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Advise how to take a good cruise compass scans and the future of the paper copies


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Every cruise we do which is not the regular Caribbean itinerary I try to take pictures of the CC and send it to this site so it can be shared. The issue is comparing to other CC I can see my CC are well let's say not so high qoulity (not aligned ) at least I try it will be readable. Any advise how to take better copies of the CC ?

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2 hours ago, Traveler said:

Every cruise we do which is not the regulator Caribbean itinerary I try to take pictures of the CC and send it to this site so it can be shared. The issue is comparing to other CC I can see my CC are well let's say not so high qoulity (not aligned ) at least I try it will be readable. Any advise how to take better copies of the CC ?

I actually brought mine home, cut them up, and run them through the scanner; I prefer the cleaner look. But that does mean you have to pack them with you....

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A flatbed scanner at home is going to yield the best results but I often don't feel like dragging all that paper home so I use the Adobe Scan app for scanning on board.  

The trick with Adobe Scan is trying to start with good captures.  Since I travel with a laptop I use my laptop as an easel to hold the cruise compass (with screen dark or off).  This way the distortion is minimized which makes for better potential focus across the document.  The goal is to have the sheets of paper you are scanning as flat as possible during capture.  The Adobe Scan app allows you to modify each corner to eliminate any keystone effect.  Capturing images at the desk with the desk and overhead cabin lights generally results in decent images to start with. 

The only issue I have with Adobe Scan are the relatively large file sizes it produces so then I use my Mac to optimize the PDFs that Adobe Scan creates. 

I created a custom Quartz filter in the Preview app set to 110 DPI with Medium Low compression.  This generally reduces the PDFs to something that can be sent by email.

https://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-reduce-the-size-of-your-pdf-without-compromising-image-quality--cms-21698

At that point I can email them to @Matt on the last day of the cruise and I have a copy for myself so I don't have to drag them home.  

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1 hour ago, mworkman said:

I drag mine home and run them across a flat bed scanner, I'm old school like that ?

Speaking of...i've got my Allure to do. ?

My scanner only do 1 side so it's allot of manual work ? , need to check the scanner at the office (big HP combo printer) 

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I also take them home.  I actually prepare a skinny binder for every cruise that fits in my carry-on (a backpack).  I file excursion receipts, invoices, cruise compasses, etc.  The binder helps organize what would otherwise be a zillion scraps of paper I receive before and during the cruise.  I toss the extra ads before I return home.  How many free raffle tickets to the art show do we need, and how many VIP shopping cards....?

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I lug mine home, then bring them to work and use the double sided scanner on our copier machine.  I have tossed so many over the years that now I wish I had kept, so I'm still keeping our most recent ones. I'm sure I'll end up tossing them all into recycling at some point, especially now that Matt is keeping electronic copies for me.  ?

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I have the feeling that it will not take long for the CC paperwork to be by request only, now that you have the app and other way to get the info from . Maybe it will start as a discount for internet  pakage to whoever give up of getting the hard copyi . I will miss them as there is something special about comming back to the room every evening and find out what are the next day activities but it still allot of waste (even if most of it being recycled)

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1 hour ago, Traveler said:

I have the feeling that it will not take long for the CC paperwork to be by request only, now that you have the app and other way to get the info from . Maybe it will start as a discount for internet  pakage to whoever give up of getting the hard copyi . I will miss them as there is something special about comming back to the room every evening and find out what are the next day activities but it still allot of waste (even if most of it being recycled)

I think it will be a while.  Many people like to disconnect on a cruise and lock the phone in the safe.  The numbers of such individuals require paper CC.  Maybe 10 or 15 years from now the numbers will shift but it's going to take a while to eliminate the paper or they'll face a revolt.

And that's assuming they get the app to properly represent the actual activities on the ship which could be 50 years away.

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1 hour ago, twangster said:

And that's assuming they get the app to properly represent the actual activities on the ship which could be 50 years away.

