Understanding Princess Medallions and MedallionClass App

Our curiosity led us to cruise with Princess. We wanted to see what the Princess Medallions —a revolutionary piece of technology — was all about. But even before we boarded Majestic Princess, confusion ensured when our devices, which were customized with our names, reached our home.

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Providing Clarity about Princess OceanMedallions From Our Experience

We were incredibly confused about “Princess OceanMedallions” (also called Princess Medallions) and “MedallionClass.” We understood their existence — the physical small circular-disc component and the phone app — but their uses were a mystery. Did we need to also carry around a credit card, or did this replace that? Did we need a separate room key, or could this device open our stateroom door? What was “touchless” about a Princess Medallion?

But a cruise with Princess gave us clarity and we suddenly understood exactly what it is and how it functions. From explaining if it's free or costs extra, to how you access your cabin with it or pay for things onboard and off with your Princess OceanMedallion to how to accessorize it with custom lanyards and other souvenirs, we will help you fully understand it with the information we share below.

What is the Physical Princess OceanMedallion and MedallionClass? 

A Princess Medallion and MedallionClass™️ is the conjunction of three things that work in tandem: 1) A small, wearable device that's approximately the diameter of a quarter and thickness is a quarter-of-an-inch, 2) “Invisible” technology inside the device that enables touch and touchless transactions when connected to your account, 3) An app.

The physical medallion reminds us of the MagicBand system at Walt Disney World or on Disney Cruise Line. But it’s even cooler than MagicBands because you can use it to unlock your stateroom door without touching it to the physical doorknob or keypad. I guess you could say it's moe magical than a MagicBand, but don't tell Disney we said that.

The name “MedallionClass” is a little misleading because it seems exclusive and like a club that you need to sign up for. But it's simply the term that Princess Cruises created to name the new onboard technology when it debuted, which is supposed to seamlessly connect your Princess experience.

Things You Can Do with the Princess OceanMedallion

Here's what you can do with a Princess Medallion:

Princess MedallionClass Makes Boarding Easy

Whether you're boarding the ship for the first time at your port of embarkation or you're reboarding the ship after a day in port, your Princess Medallion makes it easy to board and unboard the ship.

It's just like tapping in and out on any large cruise ship with security, whether a river or ocean cruise. But instead of tapping a flat key, you tap your disc-shaped medallion.

Unlock Your Stateroom Door with your Princess Medallion

If your Princess Medallion is on you and you're within a couple of feet of your stateroom, the door senses you’re nearby if you have the Medallion on. It magically unlocks the door without you having to touch it to a keypad or the doorknob.

Don’t worry about someone who doesn’t belong in your cabin having access to your room with their Medallion. Only the Princess Medallions of the people registered to that stateroom can unlock the door with the corresponding Princess Medallions.

Use it Instead of Carrying Around a Credit Card

It's a wearable device that you can carry around in your pocket on its lanyard (which it comes on) or around your neck. You can also buy accessories for it, but we'll tell you more about that later.

Your Princess Medallion not only becomes your key to the world of Princess, but it can also be your credit card. For example, a waiter or waitress can charge drinks to your account via your Medallion when you order a cocktail.

You can even use it in some ports. In Alaska, we saw advertisements at some shops stating that they accepted Princess MedallionPay.

Buying Things with MedallionPay

When you purchase something using the Medallion, your photo comes up as an extra layer of security. This was very convenient when we were at the pool or a club at night and wanted to buy drinks.

Princess MedallionPay also works in select ports of call in several Princess destinations, including Alaska, the Caribbean, and Mexico. We didn't get to use this feature because we were on a California Coast itinerary but we do know it's an option in these three locations.

See a Customized View of Your Cruise if You Are Near a Screen Around The Ship

There are various screens throughout the ship where you can get information about the deck plan or the day's activities. A portal, if you will. If you touch your Medallion device to these particular screens you'll see a touch of customization added to your experience, like your name and photo in the top corner.

