PC Terminal 3 - cable news playing on TV upon return (not a political post - PLEASE!)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Right after getting off the Liberty and along the long straight corridor in the terminal, there was an overhead TV yesterday morning playing FOX News (it matters not to me if it was FOX or MSNBC - they all have fans). Carnival obviously felt it necessary on the ships, some years back, to remove those channels in favor of vanilla programming. In the terminal it was likely a decision made by one of the terminal (Carnival) staff, and not by the Port Authority. 

 

I can understand at the gym I go to, that many of the TV's around the place are tuned to news or sports channels - and people can change the channel if they please (I just keep my earbuds in). I cringe a bit in settings like waiting rooms/areas when they've chosen to play news channels for their captive audience. Not that I'd rather see some promotional loop running - but how about nature scenes/videos and the like?

 

Businesses would be smart to play the fence, or avoid this minefield altogether. I see local work trucks sometimes with blatant political statements, and just wonder if they think that everyone feels like they do, of if they're aware that they're alienating some potential customers.

 

So - Carnival - perhaps some protocol needs to be put in place as to what is played on the terminal TV's (or enforce protocols which may already in place). I was not about to bring it up to them yesterday, I was just ready to get through the line and out of there!

 

Tom

 

[mz-s]

much ado about nothing.

[ColeThornton]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

much ado about nothing.

 

To say the least.   I doubt most people would even give it a second thought.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

4 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

 

To say the least.   I doubt most people would even give it a second thought.

 

Apparently, I'm not most people... 😉

 

Oh, BTW - we had a great time onboard, even with 1,000 more guests than the prior weekend.

 

Tom

[Elaine5715]

There was a second TV playing CNN.

[Elaine5715]

17 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Right after getting off the Liberty and along the long straight corridor in the terminal, there was an overhead TV yesterday morning playing FOX News (it matters not to me if it was FOX or MSNBC - they all have fans). Carnival obviously felt it necessary on the ships, some years back, to remove those channels in favor of vanilla programming. In the terminal it was likely a decision made by one of the terminal (Carnival) staff, and not by the Port Authority. 

 

I can understand at the gym I go to, that many of the TV's around the place are tuned to news or sports channels - and people can change the channel if they please (I just keep my earbuds in). I cringe a bit in settings like waiting rooms/areas when they've chosen to play news channels for their captive audience. Not that I'd rather see some promotional loop running - but how about nature scenes/videos and the like?

 

Businesses would be smart to play the fence, or avoid this minefield altogether. I see local work trucks sometimes with blatant political statements, and just wonder if they think that everyone feels like they do, of if they're aware that they're alienating some potential customers.

 

So - Carnival - perhaps some protocol needs to be put in place as to what is played on the terminal TV's (or enforce protocols which may already in place). I was not about to bring it up to them yesterday, I was just ready to get through the line and out of there!

 

Tom

 

Terminal staff are not Carnival Staff

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

7 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

There was a second TV playing CNN.

Interesting - didn't see that one - where was it (only saw the one)?

 

Guests are generally on the move through there, so it must be for the benefit of the staff. Can't say I've ever seen news playing while getting off a ship before.

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

5 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Terminal staff are not Carnival Staff

 

So, they just wear Carnival shirts?

 

Tom

[Elaine5715]

3 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

So, they just wear Carnival shirts?

 

Tom

Yes, when they process Princess, they wear Princess shirts.  When they process Disney, they wear DCL and on..

[Elaine5715]

6 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Interesting - didn't see that one - where was it (only saw the one)?

 

Guests are generally on the move through there, so it must be for the benefit of the staff. Can't say I've ever seen news playing while getting off a ship before.

 

Tom

I have never seen TVs in the debark area before but the second one was a little further in.  In the embarkation area, it was just Fox.  I would prefer if they set them to the Weather Channel.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

7 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Yes, when they process Princess, they wear Princess shirts.  When they process Disney, they wear DCL and on..

 

That makes sense. No doubt though, they're the face of Carnival for the day - in the eyes of cruise passengers. Even the guy wearing the funnel hat (happy fellow), Cheryl commented to me that perhaps they should burn off half the funnel - LOL

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

2 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

I have never seen TVs in the debark area before but the second one was a little further in.  In the embarkation area, it was just Fox.  I would prefer if they set them to the Weather Channel.

 

Well, that's something you pretty much never get onboard. Carnival (or all cruise lines for that matter) want you to think that it's all sunny skies --- and don't cancel those excursions!

 

Tom

[sanmarcosman]

14 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

So, they just wear Carnival shirts?

 

Tom

All of the check in agents are casual part time workers from local manpower staffing agencies. In major ports agents can be assigned to RCCL one day, CCL or NCL another, and are required to wear the insignia of the company they are representing that day on their uniform.

Regardless, port authority officials are the ones to direct your question to regarding the TV stations being aired in their facilities. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by sanmarcosman

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 minute ago, sanmarcosman said:

...

Regardless, port authority officials are the ones to direct your question to regarding the TV stations being aired in the facilities. 

 

And, they're likely easier to get in touch with (at least to the right person).

 

Tom

[sanmarcosman]

1 minute ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

And, they're likely easier to get in touch with (at least to the right person).

