Is this Creepy?
Let me tell you about a recent experience I had on a cruise ship... You tell me if it's creepy or not... I honestly can't decide.
We were on a 7-day cruise from L.A. to Mexico a couple weeks ago on Princess Cruise Line's Royal Princess. I love cruising. Unpack once. Take me to different places (even though I hardly ever get off the boat), feed me well, and entertain me the entire time. I know it's not for everyone but I love it.
On Princess Cruises, they use something called the "Medallion", which is a wearable, coin-sized device (approx. 1-inch diameter) that replaces traditional cruise cards. It uses Bluetooth and NFC technology to unlock stateroom doors automatically, make onboard purchases, speed up embarkation, and locate friends or family on board. For the most part, it's great. You get on and off the boat quickly using them, open your door (without swiping anything, the NFC unlocks your door). It kind of sucks that they charge you to ship to your home before your trip (or you can pick them up at the port). I do love just walking down the hallway to my door and walking into my stateroom without doing anything. It's also great not to have to carry a wallet for the week. I put it in the safe at the beginning of the trip and retrieve it when I'm packing to leave. It works in the shops. The spa. The bars. Pretty much everywhere on the ship.
One thing I didn't like on this cruise was the dining reservations. They changed the format of Dining Room dining, which was different from what we've had in the past. So we couldn't get a reservation anywhere. You use their app to reserve a table, and even though our package included a few specialty dinners, we couldn't even use them, because there were NO reservations.
We were able to finally make a reservation at the Crown Grill (Princess's premier steakhouse) after stalking them for a cancellation. We were looking forward to it. It just didn't live up to the expectations. This is going to sound like I'm bitching, which I am a little bit, but also it's not supposed to be like this. And usually it's not. We've never had an experience like this on a cruise ship. Ever. This was our 8th or 9th cruise with Princess.
It started with waiting to sit down at our table. We had a 7:15 reservation. Might have been 7:20 but that's splitting hairs. We stood in line and waited for acknowledgment from the hostess. She would clear a table. Seat the next party. And repeat the process. We were roughly 3rd in line and it grew steady behind us. We didn't get seated until after 7:50. Which is a long time to stand in front of the crowded bar area. Without a drink. She could have acknowledged the parties and checked them in. Had them wait in the lounge and let them know when their table was ready.
Ok, so finally we're being seated by the Maître D'. He feigned an apology but was really snarky and rude. I'm sure I was giving off vibes too, as I was annoyed by it all. Ok fine. Let's just sit down and enjoy ourselves. Then Lynn and I order our wine. We're on the drink package so we both order the house Pinot Noir. After a while it hits the table. See the picture below...
Here's the caption I wrote on Insta: "Same wine. Different glasses. I find this annoying. Our experience on the #Royal @princesscruises #crowngrillsteakhouse has been very weird."
Yeah I tagged Princess Cruises. I wanted them to know it was wonky. You've gotta understand that this is their premier steakhouse that costs $50/person on top of everything else. It's supposed to be high end. And not only were we served the same wine in two different glasses, but they weren't even the correct glasses for red wine.
Meanwhile, there's a VIP table directly in my view. They've had several employees come touch the table. They've got a bottle of red wine with big beautiful wine glasses. They're yukking it up with the staff. Hell, one of them even pulled up a chair and sat with them. (They were wearing a nametag, that's the only reason I know it was a staff member.) This whole thing just set me off. It was the salt in my wound.
I was finally able to flag the Maître D' and ask him for the proper wine glasses. Of course, he made good, and we eventually drank out of the right glasses. We had some other problems/issues during the meal but I won't go into detail here, that's not the point.
But here's where it gets creepy/weird. The next night we checked into dinner in the dining room with our Medallion. We didn't have a reservation. We wait a minute and get seated at a table with another family. (Sometimes they seat you with other people if a small table is not available. No big deal.) I sit down in my seat, and a woman scares the crap out of me from behind, touching my shoulder: "Are you Mr. Garcia?"
Now I know she knows who I am, she can see my picture in the system. Yeah I'm wearing an eye patch and driving a pirate ship in the picture, but I'm undoubtedly me. I say "Yes, I am. How can I help you?"
She says "I understand you had an unfortunate experience in the steakhouse last evening..." And I say "Yes, we did..." and tell her everything I mentioned above, including the bits I left out here. She brought us a bottle of Rosé to make up for it as well as tickets to the wine tasting the next day... The family at the table with us must've thought we were crazy. In hindsite, I should have asked for my money back. I regret not asking for a refund. The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth.
So is this creepy? I don't know... Of course they can track you down. They know where you are (for the most part) 24/7 on the ship with the Medallion system. Whether or not that's right or wrong isn't for me to tell you.
The thing about it is this: it's what they do with all that data that scares me the most. I mean, they know that I didn't go to any shows this trip, but I attended every art auction. They know how much I drank everyday. How much time I spent at the buffet (YOU'VE BEEN HERE FOUR HOURS!!) So maybe they start marketing to me based on that with an artist cruise. Or the Everything is Deep Fried Cruise. (Man I wish that existed.) I'm no luddite and technology doesn't scare me. But this just felt weird to happen in real life. She was looking for me, and when I showed up on her radar, she intercepted me.
Reflecting on the whole situation, I guess it could have gone differently. (In either direction, either really bad or really, really well.) I think they missed an opportunity to have a delightful customer service interaction here. They're on the right track, I just think it's not quite where they think it is. The tools are being put into place, but we haven't quite figured out how to use their full capacity yet. It's not going to put me off cruising, but maybe we'll try another cruise line next time and see if they can do better.