Use Your Medallion to Access the Sanctuary Club

If you're in the new ship-within-a-ship class on your Princess Cruise, you can use your Medallion to access the top-deck Sanctuary Club, reserved for Sanctuary Collection guests. The adults-only area (ages 16+) has a private pool and jacuzzi, private cabanas, food and snacks, and a plush lounge area. It also has exclusive programming like morning yoga classes and sail away receptions. This is currently available on Sun Princess and Star Princess.

Customizing your Princess Medallion

There were ways to customize this fun piece of technology before your sailed and after. If you customize it at all is up to you, including when.

Before Your Cruise Through OceanMedallion App

You can order a special Medallion before you leave for your cruise. To do so, you need about two weeks for them to create and ship your customized medallion to you. Otherwise, you simply pick it up at your port of embarkation when you check in.

You can customize it within the app and choose from things like sports team emblems, dog breeds, or gemstones for your birth month. (It's a graphic rendering of the gemstone, not the actual gemstone). These are custom “stickers” that are applied to the medallion for a little extra touch of fun.

They're $5 and worth the upgrade if you are into customizing things in your life. If you customize your Medallion in the app, but you haven't committed to it and haven't checked out with the item in your “cart” before the cruise, they simply give you the basic Medallion.

Before Your Cruise: Accessorizing a Medallion on Your Own

Preparing for how you'll carry around your Princess Medallion will ensure you're ready to go as soon as you reach your port of embarkation. We have a few great suggestions for how to accessorize before you cruise.

We saw a lot of people with cute rhinestones or patterned lanyards they bought on their own before their cruise. We'd probably do the same next time! Here are some really cute lanyards on Amazon and others on Etsy.

Additionally, there are creative accessories for the Princess Medallions that allow you to wear them on your wrist, whether a dedicated silicone band or an attachment for an Apple watch.

Princess Medallion Accessories Available on the Ships

When you're on board, there's a Medallion help desk area. There, you'll find additional accessories to purchase for your Princess Medallion.

The options include:

• Bracelet in gold: $54
• Lanyard strap: $9 (this is a different strap than what comes with it – it’s blue and thicker than the thin white one you automatically get)
• Ocean Medallion Clip (clips onto a shirt or your jeans): $8
• Sustainable clip made from 100% ocean-recycled plastic: $15 
• Ocean Medallion Pendant – silver or gold: $44 
• Ocean Medallion Sports band (purple, black, pink, or blue): $12 
• *Ocean Medallion Sustainable band: $19 (says “Special Edition” under it)
• Ocean Medallion notebook: $15 with optional $3 insert cards. The card options included things like countries (Canada, Mexico, Germany), or celebrations, like an anniversary or “Happy Birthday” or “Happy Retirement”

*The sustainable bands were interesting. They were created from recycling hard plastics (like shampoo bottles). The bottles were upcycled to create the clip and plastic casing that could hold the Princess Medallion. Water bottles were recycled into the fabric of the bands, much like recycled fabrics for sustainable swimwear.

For even more photos of the accessories on board check out the hashtag #OceanMedallion on Instagram. But don't forget about the cute lanyard options too if you want to opt for something simpler!

What happens if you lose your Medallion?

One thing we thought was pretty cool was that your name was imprinted on the Medallion when it was shipped to your home before the cruise. But what happens if you lose it during the cruise?

The good news is that no one can steal your identity because your credit card isn't linked to your actual device. It links to a guest number, which is then linked to a number of places your data is stored. That's a great layer of security. A crew member can disable your lost device when you report it missing.

There is also a photo of each guest attached to their Medallion account. You can upload your own photo to the app before you sail, but they make sure it's your face, and you are easily recognizable with the photo and what you really look like when you first check into the cruise in the port of embarkation.

When a server comes up to you at the pool to ask if you want a drink, for example, they have a list of nearby guests you can potentially be from it pinging nearby Medallions. They look for exactly who you are with the photo list that comes up on their tablet. This worked, every time.

