HDMI outlets on reflection stateroom TV's?

[GNVGator]

Hey all,

Just wondering if there are any available HDMI outlets on the TVs in your stateroom? Also is it possible to switch the video input off the standard celebrity TV channel or whatever it is? Need to do some work on the trip and having a second monitor for my laptop would help immensely. Thanks.

 

Go Gators

[ECCruise]

Hey all,

Just wondering if there are any available HDMI outlets on the TVs in your stateroom? Also is it possible to switch the video input off the standard celebrity TV channel or whatever it is? Need to do some work on the trip and having a second monitor for my laptop would help immensely. Thanks.

 

Go Gators

 

HDMI inputs, yes.

Accessible and usable, no, blocked.

[Chloesmom1]

Curious, as we are in the same position: When you say it is blocked, do you mean the TV needs to be moved to access or is it completely blocked and cannot be used under any circumstances?

 

Thanks!

[WestLakeGirl]

The ports are disabled. There have been one or two reports of passengers developing a workaround for this, but other passengers who tried the same methods were unsuccessful in replicating the workaround.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

The ports are disabled. There have been one or two reports of passengers developing a workaround for this, but other passengers who tried the same methods were unsuccessful in replicating the workaround.

 

As I recall, the TV's are all Samsung. Go to Amazon and order a factory Samsung remote and Google HOTEL MODE for Samsung. You'll eventually find what you need. Using the factory remote you can get the TV out of hotel mode so that the inputs (RCA, HDMI, etc..) will be accessible.

 

We've been successful a few times. I will add, however, that one time I was not able to get the TV back into hotel mode prior to debarkation. I suspect that their tech was able to reset it easily.

 

Also note that, when out of TV mode, the shipboard features may not function (such as folio review and such).

 

Doing this is not without controversy - as often in threads such as these there will be people who question those who want to "circumvent" the system. :)

 

Tom

Edited December 2, 2013 by Tom-n-Cheryl

[GNVGator]

Assuming the hdmi ports are accessible that would be a great idea thanks. Though I would like to get it back into hotel mode at times to watch movies and what not. I guess that's the punishment for doing work on vacation.

 

Go Gators

Edited December 3, 2013 by GNVGator

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Assuming the hdmi ports are accessible that would be a great idea thanks. Though I would like to get it back into hotel mode at times to watch movies and what not. I guess that's the punishment for doing work on vacation.

 

Go Gators

 

I know that on the Solstice there were easily accessible in a standard balcony cabin (where our son stayed) and on the Solstice, Eclipse, and Reflection in the Celebrity Suites.

 

The ONLY place I did have the issue getting it back into Hotel Mode was in our son's cabin. Between him and three of his friends playing video games on it the entire week, I have no idea what settings they messed with! With the TV in our cabins, it was a relatively simple matter to switch back/forth.

 

With the television turned off (in quick succession) press MUTE, 1, 8, 2, and POWER on the factory remote. This will put you into the service menu. I took photos at every step (showing the various screens/options), but can't find them now!

 

Tom

Edited December 3, 2013 by Tom-n-Cheryl

[Fouremco]

There was a similar thread over a year ago, perhaps on the HAL forum, and the suggested approach was to simply pull out the ship's feed to the unblocked HDMI port and plug in whatever device you wanted to use. Reverse the process when done. Posters had success plugging in iTVs to watch movies they had brought with them on a variety of iDevices, as well as other devices for a variety of reasons. I don't recall the make(s) of TVs on HAL's ships, but the approach should work on Celebrity I'd think.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Found 'em !

 

 

 

 

 

Tom

[CRUZBUDS]

It's real easy on HAL since all cabins have a DVD player. A composite connection just requires pulling out the RCA jacks from the player, add a gender changer and plug in your device. You don't need to access the back of the set, which is often difficult. The last HAL we were on didn't have HDMI, I have a composite connection for my iPad.

 

Another earlier thread had the information that the Solstice class ship's TV are fed by an HDMI cable. That person just pulled it out and plugged his unit into the same port. The poster said that it made changing out of hotel mode unnecessary.

 

Can anyone confirm that that is an option? - is the back of the set accessible?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

There was a similar thread over a year ago, perhaps on the HAL forum, and the suggested approach was to simply pull out the ship's feed to the unblocked HDMI port and plug in whatever device you wanted to use. Reverse the process when done. Posters had success plugging in iTVs to watch movies they had brought with them on a variety of iDevices, as well as other devices for a variety of reasons. I don't recall the make(s) of TVs on HAL's ships, but the approach should work on Celebrity I'd think.

 

I also have seen where that will work in some cases, but I want to say that there is some other type of input used by the ships (Celebrity's) system (non-HDMI), but I could be wrong.

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

It's real easy on HAL since all cabins have a DVD player. A composite connection just requires pulling out the RCA jacks from the player, add a gender changer and plug in your device. You don't need to access the back of the set, which is often difficult. The last HAL we were on didn't have HDMI, I have a composite connection for my iPad.