More like never  , by that time the technology will be to transfer the information directly to our heads , not sure I would like to give RCL to mess with my head (although they already trying)

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14 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

I also take them home.  I actually prepare a skinny binder for every cruise that fits in my carry-on (a backpack).  I file excursion receipts, invoices, cruise compasses, etc.  The binder helps organize what would otherwise be a zillion scraps of paper I receive before and during the cruise.  I toss the extra ads before I return home.  How many free raffle tickets to the art show do we need, and how many VIP shopping cards....?

I bring mine home and toss the gazillions of ads too!  Jane

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11 hours ago, twangster said:

I think it will be a while.  Many people like to disconnect on a cruise and lock the phone in the safe.  The numbers of such individuals require paper CC.  Maybe 10 or 15 years from now the numbers will shift but it's going to take a while to eliminate the paper or they'll face a revolt.

And that's assuming they get the app to properly represent the actual activities on the ship which could be 50 years away.

I have mostly given up on the app.  The chat feature wasn’t great on allure and the activities listed are either wrong or incomplete.  Give me the old school compass anyway.  I am going to make sure I bring a highlighter though next time!! Jane

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46 minutes ago, mom2mybugs said:

I have mostly given up on the app.  The chat feature wasn’t great on allure and the activities listed are either wrong or incomplete.  Give me the old school compass anyway.  I am going to make sure I bring a highlighter though next time!! Jane

There seems to be an update about every 2-3 weeks so maybe it'll be better your next time around.  It'll be in Beta mode for awhile so I'll give you update in a couple of months

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It would be great if the apps were correct and we could mark those for what we wanted to do and get an alert so we don't miss an activity but they aren't.  I would prefer to avoid the paper but many people would be lost without them and since there is no good alternative we probably would all be lost.

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14 hours ago, Mr. Candyman said:

There seems to be an update about every 2-3 weeks so maybe it'll be better your next time around.  It'll be in Beta mode for awhile so I'll give you update in a couple of months

 

20 minutes ago, Hoski said:

It would be great if the apps were correct and we could mark those for what we wanted to do and get an alert so we don't miss an activity but they aren't.  I would prefer to avoid the paper but many people would be lost without them and since there is no good alternative we probably would all be lost.

Are you talking about the IQ app? I was on Symphony last month with the Royal App (not IQ) and didn't see a cruise compass anywhere. Did I miss it or is it just on IQ?

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3 minutes ago, Skid said:

Are you talking about the IQ app? I was on Symphony last month with the Royal App (not IQ) and didn't see a cruise compass anywhere. Did I miss it or is it just on IQ?

There isn't a cruise compass in the app but there is a schedule of activities which is the closest thing.  You can mark activities in there and add them to your calendar in the app.  When we were on Harmony they were stressing using the app over the printed compasses because last minute changes would be reflected in the app.  There was even someone on board that was in charge of updating all of the daily activities in the app.  

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4 hours ago, Skid said:

I posted this about the app previously, but with all the new members thought it may be worth posting again here.

royalcaribbeanapp.thumb.jpg.8fd3bea7c1a7e6f8ec6c4a8a8855c24e.jpg

What puzzle me is how the expedite boarding and online check in is determine by the ship ? I thought its more about port ability

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5 hours ago, Traveler said:

What puzzle me is how the expedite boarding and online check in is determine by the ship ? I thought its more about port ability

We all like to think of Royal as one big company which it is legally and from a corporate structure.  From a technology perspective not so much.

Within the hospitality industry (think hotels) there are a number of technology platforms available and it's not unusual for smaller hotel chains to have great discrepancy across it's properties.  While Royal is a big billion dollar business it's considered small within the hospitality industry with only 26 properties (ships).  Previously those were independent with no need for commonality between ships.  Each was allowed to develop and grow independent of each other.

Consider any large hotel chain.   They often have hundreds or thousands of properties.  To scale to that point requires each being on the same technology platform.  That wasn't a requirement at Royal until they recently desired to unify all properties under a single app.  To do so requires bringing each property to a common technology platform and version.  Doing so is like changing an engine "while the plane is in the air" which is is a pretty huge undertaking.   

