Firestick/ other streaming devices on NCL TV

[divincenzo]

I was considering the Upgrade to Unlimited Premium Wi-Fi (with Streaming) package for my upcoming cruise. Has anyone had success connecting a firestick or similar device to their TV?

[Cruise5life]

Yeah what they said.  I’ll be on the joy for 2 weeks and would be nice to mirror my Netflix from my iPad       

[G-DawgMN]

 The HDMI ports on the TV's are locked out. I'm not aware of any way to break their programming.

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by KSSS2013

[mking8288]

Nope, similar to hospitality TV commonly used in hotels & resorts, and, I've used Google Chromecast as well as Roku to connect to onboard WiFi, and just not possible nor practical (ultra high latency & very low speed) to attempt to cast or stream anything at all, not even from stored contents on a tablet.  

 

Older mega ships used HDMI as the input sources and newer ships like the Joy uses a locking RJ-59 (ethernet/coaxial) style input for interactive signal, and they just cannot be bypassed or overridden. If you can disconnect & use your own HDMI connection, you can directly "play" whatever on the HDTV in the stateroom, i.e. Breakaway, Getaway & Escape, these 3 ships ... I can confirm, is possible. 

 

Always have a Plan B and Option C while traveling is my motto.  

[rhcp901]

In theory the answer is YES. You can plug in a Roku, Firestick, personal device in to the TV's HDMI port and watch content. Not sure how well streaming content over the ship's internet works as i have not tried that. We haven't cruised since 2019, but have been on NCL, Carnival and RC. We have always brought an iPhone lighting port to HDMI converter and HDMI cord with us to play downloaded TV shows/movies on the TV in our room from a phone/device. Plugged straight in to the HDMI port just as you would a Roku or Firestick. You must purchase a cheap universal programmable TV remote to use for the TV to change inputs. The TV remote provided by the cruise line will not allow you to change the inputs on the TV. We have done this the last handful of times we cruised before COVID. Booked for 2023 and will be bringing our setup again. 

[mscdivina2016]

On 10/14/2022 at 5:58 AM, KSSS2013 said:

 The HDMI ports on the TV's are locked out. I'm not aware of any way to break their programming.

 

On Spirit right now.

 

Jacked into HDMI port with my DVD player.

Had to use a special jack out of DVD then male to male rca Jack's into an HDMI converter then HDMI into TV.

One hooked up, HDMI became active on TV and it worked.

[divincenzo]

14 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

On Spirit right now.

 

Jacked into HDMI port with my DVD player.

Had to use a special jack out of DVD then male to male rca Jack's into an HDMI converter then HDMI into TV.

One hooked up, HDMI became active on TV and it worked.

I am on the Spirit in a couple weeks. To confirm. RCA to HDMI converter worked on this ship?

[mscdivina2016]

15 minutes ago, divincenzo said:

I am on the Spirit in a couple weeks. To confirm. RCA to HDMI converter worked on this ship?

Yes perfectly. Power it up before plugging it in. Being an extension cord .

Then choose source on remote.

 

I bought the converter on Amazon..  I am using a small portable DVD player with its own screen in case it didn't work.

[mking8288]

22 minutes ago, mscdivina2016 said:

... Power it up before plugging it in. Being an extension cord . Then choose source on remote ... using a small portable DVD player with its own screen in case it didn't work.

 

Nice ... can you report on the TV brand in use onboard the Spirit ... "Sole" or "LG" - these are the 2 HDTV brand that I've come across.  Sole specializes in hospitality TV ... and theirs use HDMI as default input whereas LG default to coaxial/ethernet signals (and, firmware locked on the remote in the stateroom TV, "source" not selectable, AFAIK)   That is, however, a direct/simple "casting" of the DVD player's signal output to a monitor, not the same as streaming over WiFi, which is a bit more complicated ... 

 

 

This is the LG TV in our Joy's 2 BR Family Inside Suite, input signal is ethernet/Cat 5+ signal.  

 

Whereas, if the stateroom TV is "Sole" - HDMI input is easy & simple, as long as you can easily reach it & switch it out, simple "unplug and replace" & just remember to reconnect.  

Edited October 16, 2022 by mking8288

[mscdivina2016]

4 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

Nice ... can you report on the TV brand in use onboard the Spirit ... "Sole" or "LG" - these are the 2 HDTV brand that I've come across.  Sole specializes in hospitality TV ... and theirs use HDMI as default input whereas LG default to coaxial/ethernet signals (and, firmware locked on the remote in the stateroom TV, "source" not selectable, AFAIK)   That is, however, a direct/simple "casting" of the DVD player's signal output to a monitor, not the same as streaming over WiFi, which is a bit more complicated ... 