 

Another earlier thread had the information that the Solstice class ship's TV are fed by an HDMI cable. That person just pulled it out and plugged his unit into the same port. The poster said that it made changing out of hotel mode unnecessary.

 

Can anyone confirm that that is an option? - is the back of the set accessible?

 

I'll have confirmation on 1/11/14 ! :)

 

Tom

[Fouremco]

I'll have confirmation on 1/11/14 ! :)

 

Tom

Great, do post! :)

[FRMPEI]

To the OP I am assuming that the Reflection TV's are the same Samsung TV on the other "S" class ships. Please follow my detailed directions on the link below. Very easy to have your HDMI video device play on your stateroom TV. No! the TV is not in any Hotel mode... DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY buying a special remote it would mostly likely not work. Those HAL instructions above are HAL not Celebrity.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=37957332&highlight=tv#post37957332

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

To the OP I am assuming that the Reflection TV's are the same Samsung TV on the other "S" class ships. Please follow my detailed directions on the link below. Very easy to have your HDMI video device play on your stateroom TV. No! the TV is not in any Hotel mode... DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY buying a special remote it would mostly likely not work. Those HAL instructions above are HAL not Celebrity.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=37957332&highlight=tv#post37957332

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

 

Ours, for whatever reason (on multiple Celebrity ships), were most definitely in Hotel Mode. Circumstances can vary though. My motto would be BE PREPARED - I don't mind investing ~$10 in a remote as a "back-up" !

 

Tom

[a2zarts]

I was on the Reflection T/A in the spring and can confirm that if you pull the existing HDMI feed out from the side of the TV and replace with your own HDMI feed. It will work. The only thing that doesn't work s the volume control on the remote. So set the volume BEFORE pulling the cable. We used our tablet and an HDMI cable plus a bluetooth speaker to watch Game of Thrones recordings. The bluetooth speaker had it's own volume control and that circumvented using the TV speakers. Never had a problem re-plugging the ships HDMI back after we'd watched our shows.

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 4

Edited December 3, 2013 by a2zarts

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I was on the Reflection T/A in the spring and can confirm that if you pull the existing HDMI feed out from the side of the TV and replace with your own HDMI feed. It will work. The only thing that doesn't work s the volume control on the remote. So set the volume BEFORE pulling the cable. We used our tablet and an HDMI cable plus a bluetooth speaker to watch Game of Thrones recordings. The bluetooth speaker had it's own volume control and that circumvented using the TV speakers. Never had a problem re-plugging the ships HDMI back after we'd watched our shows.

 

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 4

 

Sounds easy! I want to say that the DVD player we took onboard had RGB connectors - for that you would need to be able to change inputs (thus disable Hotel Mode).

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[AcaCandy]

I'll have confirmation on 1/11/14 ! :)

 

Tom

 

Update? I'm curious.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Update? I'm curious.

 

If memory serves, I seem to recall that I could plug in my HDMI cable on the side of the set and was able to watch it without any changes to the TV's settings.

 

Seemed too easy! (but I"m not complaining) :)

 

Tom

[AcaCandy]

If memory serves, I seem to recall that I could plug in my HDMI cable on the side of the set and was able to watch it without any changes to the TV's settings.

 

Seemed too easy! (but I"m not complaining) :)

 

Tom

 

Cool. I'm trying to figure out if I'll have the same luck on the Equinox. Here's hoping.

[AcaCandy]

Follow up. No such luck. TV was locked. But when I needed remote batteries replaced, an IT person appeared and I asked him about not being able to use the HDMI connection, and he re-appeared with his "master" remote and "fixed" it.

[Iamthesea]

On a similar note, are there USB ports on Celebrities TV's?

[AcaCandy]

There were 2 on this one...a Samsung model. However, they were disabled as well. And the feed they were using for the tv was the Vga input. Once the IT person unlocked it with his remote it was easy to switch channels and still view the celebrity channels like account info, etc. Vga also would not work with laptops. Didn't try it again after unlocked.

Edited April 28, 2014 by AcaCandy
add info

[Iamthesea]

OK, thank you. I was hoping to use the USB ports to charge my small electronics while the US and Euro outlets were being used for other things. That way, I would not have to bring my chargers... only my cords.;)

Edited April 28, 2014 by Iamthesea

[dbsb3233]

I can't speak for Reflection, but we just got off Millennium in one of the new cabins (that were built in 2012 from what was the old conference center) so the setup could be the same.

 

The top HDMI port on the side of the Samsung TV (HDMI 3) worked perfectly. Just tuned the TV to channel 03.

 

We've run into the same situation on a few other cruiselines too. They often activate one or more HDMI ports within their special control setup via an unadvertised channel number (one that the CH+ and CH- buttons skip). Just work upward from channel 00. In this case it was 03 but I've had it be 00 or 01 or 71 or 43 on some others. Takes some trial and error.

 

Also, the other HDMI port on the TV (HDMI 2) didn't work at all. So if there's multiple ports, you may need to try both.