 

Tom

You should hear my tale contacting the Long Beach Port Authority in 2014 about insufficient parking cashier staffing causing long back ups in the dome garage. The Port Authority bounced me to the Queen Mary Hotel who leased the garage from the Port. The Queen Mary bounced me to the Port Facilities Director of Carnival Cruise Lines because Carnival was sub-leasing the garage from the Queen Mary Hotel.

 

Before I was done all three became involved in the matter. My persistence paid off. I have sailed the Panorama 9 times and the Miracle once from Long Beach since January this year and not once did I endure the long waits to pay and exit the garage as I did 8 years ago.

 

Good luck to you, Tom. 

[Jamman54]

To tell you the truth, when we are getting off the ship our minds are on getting our luggage, flagging down a porter, and getting out of dodge. We wouldn't give a TV a passing glance, much less look to see what was on it.  

[sc4125]

19 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

All of the check in agents are casual part time workers from local manpower staffing agencies. In major ports agents can be assigned to RCCL one day, CCL or NCL another, and are required to wear the insignia of the company they are representing that day on their uniform.

Regardless, port authority officials are the ones to direct your question to regarding the TV stations being aired in their facilities. 

Some things must have really changed if they are now hiring manpower staffing agencies.  I have spoken to several of the check in staff and most have been there for several years.  I can only imagine the headaches of training all those casual part time workers every embark day.  They all seem to be spot on as they are checking people in.  Not sure your information is correct.

[sanmarcosman]

6 minutes ago, sc4125 said:

Some things must have really changed if they are now hiring manpower staffing agencies.  I have spoken to several of the check in staff and most have been there for several years.  I can only imagine the headaches of training all those casual part time workers every embark day.  They all seem to be spot on as they are checking people in.  Not sure your information is correct.

I first learned this in 1991. This is nothing new. Yes, some people choose to work for temp agencies for years because they work different positions and shifts and enjoy the change of pace. 

 

Many of these agents you will see time and again but they still don't work as contract employees of the cruise lines.

Edited May 31, 2022 by sanmarcosman

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 minutes ago, Jamman54 said:

To tell you the truth, when we are getting off the ship our minds are on getting our luggage, flagging down a porter, and getting out of dodge. We wouldn't give a TV a passing glance, much less look to see what was on it.  

 

It might have been playing when we got off our four prior Liberty sailings (MarchX2, April, May), but we were literally the first people off the ship (~6:45 am) and scooted right along - and I was at work around 8:30 am. This time, with a Monday holiday, we thought we'd set the alarm a little later. Boy, was that a mistake. We quickly realized that there's something to be said for priority debark - and to not feel like cattle again!

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

26 minutes ago, sanmarcosman said:

You should hear my tale contacting the Long Beach Port Authority in 2014 about insufficient parking cashier staffing causing long back ups in the dome garage. The Port Authority bounced me to the Queen Mary Hotel who leased the garage from the Port. The Queen Mary bounced me to the Port Facilities Director of Carnival Cruise Lines because Carnival was sub-leasing the garage from the Queen Mary Hotel.

 

Before I was done all three became involved in the matter. My persistence paid off. I have sailed the Panorama 9 times and the Miracle once from Long Beach since January this year and not once did I endure the long waits to pay and exit the garage as I did 8 years ago.

 

Good luck to you, Tom. 

 

Now that you mention it - I did attempt to get in touch with PC Port Authority about their parking garage. Not so much the garage, but the way that charges for parking are processed. A few months ago I opened a new credit card account which awards 3% back for all travel related expenses including parking. Needless to say, that works well for us (approaching $2,000 back now). When parking down in Port Everglades my credit card charge for the parking comes through as TRAVEL (tags/coding for credit card purposes). At Port Canaveral, it came though as RECREATION (or similar), so it only earns 1%. 

 

CPA never did get back to me (two attempts), so now at Pt. Canaveral I just use my other card - which gets 2% on everything. 

 

Glad I went in and looked at the coding just now - we have a trip to Biltmore coming up and the lodging comes across as TRAVEL, but  house tour tickets and a shopping carriage ride are showing up as SHOPPING... Geesh! That's about a $13 difference in rewards --- I'm penny-wise, pound foolish sometimes --  😄 

 

Tom

 

 

[sanmarcosman]

8 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Now that you mention it - I did attempt to get in touch with PC Port Authority about their parking garage.

You're to be congratulated for your perseverance. Most of us have to wait to be retired, like me, to have the time to play forensic accountant. No wonder your business is a success. Good for you.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

22 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

...

 

Glad I went in and looked at the coding just now - we have a trip to Biltmore coming up and the lodging comes across as TRAVEL, but  house tour tickets and a shopping carriage ride are showing up as SHOPPING... Geesh! That's about a $13 difference in rewards --- I'm penny-wise, pound foolish sometimes --  😄 

 

Tom

 

 

 

Make that a "private" carriage ride... Post cruise brain fog no doubt!

 

Tom

[Babr]

I, too, prefer neutral programming in public places. 

[Moviela]

The TV's and programming in terminals do not have a clicker controlled by the whim of staff. If it was it would be on sports channels. Those TV's are paid for by broadcasters for the purpose of advertising. The terminal makes a few bucks, and the broadcaster sells your eyeballs to advertisers.

Bars in the terminal and on the ships that have TV's have a cable or satellite subscription and pay based on how many seats are in the venue. 

[kenb]

6 hours ago, Babr said:

I, too, prefer neutral programming in public places. 

I'm just curious, what do you consider neutral programming?