 

 

This is the LG TV in our Joy's 2 BR Family Inside Suite, input signal is ethernet/Cat 5+ signal.  

 

Whereas, if the stateroom TV is "Sole" - HDMI input is easy & simple, as long as you can easily reach it & switch it out, simple "unplug and replace" & just remember to reconnect.  

I am on a full day tour right now but will later. We are in Hawaii so it's almost 11am here.

[divincenzo]

2 hours ago, mscdivina2016 said:

I am on a full day tour right now but will later. We are in Hawaii so it's almost 11am here.

I appreciate all the info youre sharing, enjoy the trip as well!

[davencl]

I don't think the network connection is fast enough to stream Netflix or other content.  So if you can connect HDMI or other method don't plan on streaming working.

[mscdivina2016]

9 hours ago, mking8288 said:

 

Nice ... can you report on the TV brand in use onboard the Spirit ... "Sole" or "LG" - these are the 2 HDTV brand that I've come across.  Sole specializes in hospitality TV ... and theirs use HDMI as default input whereas LG default to coaxial/ethernet signals (and, firmware locked on the remote in the stateroom TV, "source" not selectable, AFAIK)   That is, however, a direct/simple "casting" of the DVD player's signal output to a monitor, not the same as streaming over WiFi, which is a bit more complicated ... 

 

 

This is the LG TV in our Joy's 2 BR Family Inside Suite, input signal is ethernet/Cat 5+ signal.  

 

Whereas, if the stateroom TV is "Sole" - HDMI input is easy & simple, as long as you can easily reach it & switch it out, simple "unplug and replace" & just remember to reconnect.  

It's a Samsung TV.

 

Here's a port picture 

[Mikek7]

Just came back on the Oct 10 Prima cruising, and had no issue plugging my firestick into the HDMI port and changing the source. I had loaded TV shows and movies on USB and used the firestick to watch it.

 

Prima uses Samsung for their TV, and there is power button at bottom of the TV that you can click on and it allow you to go through the Menu to change the source input to HDMI.

[G-DawgMN]

On 10/15/2022 at 8:27 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

On Spirit right now.

 

Jacked into HDMI port with my DVD player.

Had to use a special jack out of DVD then male to male rca Jack's into an HDMI converter then HDMI into TV.

One hooked up, HDMI became active on TV and it worked.

 

Nice, good to know! I assumed NCL was consistent with their TV's...apparently there's some variances in the fleet.

[AlisonCruiseAlot]

On 10/16/2022 at 6:10 PM, mking8288 said:

 

Nice ... can you report on the TV brand in use onboard the Spirit ... "Sole" or "LG" - these are the 2 HDTV brand that I've come across.  Sole specializes in hospitality TV ... and theirs use HDMI as default input whereas LG default to coaxial/ethernet signals (and, firmware locked on the remote in the stateroom TV, "source" not selectable, AFAIK)   That is, however, a direct/simple "casting" of the DVD player's signal output to a monitor, not the same as streaming over WiFi, which is a bit more complicated ... 

 

 

This is the LG TV in our Joy's 2 BR Family Inside Suite, input signal is ethernet/Cat 5+ signal.  

 

Whereas, if the stateroom TV is "Sole" - HDMI input is easy & simple, as long as you can easily reach it & switch it out, simple "unplug and replace" & just remember to reconnect.  

Hi. We are going onto the Joy and I want to verify that all I need is an hdmi to my device to essentially stream/mirror my device to the tv. So do we need a remote to access the hdmi? Can you be more specific with what’s needed? I read different things..

[mscdivina2016]

3 minutes ago, AlisonCruiseAlot said:

Hi. We are going onto the Joy and I want to verify that all I need is an hdmi to my device to essentially stream/mirror my device to the tv. So do we need a remote to access the hdmi? Can you be more specific with what’s needed? I read different things..

That is going to depend on the TV in your cabin.

 Joy is newer so it would probably have a newer TV.

 Last year on Prima, the remote would not let me change the input even though the button was on the remote. So that could be a major issue.

What I did was I used a TV remote app, searched for the TV, then used my phone as the remote.

[AlisonCruiseAlot]

They’re Samsung TVs on Joy. Which app did you use? Did you disconnect the lan connection?

[mscdivina2016]

11 minutes ago, AlisonCruiseAlot said:

They’re Samsung TVs on Joy. Which app did you use? Did you disconnect the lan connection?

Remote control app I believe. 

 No I did not disconnect the lan.

 I used it for a DVD player. I also have a small device which converts HDMI to RCA jacks.  I never had any luck without it.

 

[AlisonCruiseAlot]

I’ve never tried this with NCL, but have cruised a lot and have been told how to screen mirror on the TVs on MSC. We are planning a 16 day Panama cruise and that’s a long time without being able to relax in the evening with a movie. Even with all the movies onboard, we’d get bored. My original idea was to buy a projector, but something like this would work much better. 

