit. Sort of. In my view, none of them are particularly well executed. I have no idea why.

I would have thought the answer to this question would be . . . a resounding yes!

THERE ARE, of course controls. You can select on the app who can see your medallion and who cannot. Certain information is protected. The possibilities, though, much like the current emphasis on "AI," are mind-boggling. For example, the cruise ship personnel can determine your music preferences, drink preferences, know about allergies and other things.

THE CONCEPT is not without concerns and even detractors. One major concern is how this chip effects a person's privacy. One article points out that with this technology, it is possible to track where a person is, how long they were there, and even who they were with. I guess that is not a whole lot different than similar concerns about GPS tracking in modern smart phones. Like it or not, much of this technology as become part of our everyday existence. It does, however, give rise to the admonition to be thoughtful about its use and who you might share it with. I would not have any concern about adding folks I am with on the ship who I trust, but I think it is wise to be careful just how widely you share.

CONCERNS ASIDE, other cruise lines are - however reluctantly - jumping on the bandwagon: the following is a short description of each line I am aware of and how their wearable technology is implemented:

Virgin Voyages

"The Band" is a bracelet with a gray-colored piece on the band. That piece functions are limited to unlocking your stateroom, "badging" you on and off the ship, and onboard purchases (so mostly identical to and a replacement of the keycard concept). Surprising to me for such a tech-forward company (and their app is much more sophisticated).

Disney

It stands to reason, following on the Magic Band, that Disney would have something like this. The "Disney Band" is essentially a Magic Band that is waterproof. Either of the bands can be used on a Disney Cruise Ship or a Disney Resort (which means if you already have a Disney Band, it can be used on the Cruise ship, though I am not sure how it is programmed and activated). Like the Virgin band, it has limited functionality, though it does have a programmed feature that vibrates on the wrist for certain activities (e.g., fireworks).

Royal Caribbean

The Wow Band is RCL's offereing. Once again its functionality is limited. In this case it may be the most limited of the bunch. It will work for unlucking your stateroom and for onboard purchases. However, you still need a keycard to get on and off the ship! It is optional and comes at a cost of $10.00, and it is only available on select RCL ships. Again, surprising to me that the technology is so limited given Princess' rollout some years back, the current technology universe, and the prominence of the cruise line. According to one online source, RCL has no plans to expand the capability of this device.

MSC

"MSC For Me" is MSC's App. A wearable wristband is available, but once again, only on select ships, and for an additional cost (the wristband cost is $5.00, but it is unclear whether the service to connect and use it involves yet an additional charge). The wristbant is kind of sleek, but at the same time bulky looking. It does appear to provide location information (similar to the Medallion).

Viking

We know Viking has deployed some wrist bracelet wearable technology on some of its ocean ships, but current information is limited.

ONE OF the YouTube cruise sites I follow does a regular "survey" question and a recent one was what you would like to see on cruises in 2025. A fair number of responders said they would like to see something like the Medallion implemented on other cruise lines. It has been 7 plus years since the (in my view, very successful) Medallion program was first introduced. As the above summaries demonstrate, not one ship line has done anything really close to the Princess program. Why not? It certainly confounds me. At this point, I would have to answer the question posed by the blog title: No!

To Tip or Not To Tip?

FROM MY own observation (mostly on line), there appears to be a lot of confusion about how the process of gratuities ("tipping") works on cruise ships, as well as substantial disagreement about the subject. Usually it starts with a question from a new cruiser, but the resulting information and opinions are all over the place. Lets try to shed some light on the process.

The entire auto-gratuity process seems to me to be a disingenous act by the cruise lines to "sugar coat" additional employee costs while making the advertised price look lower

