does HAL do a good job of covering the ncaa men's basketball tournament in any of their lounges?

[retired dude]

We are cruising during the 2022 ncaa men's basketball tourney next march and april and did not know if those games will be broadcast in any of the lounges or in the cabins in the rotterdam???Means alot and if they don't we will consider cancelling our cruises. thanks so much for any help on this ?.

[Hlitner]

Scratching head and trying to think back :).  I do not think that HAL does a good job covering sports.  If we are on a Princess ship they will often put those big games on the huge MUTS screen on-deck where they will also put up some NFL games.  Princess will sometimes use one of their lounges for major sporting events.  Some other lines actually have something akin to a sports bar where they will show more then one event at a time (we have seen this on MSC and some Celebrity cruises).  But HAL would likely put a BBC Documentary on screen.  MSC would also be more likely to have some kind of football (soccer for we Americans) match rather then March madness.

 

If March madness is that important to your being it is certainly not the best time to be on any cruise.  One certainty is you will not know the answer to your question until you are actually on the cruise and then it will be too late.  

[VMax1700]

If the ship is located in the Caribbean then I do remember basketball on the TV.  College stuff as far as I remember.  Only sport I remember being shown in a bar or on the big screen at the Lido Pool was Superbowl.

[kazu]

We happily got soccer put on when we were on the Prinsendam for the fans.  It wasn’t available on TV - you had to go to the Java Bar to see it and it was packed 🙂 

 

I recall some kind of basketball on one cruise but, not being a fan sorry, I can’t remember what it was.

[FRANKIEDNYC]

Been on several cruises during tournament time, being a big fan of college basketball I always looked for them.  HAL actually covered the tournament pretty well but being out at sea games sometimes we're fading in and out and on most occasions the games were broadcast live and sometimes this was any time day or night depending where the ship was.  

[san diego spartan]

The NCAA men's tournament is broadcast on CBS and their affiliate channels.  I would see if someone knows what channels are available in the cabin.  We usually do not cruise during large sporting events like that for the same reason you are concerned.  We have been on cruises during the NFL playoffs and Superbowl and it seems the ships were always able to get those games, but never during March Madness.  I'm not sure CBS, etc are offered channels on HAL.

 

I agree with some other comments that other cruise lines might be more likely to have the games shown in some lounges or viewing events.  I know we were on HAL in April and May 2019 and there were NBA games in the lounges (especially remember the casino bar and the lounge off the casino bar).  

 

I think ESPN and ESPN2 are the sports channels offered.  You might want to post a question to one of the live threads going on now from people on board and ask them what TV channels are available. 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by san diego spartan

[msmayor]

We've cruised multiple years during March Madness, and never had what I would consider 'good' coverage of the tournament.  You are at the mercy of whatever game the satellite feed channel is allowed to show.

 

Game...as in singular. 

 

We never got more than one, and it usually wasn't one of the marquee games.  

[The-Inside-Cabin]

If you are in North American waters - then probably as the satellites are usually pretty good.   Elsewhere in the world, I wouldn't plan on it.    If watching the games are  as important as you say, I would cancel the cruise and go a different time.   Not worth the aggravation.

[syesmar]

I have heard how slow the internet connection aboard HAL is, or I would recommend buying a package that allows streaming and downloading the “March Madness Live” app and CBS Sports. Also, if you have a TV provider that includes CBS, TruTV, TBS, etc., their app should also carry them. I believe Paramount+ has them all, as well.

 

I’ve been aboard during the NBA Finals and the games were carried, as were several Olympics while aboard. 

 

Good Luck!

Edited October 2, 2021 by syesmar

[dockman]

hit and miss at best

[BruceMuzz]

It helps to understand the legalistics and logistics of Satellite Television for ships.

Cruise ships are technically able to capture many television broadcasts through the air, but if they re-broadcast them to paying passengers, they are breaking the law.

They must receive broadcast television programming via satellite to remain legal. Receiving this satellite programming requires a very expensive license to unscramble the signal and re-broadcast it to paying passengers.

The license to re-broadcast the 3-hour Superbowl game, for example, will cost each ship about $40,000 this year.

Much of this is also dependent on the ship's location when these sports events happen. If you are sailing in Asia, for example, you may be surprised to know that many Asians have little to zero interest in American Sports games. Most satellites over Asia do not even offer the possibility to watch American sports - at any price.

You must also consider the technical aspects of watching live streaming sports on the ship's WIFI system. Some of the newer and more advanced cruise lines have quite fast connections that make it possible to live stream movies and sports via internet. Unfortunately, HAL is not one of those new and more advanced lines.