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Currently onboard Royal Princess with Super Bowl only on MUTS & Vista Lounge

HopSingh

By HopSingh,
in Princess Cruises

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HopSingh

HopSingh

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I'm currently onboard the Royal Princess and the ONLY place you can see the Super Bowl is on deck with MUTS or in the Vista Lounge. Surprised that it was initially reported on the Princess Patter that it would also be shown in your cabin. Unfortunately, it's not in the cabin and as I'm sure you can imagine there are NO seats anywhere. Vista Lounge packed an hour prior to game start so we went up to MUTS where the chair hogs are in full effect, lots of people ticked off because the lack of seating and many people are wandering around looking for a spot to watch. This is really a bad way to promote your bar business. Has anyone else experienced this? I've never been onboard where you were forced to only see the game in 2 places that has chair hogs but no enforcement.

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pablo222

pablo222

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This is really a bad way to promote your bar business.

 

Not as bad as having it on in-cabin.

 

If princess were to add another venue, say the theater,

many sports haters on the ship would come here and

complain that the only entertainment available was

sports.

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riclop

riclop

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I'm currently onboard the Royal Princess and the ONLY place you can see the Super Bowl is on deck with MUTS or in the Vista Lounge. Surprised that it was initially reported on the Princess Patter that it would also be shown in your cabin. Unfortunately, it's not in the cabin and as I'm sure you can imagine there are NO seats anywhere. Vista Lounge packed an hour prior to game start so we went up to MUTS where the chair hogs are in full effect, lots of people ticked off because the lack of seating and many people are wandering around looking for a spot to watch. This is really a bad way to promote your bar business. Has anyone else experienced this? I've never been onboard where you were forced to only see the game in 2 places that has chair hogs but no enforcement.

 

It's all about the $$$$. They make tons of money selling you drinks.

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Loonbeam

Loonbeam

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It's a licensing thing and not just $$$. The superbowl operates on a separate contract. The playoff games, being multi-network, are less restrictive.

 

It also depends on itinerary, where the ship is means different satellite systems, with different NFL contracts. So a ship in the Med may have license for in-room, but one in the Caribbean may not (didn't look where the Royal is right now)

 

The staff on board has NO say in the matter and cannot just add it to another venue.. They should have been vigilant for chair hogs tho, especially with the Royal pool area.

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Cuizer2

Cuizer2

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I'm currently onboard the Royal Princess and the ONLY place you can see the Super Bowl is on deck with MUTS or in the Vista Lounge. Surprised that it was initially reported on the Princess Patter that it would also be shown in your cabin. Unfortunately, it's not in the cabin and as I'm sure you can imagine there are NO seats anywhere. Vista Lounge packed an hour prior to game start so we went up to MUTS where the chair hogs are in full effect, lots of people ticked off because the lack of seating and many people are wandering around looking for a spot to watch. This is really a bad way to promote your bar business. Has anyone else experienced this? I've never been onboard where you were forced to only see the game in 2 places that has chair hogs but no enforcement.

 

Similar to what happened to me one year ago. I will never book a Princess cruise that includes Super Bowl Sunday again.

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jrzebird

jrzebird

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Why do people always say things like, "it's all about the money" or "All Princess is interested in is the profit", or some such thing. Of course it's about the money. This isn't a philanthropic organization, it's a business, even if we do enjoy it. Sometimes I think that we lose sight of this fact.

 

I also have been on ships when they apologize because they cannot show something in the cabins because of licensing. Last year we were on the Regal and a sporting event was on (World Series, I believe) and they were only supposed to be showing it in MUTS and the Vista Lounge. But, something happened and they got clearance and were able to broadcast it into the cabins. I think it had something to do with the fact that it rained almost the entire 10 days and nights, but I'm not positive.

 

Maureen

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tip

tip

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Why do people always say things like, "it's all about the money" or "All Princess is interested in is the profit", or some such thing. Of course it's about the money. This isn't a philanthropic organization, it's a business, even if we do enjoy it. Sometimes I think that we lose sight of this fact...Maureen

 

Maybe it is because some of us are accustomed to the fact that not all businesses are in it for corporate greed. Some are more customer focused.