LET ME be the first to acknowledge that I did not do a company-by-company survey on how each cruise line handles its gratuities process. I have read enough and had enough personal experience though, to know that although it varies somewhat from line to line, it is generally handled the same way. The general approach is to add a "gratuity" fee to the basic cruise price; usually on a daily basis. In addition, every time you engage an extra paid service, an additional gratuity is added. Our drink package is a daily amount with a gratuity added on. If you book a meal in a specialty restaurant, a gratuity is added. These amounts are distributed among the crew at the end of the cruise. This process looks to be pretty common. The formula for distribution, however, appears to vary a fair amount between lines. None of the lines are particularly transparent about how the gratuities are handled. It appears to be a common practice for the cruise line to subsidize their pay obligation to crew members. Each crew member signs a contract with the ship for a set period. That contract provides for a pay amount per the contract. It is my understanding that the crew member gets that amount no matter what else happens. It gets a bit more murky from there. Apparently, The crew income is based on an assumption that all passengers will pay their gratuities as assessed. If the total amount of gratuities in not enough to cover the employee's contracted amount in addition to their base pay, the line will make up the difference. If by chance the "gratuities revenue" exceeds the amount needed to meet contract, the crew will get some additional. I really don't know the minute details, but the general impression I get is that by charging a (optional - if you are aware of that) "gratuity," the cruise lines make it appear that your "base" cruise cost is lower than it actually is, all the while using the gratuity as part of their contract obligations. The quotes in the sidebar below are pretty telling:

THERE IS an articulated reason for adding the gratuity on as part of the daily cruisers' fees, rather than defaulting to leaving tipping to the individual passengers. Assessing the gratuity as part of the payments to the cruise line (theoretically) injects a fairness into the process by ensuring that all employees share in the tips rather than just the ones who are "out front." As most cruisers know, there are a lot of "behind-the-scenes" crew on cruise ships. 

these added "gratuities" (fees) are not mandatory

AS THEY say, however, "the devil is in the details." The Celebrity Edge series - which is a ship class we have sailed on many times - for example, has just under 1500 crew members. Let's assume that about 25 - 30 of them are officers, who presumably do not share in the gratuities. Think about your recent cruises. How many crew members to you regularly interact with? More to the point, what is their onboard function? They are, in general, the "face" of the ship, and include your room steward (an assistant, if applicable), wait staff, bartenders and possibly staff members at the customer service desk. That is a fraction of the crew members aboard. While once again, largely anecdotal from on-line sources, it appears that in some instances the gratuities are distributed among only some of the crew, and not necessarily in the same percentages.

HAVING WORKED in the food service industry (but always as a behind-the-scenes worker), I know there are a lot of very hard working, but unsung employees who cook, assist in the kitchen, wash dishes, do laundry, maintain the ship's appearance inside and out, and other similar jobs that we might characterized as "unskilled labor." Do they get some of the revenue? Do they deserve some of it? I think so, and I would like to think they do.

might it be more pellucid to simply charge slightly more, pay the workers commensurately, . . .  and end this little charade of "gratuities"?

IT IS not necessarily commonly known that these added "gratuities" (fees) are not mandatory. You may ask to have them removed (though it appears you may have to do that onboard at the customer relations desk in some instances). To many, it "feels" wrong to be charged this way. Many articulate the desire to decide who and when they tip. I personally don't like the fact that the ship lines dictate the amount of the tip (thought as well as having them removed, in most cases you can also simply adjust them down or up), and who gets them and how much.

EVEN SO, we always leave them on. I am not sure I know any other way to ensure that those "unsung" employees share in the tip, even though I have little say in the application of those fees. The entire auto-gratuity process seems to me to be a disingenous act by the cruise lines to "sugar coat" additional employee costs while making the advertised price look lower. I begrudge the company a fair profit, but I do think they ought to be transparent about the processes that involve customers' money - especially when it is a discretionary decision by the customer. To me, many of these crew members are well underpaid (more on that below), and mighten it be more pellucid to simply charge slightly more (I am confident that most cruisers leave the gratuities on - for various reasons), pay the workers commensurately, and end this little charade of "gratuities"?

What I am certain of is that their standard of living is multiples below mine

KNOWING THE variables and uncertainties of the daily "gratuities," should you engage in additional tipping? Lots of "for" and "against" here on the online chatter. We do. Many don't, their thinking being that the cruise is supposed to (resemble?) be an all-inclusive experience, and gratuities have already been paid as part of their daily cruise fees. They are not wrong (in fact, like so many parts of this equatioin, there are no absolutely right or wrong answers here). Much of our justification for "extra" tipping is based on two factors. In the beginning, it was our belief that if we got to know some of the wait staff (mostly bartenders) at the beginning of the cruise and were generous with tips, we would be remembered and treated accordingly. I continue to believe that is true (it is not that we want to think of ourselves as "special" or entitled, but we do appreciate the attentive service and we are somewhat particular about our coctails). We also wanted to show some appreciation to room attendants and "regular" wait staff (with the move away from set dining options, we are less likely to do that these days). The second line of though is perhaps more sentimental. We spend a fair amount of time in a couple of the bars (me usually in the cigar smoking area), on board and become "regulars" to some of the bartenders/servers there. Enough so to become friends with some of them (I facebook friends with two bartenders who we have actually seen on multiple cruises). We learn things about them.