[mscdivina2016]

On 8/20/2024 at 10:01 AM, AlisonCruiseAlot said:

I’ve never tried this with NCL, but have cruised a lot and have been told how to screen mirror on the TVs on MSC. We are planning a 16 day Panama cruise and that’s a long time without being able to relax in the evening with a movie. Even with all the movies onboard, we’d get bored. My original idea was to buy a projector, but something like this would work much better. 

We prefer even longer cruises. Our DVD player actually has a small 8" monitor built in ( opens like a laptop) just in case things don't go well.

 

[mking8288]

On 8/20/2024 at 9:12 AM, AlisonCruiseAlot said:

Hi. We are going onto the Joy and I want to verify that all I need is an hdmi to my device to essentially stream/mirror my device to the tv. So do we need a remote to access the hdmi? Can you be more specific with what’s needed? I read different things..

Hi, my delayed reply ... FWIW, we're on the Joy twice in 2022.  Interactive TV's default input signal was LAN or ethernet Cat-5 plus cable, not HDMI and I tried making connection (which, for the BA, GA & I am not 100% sure, Escape - very easy b/c those ships use "Sole TV" via HDMI signal)  Not with the newer ships and that included the Prima with Samsung's & LG's (others reported that they managed to change input to HDMI via an universal remote or "app")  ...  something that I haven't done. 

 

There is very little space behind the wall mounted TV to unplug & plug wirings (surely, IT at NCL doesn't want folks to "play" & I respect that ... beyond the pay grade of room attendant to reset & fix issues when the next guest arrive)  Newer TV's don't have S-video or VGA and other older "ports" and even if you can and do, getting a clean audio signal isn't easy.  

 

Besides, even for several TA crossings and lots of sea days, there're plenty to do and the Fire Tablet w preloaded content and Kindle ebooks never came into play.  My solution - wireless earbuds with the 12" travel laptop.   Most PPV movies in our cabin were comp'd (included w the Joy's suites) on the Prima and I think we struggled to finish watching 3 movies during spare time.  

[AlisonCruiseAlot]

On 8/20/2024 at 3:57 PM, mscdivina2016 said:

Remote control app I believe. 

 No I did not disconnect the lan.

 I used it for a DVD player. I also have a small device which converts HDMI to RCA jacks.  I never had any luck without it.

 

 

21 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

Hi, my delayed reply ... FWIW, we're on the Joy twice in 2022.  Interactive TV's default input signal was LAN or ethernet Cat-5 plus cable, not HDMI and I tried making connection (which, for the BA, GA & I am not 100% sure, Escape - very easy b/c those ships use "Sole TV" via HDMI signal)  Not with the newer ships and that included the Prima with Samsung's & LG's (others reported that they managed to change input to HDMI via an universal remote or "app")  ...  something that I haven't done. 

 

There is very little space behind the wall mounted TV to unplug & plug wirings (surely, IT at NCL doesn't want folks to "play" & I respect that ... beyond the pay grade of room attendant to reset & fix issues when the next guest arrive)  Newer TV's don't have S-video or VGA and other older "ports" and even if you can and do, getting a clean audio signal isn't easy.  

 

Besides, even for several TA crossings and lots of sea days, there're plenty to do and the Fire Tablet w preloaded content and Kindle ebooks never came into play.  My solution - wireless earbuds with the 12" travel laptop.   Most PPV movies in our cabin were comp'd (included w the Joy's suites) on the Prima and I think we struggled to finish watching 3 movies during spare time.  

Thanks for the response. It sounds like my sure way of making sure we can watch movies will definitely be just buying a projector. We like to have a bottle of wine and enjoy a movie if we just want to relax etc. I think overall, the channels on NCL aren’t that bad and rotate movies etc.. and yes.. we cruise haven and will this time if we can upgrade but as of now they want at least $11k more and I can do a lot with that amount 😂 

 

[detroitlions]

I would just bring my laptop and not mess with the TV.

Problem is your steams will not always be the best and sometimes unwatchable. 

Depending on what you want to stream almost everything has a app now like youtube tv or Hulu.

You can watch that stuff on everything forget the tv.

[mking8288]

16 minutes ago, detroitlions said:

I would just bring my laptop and ... watch that stuff on everything forget the tv.

Snipped and I think this will be my short answer too.  However, the problem is NCL's Starlink connectivity, as reported by "some" lately, are just horrible to miserable, if barely usable - I have no idea what they are doing in throttling the bandwidth  ...  another strategic move 🙄 to "manage" their expenses to sail & sustain.  

 

Fewer free TV channels and satellite WiFi promises, don't know what else one can say or do.