This will make you roll your eyes...why is TV so bad on cruise ships?

[CruisinShips]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

You are talking about one cruise line.  Other lines have different policies and quite a few have no restrictions on streaming.  Of course the quality of Internet depends on the ships bandwidth,  location, atmospheric conditions, etc.  But some of us are happy to get away from TV and constantly being connected.   I should add that I am currently in the middle of the Atlantic (on our way to Europe) and our ship gives unlimited free Internet (one device per person).

 

Hank

FYI, this post was originally made in the HAL forum and was moved as a general question...that's probably why.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Even though I regularly spend time in the cabin, I've never turned on the tv, except for the bowcam channel.

 

The Bow Cam and, if available, the Stern Cam channels are my most frequently watched channels.  

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

Even though I regularly spend time in the cabin, I've never turned on the tv, except for the bowcam channel.

 

The Bow Cam and, if available, the Stern Cam channels are my most frequently watched channels.  

[Donald]

There are only 2 companies in the world that supply more or less current run films to airlines and cruise lines. If you fly to go on a cruise, the odds are very high that the airplane will be showing the same films the ship will be showing.

[herbanrenewal]

I know this sounds crazy, but the sound volume at most shows is painful - i really wish they would have a closed circuit channel that shows live productions. Then I could control the volume and enjoy the show. 

 

[luckyinpa]

a few years ago on princess i was impressed by the on demand offerings. stuff like HGTV shows and other cable shows. it was the best selection of free tv ive seen. NCL has all the news stations then 3 tv/movies channels. but the tv channel is bizarre. totally commercial free. but if the show is 23 minutes then you have 7 minutes of black screen. why cant they start the other show right away lol.  also i was in haven so PPV was free but only 23 movies. not a good choice.  

 

on royal ive found it better than NCL but not as good as princess. i pay a lot for my suite and love to be in it so yes tv is a fun part of my day. sometimes you just like room service and good tv after a day on land all worn out

[Nebr.cruiser]

We both like to watch tv in our rooms during down times, more so my husband as he isn't a reader. We don't go, go, go from morning to night and like relaxing by reading or watching tv.

 

Some ships have very, very poor selections, yep the loop of, for instance, HGTV.  And pay options are often really expensive.

 

We just got back from the Discover Princess inaugural cruise.  There were some problems with this cruise, and cutbacks, but the stateroom tv was quite good, aside from our remote working very slowly.

 

There were quite a few free channels--I didn't even see any pay options--with categories like drama mo, comedies, tv series, etc.  Yes, the movies were not the latest, although some from the last few months.  But there was a wide variety.

 

On the last day of the cruise even more categories appeared, such as romance, thrillers, etc.  

 

Movies Under the Stars, though, was quite the dud with for the most part older or really old (Sound of Music) or  movise I had never heard of..  Also evening movies were scheduled so that it was impossible to go to a movie, eat and go to a show in the theater.  For the first time ever we did not watch MUTS.  Also partly because the sea days were quite cool and evenings really cool.

[Nebr.cruiser]

I will say that if you want to watch anything but soccer for sports on Princess, good luck.  I think they had a BB playoff game on MUTS one afternoon and reran the games in the stateroom later.

[Z'Loth]

On 3/28/2022 at 10:34 AM, CruisinShips said:

I smile as I type this, because I know it's a ridiculous comment and the first response (as it should be) will be that one shouldn't be watching TV on a ship (and the second will be that the cruise line probably doesn't want you watching too much either).  But I am the only one who can't stand that aside from the few news or sports channels, and the movies, much of what one sees on a cruise ship is some sitcoms and other shows that seem to be shown on a loop?

 

Part of this has to do with the fact that the programming has to be satellite delivered, negotiating the program provider at the commercial rates (based upon occupancy), and geographical rights. Let me give you a few examples that, grant you, are several years old.

 

In 2017, I was on a flight on United Airlines from Houston, Texas to San Jose, Costa Rica.  While the plane had support for DirecTV programming, we were told that once we left the United States (about 30 minutes into the flight), the programming would not be available. Going even further back, in 2005, I was on a Mexican Riviera cruise to Acapulco, and the programming was delivered via DirecTV Latin America. I remember watching the Cartoon Channel during that cruise, and it was the Latin American version with the alternative English audio selected as the network-based graphics were in Spanish, the title of Batman Beyond was actually Batman of the Future, they had the Latin America broadcast rights to The Real Ghostbusters, and a soccer-based anime was entirely in Spanish as no English dub was produced. (Hey, don't knock me.... it was one of three channels available that wasn't the news)

 

While streaming is now commonplace, don't expect to be able to steam your favorite channels while on the cruise due to the extremely limited bandwidth available. You probably want to consult your streaming provider's website on instructions on downloading your movies or shows to your smartphone for later viewing on the flight or in the cabin.

[ldubs]

I hate that scrolling programming guide on cruise ship TVs.   I guess that would be Celebrity and/or RCI.   Maybe others too, IDK.   

[reeinaz]

I have spent many cruise hours watching a competition moonshine making show. There's another show where people recount their encounters with creatures like chupacabras and yetis. These shows have become part of my cruising traditions. lol

[CruisinShips]

17 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

I have spent many cruise hours watching a competition moonshine making show. There's another show where people recount their encounters with creatures like chupacabras and yetis. These shows have become part of my cruising traditions. lol

LOL.  Where else would a 60 year old man become familiar with the show "Say yes to the dress" or "Two Broke Girls"?

[Intent2smile]

On 4/19/2022 at 12:25 PM, reeinaz said:

I have spent many cruise hours watching a competition moonshine making show. There's another show where people recount their encounters with creatures like chupacabras and yetis. These shows have become part of my cruising traditions. lol

Our cruising tv tradition is American Gladiators.  It is usually on a lot and does seem to repeat the same episode

[Blondilu]

My one sister always turns on the TV during any down time.  In the morning waiting to leave for the day, after being out at port or popping in and out of the cabin on sea days.  There'd be the same movie on and we would watch part of it for a few minutes before heading off to where ever.  Took an entire cruise but I finally saw all of Bridge of Spies, albeit in pieces and not in any particular order.  

[csoud68]

The original poster here would be lambasted in the "Carnival " forum for even discussing this..

[CruisinShips]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:11 AM, csoud68 said:

The original poster here would be lambasted in the "Carnival " forum for even discussing this..

LOL. I'd expect to see something like this:  "Who has time to watch TV???  You should be living at a buffet and/or eating and drinking until you puke/pass out!"