TV in cabin

[Quickcanuck]

 

For any of the live broadcasts (cnn, espn)... there is a separate satellite for each of those channels. so if there are more channels, that means more satellites - which means you get no sun on the pool deck (just kidding - but there isn't a whole lot of roof space for more satellites. The satellites have automatic tracking - which sometimes works great, some times doesn't. so that means if you're watching a channel and it just goes blank - chances are the computer detected a drop in the signal and is trying to find a good (better) signal. Also - for special events (like the world cup over the summer) an special receiver is set up for these purposes. Its not always practical to have to swap receivers after each game - or sometimes it just might take a while to do it (its far from instantaneous).

 

And to add a new channel... its millions of dollars involved. 8 ships (9 if you include XP) times the cost of satellite installation/configuration etc - thats over 1M easy.... plus the whole contract thing of being allowed to air content - no doubt several million dollars (even low several)

 

 

So - get out of the room and enjoy the sun (before the satellites block it!!! HURRY!!)

I don't think that's quite correct. Additional live feeds may be on a different transponder on a satellite, but each satellite carries many program feeds. The satellite receiving antenna on the ship may need to add an additional reception device (LNB) and a receiver for the additional feed, but that is hardly millions of dollars. The cost for the rights to distribute that programming to all the cabins on the ship may be an issue, but that's a licensing problem, not an equipment problem.

[Stock Cop]

MEGABILL

 

Unless YOU are speaking directly for the cruise line I have trouble believing your comment.

I was on a NAVY destroyer in 1965-1966 and we carried many movies and TV shows on board. (all shown on film projectors--no VCR's or DVD's then)

 

We would swap them out with other Navy ships, either at sea during refueling or back in homeport. We always had a great selection to choose from.

 

Now, you are going to say that Celebrity doesn't have any sway with providers to get what they want? I think there is another issue here. Celebrity has the funds to dictate to a provider what they want and when they want it, so what is the real issue?

 

Rich :cool:

[Goofyisme]

The issue, as evidenced by the responses here, is that X has no incentive to upgrade the TV experience onboard. Most don't care and the few that do don't have a significant enough impact on the bottom line for it to be worth the additional costs.

[megabill]

What i said about the movies is FACT.... the free-to-guest movies are swapped out quarterly and are sent from 2 content providers.

 

You're also talking about methods of getting media 40 years ago... when computers were the size of living room. (just referencing how vast the changes are in 40 years.)

 

I intentionally worded the info about the content providers to mean that could celebrity say "hey you, send us more" - yes they can, but its still up to the provider to do it. Since im not on that side of the exchange - i don't know if there are more content providers for celebrity to even say "hey, we're going to this other one if you cant do this for us" (not saying there aren't, i just dont know). It seems that the 2 houses that celebrity deals with each has a list of companies they provide for (WB, Paramount, Fox, Sony, etc)... and only Sony content comes from one provider, and WB comes from the other (in other words we wont get sony-produced content from both providers, only one).

 

Its possible that i could be wrong with the live feeds/satellite info. I know that all the ships have 2 satellites and only 2 live feeds and if they have to change feeds - they have to do a lot of work to do it (not just add a receiver - there a lot of work involved with tweaking the satellites to get it to work for the feeds received - as was the case for the World Cup over the summer)... but im not a satellite tech - so im not 100% sure of all the specifics - so - i admit i could be a bit off there.... but the fact still remains that contracts to air that content is still a problem.

[Drew B]

Megabill, I don't know if you are right or wrong about these details, but I DO know that what Celebrity provides is not up to the standards of what other lines provide. X is being outdone by Carnival (and probably every other line out there). I don't really care what it takes to solve that problem - I just know that there is a solution. If they need to fight the content providers or switch content providers, then they should do so. If they need to add satellites, they should do so (other lines clearly have, as they have live feeds). It is embarassing that X is the very worst in ANY criterion (if another line has worse TV, please correct me), and they should take steps to correct that...

[MTemple212]

I would tend to agree with Stock Cop on this one. I also used to be in the Navy and remember those days of the projector and getting films from other ships/Boats. By the way Stock Cop, I am retired Submariner.

 

I think it totally up to Celebrity if they want to put the time and effort to solving this problem or complaint that so many people seem to have. Personally for me, it's not a big deal as we just don't spend a lot of time in the cabin except to sleep and get ready for events,etc. And when we are getting ready for something we usually listen to music via Ipod and some speakers.

[Stock Cop]

You are are all correct. Celebrity is in the laggard position on this one.

The real point I was trying to suggest is that Celebrity doesn't want you in the cabin... no revenue there (unless you drink their bottled water,etc.) the revenue is in the casino, the bars, buying photos and in their shopping arcades.

Why should you be in your cabin? Even if you drink your smuggled on wine in the cabin you are avoiding their "corkgage fee"... another lost revenue !!!!

 

With the improvements in technology over the years you can't tell me they can't get decent feeds. You think the navigation is running on re-runs?

The internet cafe (fee of course) can get signals on and off the ship with no problems.....see the pattern here?

 

Like I said before, I don't care about the TV but others do and Celebrity

being a "Premium" line should be able to afford upgraded equipment to satisfy the guests who care.

 

Rich :cool:

[Drew B]

The real point I was trying to suggest is that Celebrity doesn't want you in the cabin... no revenue there (unless you drink their bottled water,etc.) the revenue is in the casino, the bars, buying photos and in their shopping arcades.

 

From about 1:00 or 2:00 A.M. to about 9:00 A.M., it's actually hard to spend money in any of those venues -- the internet may be the only major supplemental income source operating during those hours. However, I'm guessing those are major times people might like better TV (when they are going to bed or when they are getting up)...