THERE ARE, of course, cultural differences. Most Americans - think of tipping as a reward for good service (though that may be a generational thing whose time has come and gone), and should not be treated as a component of overall compensation In the U.S. for certain jobs in the food service industry like wait staff  it has (unfortunately in my view) become at least a partial component of compensation. U.S. employers often pay wait staff below the normal "living wage" for other workers, anticipating that it will be made up by a certain average amount of tips. Other cultures we have experienced in places like Asia and Europe, look at it differently. In most of those cases the service providers are paid a reasonable living wage. In Japan, tipping is not only not done, but can in some instances actually considered an insult. In Europe it is not expected (though with the explosion of worldwide tourism, that is actually changing) and when it is done it is as a measure of appreciation for great service - and it is generally not done in the amounts we do in the U.S. This comes into play because on many cruises the passenger mix these days is multi-national, making attitudes toward gratuities in general, varied.

If you remove the "gratuities" portion of your cruise daily costs, you might be penalizing many of the crew, who you don't see (perhaps ever) and don't directly tip

BEFORE YOU come to any conclusions about your own tipping practices, there are are a few things to think about. If you remove the "gratuities" portion of your cruise daily costs, you might be penalizing many of the crew, who you don't see (perhaps ever) and don't directly tip. Why should it matter? Here is my thinking: Over the years I have cruised I have found that a substantial percentage of the crew come from what we might euphemistically call "third world countries." I will use Indonesia as an example because I have gotten to know a few Indonesian crew members. According to my online sources, the typical Indonesian makes the equivalent of $300 to $500 per month (sources were a little confusing, as what I could find suggested that this is under what the cost of rent for a dwelling would be. Perhaps many if not most Indonesian families share a dwelling between 2 or more families)? What I am certain of is that their standard of living is multiples below mine (and I would classify myself as "middle class"). I have read that these crew get paid $15 - 20 per day (which is in line with their home country standards, but certainly not tearing it up). Think about what an extra $5 - $20 from just one of us passengers means to them. The two guys I had the most in-depth conversations with over the past couple years shared that they have families with young children back home. These amounts are really nothing to us (in the great scheme). But they mean a lot to the crew members. For sure, we are not going to "save the world" by tipping a handful of persons on the ship. But it gives us a good feeling to do more than just expect to be served. And we do see that most crew members go over and above to make the experience fun and enjoyable.

I AGREE with the ex-management comment above about how to tip. We always tip in cash. Right or wrong, we feel that the intended recipient is more likely to benefit from it that way. Right or wrong, we believe additional cash tipping is a good thing.

Cruise Excursions - Cruise Line or Private?

ONE OF my frequent comments here, and a primary tenet of our cruising experience, is how important itinerary is to our cruising choices. We make our choice of cruise lines and ships, as much based on itinerary as other factors (although we do draw a line at certain cruise ship lines). Our one and only (so far) cruise on the Oceania cruise line was, for example, based almost completely on itinerary.

IF ITINERARY is important, (to me, that means where the ship cruises and where it stops), it follows that excursions are also going to be important. Discussion of whether to book excursions through the cruise line or independently seems to be a recurring topic on the media I frequent. It often starts with the question by a new poster: "should I book my XYZ excursion through the cruise line or use a third-party purveyor. How would I answer that question? Those who have followed the blog for a while, probably know which way I "lean." However, to the direct question posed by this post, I will give you the most definitive answer I can: "It Depends."😖

We make our choice of cruise lines and ships, as much based on itinerary as other factors

IF YOU spend any time reading on places like Cruisecritic.com or any of the FB (or other, I suppose) social media pages, read blogs, or watch YouTube videos (my newest favorite source of cruise info), you will observe that there seem to be 4 distinct viewpoints. I adhere to the third one, and think I am probably in the majority. There are a rather vocal group of cruiser/commentors that preach, in some cases pedantically, to never book a cruise with an independent. The most common premise for this assertion is the certainty that the ship will always wait for you and will never leave without you. That is (mostly) true. Other reasons asserted are convenience (you will usually qeue onboard and go as a group to your vehicle of conveyance, your payment will be refunded if the tour/excursion is cancelled, you can use onboard credits, etc).