What we experience for now is some variation between properties until they can change all the onboard systems and bring each ship to identical platforms and versions or at least close enough that middleware and APIs can do the translation.  

The idea of distributing cards on the ship is a step in that process because it removes the contractors woking in the terminal from the distribution of SeaPass cards.  Currently when you check in at a terminal there are very few Royal full time employees on hand, you deal mostly with subcontractors.  This step drives towards standardization across the fleet which is part of a bigger picture of other changes like expedited check in which requires that ship computer systems recognize the barcode on a print at home SetSail pass where before each ship could have a unique barcode system as a closed and isolated organization.  

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16 hours ago, Skid said:

Hmmm...sync the app? How does one do that? (We're on Android.)

As is my wife.  What my wife discovered is that she had to delete the App she downloaded at home then re-load it on the ship.  That is what I mean by synchronize with the ship. Then it worked fine, except that for future cruises the schedule is always a work in progress.  Current cruise was fine.

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3 hours ago, ChessE4 said:

As is my wife.  What my wife discovered is that she had to delete the App she downloaded at home then re-load it on the ship.  That is what I mean by synchronize with the ship. Then it worked fine, except that for future cruises the schedule is always a work in progress.  Current cruise was fine.

I was thinking that may have to be done but didn't want to throw it out there not having experiencing it myself....thanks for the verification.

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2 hours ago, JennyB said:

what is this? 

If you go into the Notes application and start a new note there a bunch of options across the bottom of the screen. If you tap the + in a circle you will see the option to scan documents. You size the documents and scan with the camera. Once you are happy with your scan you can save the document.

I tend to do this using my iPad rather than my phone as it is easier to see on a larger screen.

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On 7/1/2019 at 2:54 PM, twangster said:

We all like to think of Royal as one big company which it is legally and from a corporate structure.  From a technology perspective not so much.

Within the hospitality industry (think hotels) there are a number of technology platforms available and it's not unusual for smaller hotel chains to have great discrepancy across it's properties.  While Royal is a big billion dollar business it's considered small within the hospitality industry with only 26 properties (ships).  Previously those were independent with no need for commonality between ships.  Each was allowed to develop and grow independent of each other.

Consider any large hotel chain.   They often have hundreds or thousands of properties.  To scale to that point requires each being on the same technology platform.  That wasn't a requirement at Royal until they recently desired to unify all properties under a single app.  To do so requires bringing each property to a common technology platform and version.  Doing so is like changing an engine "while the plane is in the air" which is is a pretty huge undertaking.   

What we experience for now is some variation between properties until they can change all the onboard systems and bring each ship to identical platforms and versions or at least close enough that middleware and APIs can do the translation.  

The idea of distributing cards on the ship is a step in that process because it removes the contractors woking in the terminal from the distribution of SeaPass cards.  Currently when you check in at a terminal there are very few Royal full time employees on hand, you deal mostly with subcontractors.  This step drives towards standardization across the fleet which is part of a bigger picture of other changes like expedited check in which requires that ship computer systems recognize the barcode on a print at home SetSail pass where before each ship could have a unique barcode system as a closed and isolated organization.  

Yes , all true , but I Think the way RCL did the Business and system migration and the Business continuity plan is very wrong .

Although I involved in many big transformation projects I will give a an example for how such things should be done from the same industry you talked about - hotels.

Two  years ago SPG (Sheraton) and Marriott announced on a merge , each one of the the chain has at least 10 type of hotels , different loyalty program and different system . They decided  to continue to work with the two systems and programs until they are ready. As I was member in the two programs I was waiting to see how they are going to do it . a year ago I got email to combined the two numbers I had and get a new number , it took me 1 minute to do so. after a week or so they send us an email that the system might be down for the merge process and it might take one day . Once the merge was down I could do the same activities as I done before , all my points from SPG and Marriott were combined , nothing was missing , I could see my past stays in both chain , my status was kept and it was almost without any issues  , I just now have a new number 
The SPG application I used worked with the Marriott information until they were ready with a new application , again  it had all what i had in the past + more.