We recommend keeping your Medallion on a lanyard to have it “tied” to you at all times.

However, if you lose yours you can go to Guest Services for them to print you a new one. (Surprisingly, they're able to personalize it onboard too.)

Princess Medallion App 

Download the Princess Medallion app from your home before you leave for vacation. You'll want to set it up before your trip if you've never logged in and created an account. Search “MedallionClass” in the App Store for your iPhone or on Google Play for your Android.

Truth be told, the app worked great before the cruise. But onboard, it didn't always work. You can rely on your actual Medallion (the physical device) to work; that was never an issue. But the app was definitely finicky and didn't work 100% of the time.

When we walked by the Medallion desk on the ship, we overheard guests expressing frustrations with the app not working. That meant they couldn’t see what was going on around the ship on their phones or access their dinner reservations, for example.

If the app isn’t working, you can see dining reservations on the public portal screens located on the ship. If you don't want to “publicly” look them up for some reason, you can also call the ship's Dining number on your stateroom phone.

The daily activities were also printed on a sheet of paper and placed in our cabin each day, which was helpful when the app wasn't working.

Texting in the Medallion/Princess App

Texting to other passengers (or “shipmates”) while onboard was free in the app. This didn't make onboard WiFi free, it just gave us access to a free feature of the app.

To add friends and family to your MedallionClass app, simply go into “Your Shipmates” and hit “Add.”

For WiFi on land when we travel abroad, we use our favorite WiFi hotspot.

Additional Wifi on Princess Ships: MedallionNet

While texting shipmates was free, if you wanted to add wifi on your other devices (like a laptop or tablet) you had to add a Wi-Fi Package that you paid for.

For example, when we sailed a Wi-Fi package for four devices for our 7-day cruise was $139. We used this for a phone each and for Dan's computer and my iPad.

Adding wifi to your device was simple after the initial package was purchased.

You simply went on airplane mode (data off, wifi on). Then you opened an internet browser on the device and entered the date of birth of the person who bought the package or the primary person on the reservation when prompted. Voila!

Other Great Features of the MedallionClass™️ App

We loved that you could see a map of the ship as you were walking around. The ship's big enough not to know your way around the first few days onboard. In particular, it was great for finding restrooms! 

It was also fun to look up the ship's information to find where we were in the sea, like where we were going and the speed or knots we were traveling.

Princess Medallion and Medallion Class FAQs

Princess Medallion Colors: What Do the Different Colors Mean? 

When we noticed that the medallions weren't all the same color, we were curious about what the different colors indicated. So we inquired.

The different colors of the Princess Medallion indicate one of two things: the number of cruises the guest has sailed with Princess Cruises or the number of days at sea they've spent on Princess cruise ships.

A cruise that is 30 days could get someone to a higher loyalty status faster than someone who sails on two cruises that are seven days each.

The Princess Medallion colors are as follows:

• Blue: First-time cruiser
• Gold: Second-time cruiser
• Ruby (red): After completing 3 cruises or 30 cruise days
• Platinum (silver): After completing 5 cruises or 50 cruise days
• Elite (black): After completing 15 cruises or 150 cruise days

What can you use a Princess Medallion for after your Cruise? 

This is the unfortunate aspect of the Medallions that we are not thrilled about as environmentalists: you can't use your Princess Medallion for much after your cruise. (Just like when Disney World MagicBands' batteries stop working, it's just a bracelet.) The sustainability of the Princess Medallions definitely crossed our minds as travelers who are eco-conscious cruisers.

However, there is one use for it that renders it somewhat useful after a cruise: it's magnetic. So you can slap that baby up on your fridge to hold a single picture from the cruise, for instance. (Until you get the chance to create a gorgeous vacation photo album, that is.)

Also, if you buy an accessory, like a wristband/bracelet or a necklace for the Princess Medallion to go into, you can reuse it for the next cruise you go on with the new Medallion that you get for your next cruise.

You get a new Medallion for each Princess Cruise you take because it's linked to that specific sailing.