There are some common sense things to consider when booking a third-party tour

A SECOND school of thought espouses always booking an independent cruise. I suspect the group with this "always" thinking is the minority group of the three. Cheaper pricing, smaller groups and generally "better" tours are the most commonly given reason. I think this group always tries to book independent tours if possible. Closely related to this group is a third, "we always explore on our own" group who rarely, if ever pre-book an excursion. My understanding from reading comments is that this group mostly just  explores the destination on their own, or finds an excursion from the many that are usually being offered right on shore.

THERE IS no "right or wrong" view here. The only "wrong" thing I see is that some parties who espouse these views are often rigid in those views, and in many cases are (at least partly) misinformed. More on that below.

THE FINAL of my 4 groups is the one I belong to. It is probably the largest group and probably the most diverse in terms of differing views within the group. As a general rule, we look at the whole excursion thing pragmatically. To our way of thinking, the primary question is who will provide us with what we are looking for, and that means we have to be open to any of the above options as they fit the circumstances. As  members of that school of thought, we have taken part in cruise-sponsored excursions, third-party excursions, and at times have just walked off the ship and either explored on our own, or negotiated with one of the local purveyors for a tour. While in my mind the last one is perhaps the most risky, we have had good success by keeping our expectations reasonable.

you are actually paying for the third-party, but instead of choosing your own, you are taking what the cruise line chooses

AS I have said here before, we lean toward third-party tours. In our experience they are almost always a better experience. This is because they are generally available in smaller groups (though we have been on a couple of large - bus based private tours), the tour guides are usually very knowledgeable of the geographic area and its history, and their licensing often gets us "skip the line" privileges and in to places we might not otherwise get to. Our experience has also been that the cost of the third party tours are not significantly higher than the cruise-based tours (and sometimes are even less) and you get so much more "bang for the buck" in these small group situations. We are not "married" to them, however. There are times, however, when we choose the cruise-based tours. Sometimes we are "comped" a ship excursion, and unless we have already booked a better option, we often will take advantage of them. There are times when there do not appear to be any better alternatives than the ship tour and we will take them. When we were in Japan, for example, we had a difficult time finding private tours in many places (particularly outside the major cities). We are seeing the same thing with our fall, Norwegian Fjords cruise. Many very small stops and apparently no thriving third-party tour operations there.

SOMETIMES WHEN we are in a familiar destination and/or one that does not necessarily lend itself to a formal tour, we will just go ashore and either explore on our own, or find an on shore touring experience. We have been to Naples many times. We think we have probably seen all the major attractions (Pompei, Amalfi Coast, etc.) On a recent trip to Naples we decided to take a ferry to the Isle of Capri and explore a bit on our own. We got off the ship, found the nearby ferry terminal, and spent a nice day on Capri. In South Africa, we stopped in Namibia. It did not appear that there was a lot to do there, and the ship-based excursions were sold out, so we walked on shore and found a local 2-hour drive-around tour. It worked out just fine. In 2023, we were cruising with some friends in the Southern Caribbean, with multiple stops. Having been in the Caribbean countless times now, we rarely book excursions there. It is probably the one exception to the "choose by itinerary" rule. In the Caribbean, we are much more driven by the ship and line and the onboard experience. On this cruise, we "negotiated" with the hawkers on shore several times, basically for just a "circle the island" tour. They all worked out pretty well. Enough so that we did it again in Tortola, B.V.I., the following year. We are booked again on a Southern Caribbean cruise with some friends in late March and suspect that will be our M.O. this time, too. For this school, I think flexibility and willingness to look for the right "fit" is the primary driver.

make it crystal clear when you want to be back in port

LET's DISPELL some of the narrative while we are talking about excursions. While it is mostly true that a ship won't leave passengers behind who are late back to the ship on a ship-sponsored excursion. There was a widely publicized exception on a Norwegian Cruise Line just this year, of a family who was on a cruise-sponsored excursion in Ketchikan, Alaska. There was a problem with transportation back to the shipl. All kind of understandable. But the ship did leave without these 9 passengers. The ship must have known the passengers were on a ship-sponsorer excursion. What followed for the family was nothing less of a nightmare, and the ship line could not have handled things any more incompetently. Is this a very unusual ocurrence? You bet. Lets not say it never happens though.