[megabill]

I totally agree that it sux... think a 12 day cruise is bad? try six months.

 

And i agree something *should* be done and agree it certianly doesn't seem that its a priority.

 

and something like this whole thread popped up about a month or two ago... Celebrity got rid of one channel (the music videos from 1994) and added "CBS Eye on Celebrity" - not a live feed that i know of, but supposedly the were going to update content frequently. its only been around for about 3 months now - so i dont know how thats workin out for them quite yet.

 

Unfortunaltey i only use the televisions to fall asleept to when im a guest on a cruise - so i can't recall to compare other lines to celebrity.

 

And again - it wasn't strictly a matter of technology that was stopping them from getting newer feeds. Its basically a money thing. you're talking providing content to 8 ships - im sure its a little more than $50/month/ship. (like basic cable would be)

 

Another thing is sometimes stuff just doesn't work. There was a sports broadcast contract that lasted about 2 weeks on the ships. out of 8 ships - 1 ship was able to get it to work - the other 7 couldn't... so the whole thing got canned.

 

Its also a bit unfair - i think - to compare navigation/communcation to tv. Lets face it - the ship can't run without navigation/communcation (the communcation satellites serve ALL communication onboard, office/cafe's, etc). I think the ship can get around without TV... so is TV a lower priority than Navication/Communication? - i would hate to go on a ship that didn't see it that way (i do want to leave fort lauderdale at some point).

 

 

All that aside... I 100% agree with everone that it sucks and that something should be done.

 

Just dont complain about it onboard. I dont know how the comment cards are processed, so i would write a note to the folks shoreside. (i know shipboard gets a summary, but i dont know if they see the additional commnets - maybe the higher ups do... but even still its the guys shoreside that need to make the changes). There's 2 guys on board managing the Broadcast center and they're at the mercy of the folks shoreside and the content providers... so complaining on board doesn't get anything accomplished since their hands are tied. (even complaining to the Hotel Director wont do anything... because he'll only go to the Broadcast manager who cant change anything like that).

 

Lastly - enjoy!

[jaxon41]

Lovely new flat panel tv's and poor programming? Kind of sad. I am a news junky, so having CNN is all I really care about. Don't flame me, but it sure beats the heck out of NCL which only carried Fox most of my med. cruise.

 

Is there still a channel where you can get music, or do I need to take my Ipod speakers for something soft in the cabin?

[megabill]

They still have channels 31-35 for music (country/classical/rock/jazz).... if you're looking for the music videos - those are (should be) no longer around.

[Stock Cop]

Complaints should go to corpotate. If they then fail to improve the situation we will then know where to focus the blame.

 

Rich

[Stock Cop]

I would tend to agree with Stock Cop on this one. I also used to be in the Navy and remember those days of the projector and getting films from other ships/Boats. By the way Stock Cop, I am retired Submariner.

 

 

We should meet on a cruise in the future. I am sure we could bore our tablemates with our "sea stories", the ones that always begin with "and this ain't no S***" !!!!

 

The Myles C. Fox was out of Newport while I was aboard.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

Rich :cool:

[Fisherman Jim]

I totally agree that it sux... think a 12 day cruise is bad? try six months.

 

And i agree something *should* be done and agree it certianly doesn't seem that its a priority.

 

and something like this whole thread popped up about a month or two ago... Celebrity got rid of one channel (the music videos from 1994) and added "CBS Eye on Celebrity" - not a live feed that i know of, but supposedly the were going to update content frequently. its only been around for about 3 months now - so i dont know how thats workin out for them quite yet.

 

Unfortunaltey i only use the televisions to fall asleept to when im a guest on a cruise - so i can't recall to compare other lines to celebrity.

 

And again - it wasn't strictly a matter of technology that was stopping them from getting newer feeds. Its basically a money thing. you're talking providing content to 8 ships - im sure its a little more than $50/month/ship. (like basic cable would be)

 

Another thing is sometimes stuff just doesn't work. There was a sports broadcast contract that lasted about 2 weeks on the ships. out of 8 ships - 1 ship was able to get it to work - the other 7 couldn't... so the whole thing got canned.

 

Its also a bit unfair - i think - to compare navigation/communcation to tv. Lets face it - the ship can't run without navigation/communcation (the communcation satellites serve ALL communication onboard, office/cafe's, etc). I think the ship can get around without TV... so is TV a lower priority than Navication/Communication? - i would hate to go on a ship that didn't see it that way (i do want to leave fort lauderdale at some point).

 

 

All that aside... I 100% agree with everone that it sucks and that something should be done.

 

Just dont complain about it onboard. I dont know how the comment cards are processed, so i would write a note to the folks shoreside. (i know shipboard gets a summary, but i dont know if they see the additional commnets - maybe the higher ups do... but even still its the guys shoreside that need to make the changes). There's 2 guys on board managing the Broadcast center and they're at the mercy of the folks shoreside and the content providers... so complaining on board doesn't get anything accomplished since their hands are tied. (even complaining to the Hotel Director wont do anything... because he'll only go to the Broadcast manager who cant change anything like that).

 

Lastly - enjoy!

 

I would have to agree with the posters who feel that X could do a lot better job in the way of TV options. For those who don't care if the TV works or not thats fine. There are people who at times would like to enjoy a little TV while cruising, without watching the exact same re-run over and over again.

[AnthonyF]

I.e. we left Sunday December 17th and I forgot that basically you embark, get linch, unpack and explore and there is nothing to do on the ship..... This was a Sunday, we are in port and you can't get a Channel showing Sunday Football!!!!??? I thought Football was religion in the US (LOL).... I understand bad reception on sea days, but otherwise there should be some choice. We liked to read and watch some TV while taking a break or working out as the TV was available at the Gym....