 

And of yes, the Patriots victory was sweet!

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HopSingh

HopSingh

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Thank you all for the responses. Yes, I was able to see the game standing on deck 18 through the middle of the 3rd quarter. My husband was able to find some side tables that we used as seats through the middle of the 3rd through the beginning of the 4th quarter when someone nicely offered us their seats as they were getting up to leave.

 

I was being sarcastic with the "promote your bar business" comment. I guess that didn't translate well in the post:confused:. My initial thought at the time of posting was that Princess wanted to limit the places that the game was viewed in order to promote the bar service.

 

The half time show was broadcast but we did not get to see any of the commercials that were seen by those of you watching from home.

 

Your responses about the licensing issue was what I was wanting to know about with the game not broadcast in the cabins. I appreciate the knowledge and background information about licensing and the costs associated with it as well as satellite restrictions. It definitely makes sense to me.

 

I think that Princess could save themselves a host of angry Super Bowl viewers (or any popular sport with licensing issues that make it cost prohibitive to show in the cabins) in the future by just communicating this out so that people can plan their day, excursions, dinner, etc. around the fact that the game would only be broadcast on MUTS and in the Vista lounge.

 

I would never expect nor would I want to see the Super Bowl shown in the Princess theater, so that thought never entered my mind. My thought initially, as well as others, was that it was going to be broadcast in the cabins. There was a group that was on B2B that mentioned the playoff games being seen in the cabins and also could not understand why the Super Bowl was different. Since that is not feasible, communicating that prior to the big game could definitely help those people with limited abilities to plan their day accordingly.

 

Once it was posted here that licensing was most likely the reason behind the game not being available in the cabins, I was definitely OK with that. Princess never posted it would be seen on the cabin televisions but they never said it wasn't going to be broadcast in the cabins either.

 

I just felt bad for the older passengers with definite health issues that could not stand up for any length of time to watch the game or that needed a cane or walker to move around and could not find a seat. Sorry, it's the nurse in me! I can't help it.

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Loonbeam

Loonbeam

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It most certainly does...

 

Oversimplifying but there are generally three types of licenses for any event, public display, venue display and distribution.

 

Public display is what you need for a large venue that does not serve food as a primary purpose (typically capacity of 100+, may vary). Typically 1 large screen and maybe some smaller screens are permitted to show the item in the same contiguous space and pre-venue areas (like the lobby to a theater)

 

Venue display is for a bar or restaurant type environment or smaller public venue and includes display on multiple screens within the same venue environment (think sports bar)

 

Distribution allows for display on individual devices in a larger structure (like a resort or hotel for an event not included on broadcast TV). Typically this is included with the prior 2 licenses but it does not have to be. Legally, this is part of the broadcast contracts the networks pay which is how you can watch it at home.

 

Since ships operate on a purely satellite basis, there are no general broadcast contracts to layer on, so everything is on a per event basis and it will depend partially on what the SatCo has purchased from the media producer for resale. If SatCo doesn't buy Distribution licenses then the ship cannot get them (and most sat distrib systems are set up with DRM nowadays)

 

I don't think the licensing has anything to do with it being on cabin TV's. IMO
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HopSingh

HopSingh

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Of more importance to the rest of the world, are Princess showing the Six Nations rugby internationals?

 

 

Rugby was heavily advertised the entire 10 days onboard the Royal Princess ..... Rugby, Soccer and Cricket championship games were all heavily advertised to the point that I don't miss watching ESPN or ESPN2 onboard because they both ran the same commercials. However, a warning here, they ran the Super Bowl game time commercials too which led me (and others) to believe it was going to be seen in the cabin. When it switched over to the world's strongest man contest it was a huge panic from many onboard that quickly ran to the Vista Lounge and MUTS area to be able to watch the Super Bowl. So, it may or may not be the same situation. Best to contact someone onboard the ship that could answer your question because anything here would be speculative at best.

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