PERHAPS MORE, it is a rare ocurrence for legitimate third-party operators not to get passengers back to the ship on time (it does happen - we know from personal experience). Think about it. If they are legitimate businesses, and they want to stay in business and protect their own reputation, they are going to do everything in their power to get their customer back to the ship! On the extremely off chance that they don't, most of the legitimate operators have some kind of guarantee and will defray expenses and work to get you back to the ship's next stop.

we lean toward third-party tours

IT IS really kind of a "sky is falling" argument for a lot of us. There are some common sense things to consider when booking a third-party tour. Book the tours through a legitimate source (we use Viator and/or TripAdvisor to find reliable, mainline tour operators). We also try to check them out by seeking other opions on FB pages and CruiseCritic, if we have not already had experience with them. Above all else, communication is critical. Our one close call involved - more than any other factor - a lack of communication between all parties. We joined another couple on an excursion during our South Africa cruise. We did not set up the excursion, and I was kind of "lax" about any communication with the drivers, thinking the other guy had it covered. I learned a valuable lesson that day. Never take for granted that the other guy(s) have it covered. Talk to the people yourselves and make it crystal clear when you want to be back in port! In this case, we contacted the ship and let them know exactly where we were and when we expected to arrive back at the ship. Fortunately, that was 30 minutes before the scheduled departure (but 30 minutes late for the all-aboard time). They didn't have the opportunity to leave without us, but they probably would have. Indeed we were scheduled to join the same couple on a second excursion the next day and I make clear to the other guy (he was in complete agreement) that I was going to have a conversation with our driver about the time we wanted to be back at the ship. We always try to beat the all aboard time by at least 30 minutes - more depending on how far away we might be from the ship. Other than that experience, we have been on many, many third-party operated excursions and they always are very cognizant of all aboard times, and go out of their way to make sure we are back with some cushion.

all of the risk of failure to get back on time is on you

IN BARCELONA one year they had a huge demonstration going on and our tour-operator actually cut our tour short to get us back to the ship (they refunded us a pro-rata portion of our fees, of course). We don't worry about it. We do try to plan realistically. In addition to choosing legitimate operators, it is worth thinking about where you are. In South Africa, we were in the proverbial "middle of nowhere" and in that case the risks are probably higher. This year in April, a group of passengers on another NCL cruise (tough year, Norwegian, but your own conduct probably brings you some deserved angst about cruising with you these days) were late back to the port. Reading between the lines from the information I could find, it appears that the third-party operator was at fault and significantly misjudged conditions for getting the passengers back to the ship. There are places in the world where I would be a little more careful about third-party operators. In some cases, they are very different cultures and may not feel the need to take responsibility. We have used them without any incident in most parts of Europe, and in Turkey and Japan, though.

ANOTHER THING to think about if you are going to use third-party tour operators is to know that all of the risk of failure to get back on time is on you. If you find that too stressful, or if you do not have the financial wherewithall (I don't mean this as an elitist statement - just as a blunt reality) to "cover" when it does happen, then you probably shouldn't take the risk, however slim I believe it is. Generally, we are philosophical about it and we (fortunately for us) have the ability to cover in the event it does happen.

DESPITE ALL of these "risks," on balance, we prefer a well-operated third party excursion. The "convenience" thing usually isn't an issue. Although we have on occasion had to take a taxi, uber or public transportation to meet our tour/guide, more often our guide has met us right in the port, and brought us back at the end. Obviously the time and logisitics involved when you do have a site away from the port is part of your planning and responsibility. Give yourself plenty of time on both sides of the scheduled tour. All too often when we have joined one of the cruiselline sponsored excursions, we find they just don't do it very well. And though this may come as a surprise to some, in most cases, they are actually being conducted by some kind of third-party operator anyway, who is contracted by the cruise. Now you are actually paying for the third-party, but instead of choosing your own, you are taking what the cruise line chooses. I am confident that their criteria for choosing the third-party is not the same as mine. 😏

IN THE end, it is going to depend on your own tolerance for risk and budget. My advice is to consider the (again, I believe very small) risks above, and using common sense, do not hesitate to book onshore excursions with legitimate third-party operators. In most instances, I think you will be glad you did so.