I think the main differences was  in the approach , while RCL decided to do the upgrade in phases and release whatever is ready (Dev OPS/agile  approach)  the other company decide to wait until 99% of the featured they had in the past going to be ready also in the new merge system , I believe its the right approach for such big transformation projects  

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2 hours ago, Traveler said:

Yes , all true , but I Think the way RCL did the Business and system migration and the Business continuity plan is very wrong .

Although I involved in many big transformation projects I will give a an example for how such things should be done from the same industry you talked about - hotels.

Two  years ago SPG (Sheraton) and Marriott announced on a merge , each one of the the chain has at least 10 type of hotels , different loyalty program and different system . They decided  to continue to work with the two systems and programs until they are ready. As I was member in the two programs I was waiting to see how they are going to do it . a year ago I got email to combined the two numbers I had and get a new number , it took me 1 minute to do so. after a week or so they send us an email that the system might be down for the merge process and it might take one day . Once the merge was down I could do the same activities as I done before , all my points from SPG and Marriott were combined , nothing was missing , I could see my past stays in both chain , my status was kept and it was almost without any issues  , I just now have a new number 
The SPG application I used worked with the Marriott information until they were ready with a new application , again  it had all what i had in the past + more.

I think the main differences was  in the approach , while RCL decided to do the upgrade in phases and release whatever is ready (Dev OPS/agile  approach)  the other company decide to wait until 99% of the featured they had in the past going to be ready also in the new merge system , I believe its the right approach for such big transformation projects  

Royal uses an open source database behind the front end that we see.  While they migrated the front end public website, the monster database is another matter.  Lipstick on a pig.

I've mentioned it before but I suspect Royal's IT organization is underfunded.  Their executives talk up technology on ships yet don't want to spend any money on their IT organization or IT infrastructure.  

I imagine a weekly meeting with an executive goes like this:

Executive - I've got this great idea where our website will let our guests do all these wonderful things

IT - Given the state of our archaic systems we'll need to upgrade the 10 disparate platforms that should've been upgraded 15 years ago and consolidate them into a single modern platform.   It will cost $1M and we'll need to hire 5 developers.

CFO - We can't afford that.  Go ahead and do it but don't spend any money.

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36 minutes ago, twangster said:

Royal uses an open source database behind the front end

MYSQL ?Hbase  (although its new  and the Hadoop distribution is not free)? Anyway I can understand the nightmare if they do not have enough budget to do it right... 

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

I imagine a weekly meeting with an executive goes like this:

Executive - I've got this great idea where our website will let our guests do all these wonderful things

IT - Given the state of our archaic systems we'll need to upgrade the 10 disparate platforms that should've been upgraded 15 years ago and consolidate them into a single modern platform.   It will cost $1M and we'll need to hire 5 developers.

CFO - We can't afford that.  Go ahead and do it but don't spend any money.

I am a church secretary at a church I do not attend, I attend a different one in town... I was reading this I thought, "THIS is how this church works!"  LOL

But seriously, one of my jobs is website/social media development and implementation. And the RC IT DRIVES.ME.NUTS.  It would be great if RC could work kind of like the tithes and offering of a church.  Like, I can choose a portion of my offering to go to say, high school church camp, or the building fund.  RC should give us the option that a portion of our cruise fare goes toward the new IT fund. 

LOL.  Just a thought.

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

After many tries I still do not have SPG combined with Marriott.  It’s not a huge problem for me since I had a very meager SPG holding.  Marriott, on the other hand is my “big boy” so as long as it stays updated, I am happy.

I guess I was lucky ? , I had my major point and live time status at SPG , first they asked me to merge the accounts so I did and got new number which I used now , the only issue I have is when my TA booking the hotels using the old number (although  I have updated it few times) so I need to change it manually by calling them 

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