HDMI Question

[jmadams]

Does anyone know if the television sets on princess cruises have accessible HDMI ports?  I am sure people bring Roku‘s, Kindle fire TVs, and Apple TVs etc, right?

[voljeep]

dunno... but let's follow the money on this ....

 

How can Princess make money if you are sitting in your cabin watching your own content ..

 

how about charging a daily/cruise long fee to have access to that ...

 

hmmmm ...

[denmarks]

The TVs are no longer on a shelf. They hang on the wall. Even if there is a port on the back it may not be easy to access.

[skynight]

If you mention the ship and cabin category someone might know the answer. Different ships and different cabins have different TV brands with some on shelves, and some wall mounted. For some you may have to bring adapters and remotes to switch feeds.

[Steelers36]

18 minutes ago, jmadams said:

Does anyone know if the television sets on princess cruises have accessible HDMI ports?  I am sure people bring Roku‘s, Kindle fire TVs, and Apple TVs etc, right?

Yes, and it used to be certain ships only, but if TV's have now been updated on all ships, then should be that and USB slot.  But may not be reachable in every cabin as depends on TV and how mounted.

 

That said, the real challenge is accessing the TV setup menu to change the input from cable to the HDMI or USB outlet.  The provided remotes do not allow access to TV setup.  You might be able to accomplish with buttons on the TV.  There were some threads on here a couple of years or so ago that explained how to change the TV setup.  (Don't ask me as I would be an experimenter and do not recall if I made this work on a ship - perhaps Majestic).

 

[skynight]

1 minute ago, denmarks said:

The TVs are no longer on a shelf. They hang on the wall. Even if there is a port on the back it may not be easy to access.

Not all ships. The Caribbean and Emerald are just two examples of shelf mounted TV's. Probably many others in the fleet.

[jmadams]

Sounds like a hassle. I’ll be in a mini suite, don’t need a shelf but I have to change the input.   This is a problem I sometime encountered at hotels. The remotes don’t allow you to switch the input and TVs have few buttons.  I’ve been able to access ports and change inputs in some nursing homes and hospitals. 

 

Cruise lines that cater to kids probably have accessible ports for video games. Hotels near Disney and other parks offer this feature. 

[JimmyVWine]

I know that Princess is upgrading the wi-fi on ships, but would it ever be good enough to handle the bandwith of thousands of people running content streaming devices in their cabins?  I would imagine that a bunch of Rokus and Fire Sticks would grind the system to a crawl. 

[skynight]

32 minutes ago, jmadams said:

Sounds like a hassle. I’ll be in a mini suite, don’t need a shelf but I have to change the input.   This is a problem I sometime encountered at hotels. The remotes don’t allow you to switch the input and TVs have few buttons.  I’ve been able to access ports and change inputs in some nursing homes and hospitals. 

 

Cruise lines that cater to kids probably have accessible ports for video games. Hotels near Disney and other parks offer this feature. 

You don't mention the ship, but mini suites have two wall mounted TV's. The newer ships and many of the older ships have been converted to Medium Earth  Orbit Satellites. If you are sailing above 45 degrees latitude it does not work well. Some older ships still have the slower internet.

[jmadams]

There’s other content to watch besides streaming. I download movies to my iPad and play them back on my Apple TV to watch with my family.   I have enough to binge watch two series.  I’m probably only going to stream Survivor because Boston Rob is back.  I am going to be on the Royal on a Mexican cruise.  It’s been recently updated so everything should be current.

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, jmadams said:

I’m probably only going to stream Survivor because Boston Rob is back.

I just heard about him coming back for this fall in a different sort of role.  I am recording the show again, just to F Fwd to his scenes.  

[fredflint]

I have been able to get to the back of the TV and unplugged the TV and plugged in my cable.

I am going on a longer cruise in a suite I will probably unplug the TV from the bedroom and plug my device into that, I have a small bag of all kinds of right angle connectors to work with any setup.

 

Yes we are the weird people that in the afternoon will go back to our room to relax and watch TV.

[Valiamo]

Check post # 19-21 on this thread.  It shows the back of the TV on the Star Princess, the TV, and the remotes.    You will need a universal remote to change the input on the TV's 

[Steelers36]

16 minutes ago, Valiamo said:

Check post # 19-21 on this thread.  It shows the back of the TV on the Star Princess, the TV, and the remotes.    You will need a universal remote to change the input on the TV's 

I have read in the past about taking a Universal Remote.  I guess you just have to figure out the setup code in order to work the TV.  I believe I have read on this board in the past an older thread about TV setup changes, but I am sure it was older TV's.  Anyway, it would be nice to have an easy way to plug in your own movies and such.

[Dublin_Ca]

4 hours ago, jmadams said:

There’s other content to watch besides streaming. I download movies to my iPad and play them back on my Apple TV to watch with my family.   I have enough to binge watch two series.  I’m probably only going to stream Survivor because Boston Rob is back.  I am going to be on the Royal on a Mexican cruise.  It’s been recently updated so everything should be current.

You mentioned an Apple TV, have you tried just using the Apple Digital Video Adapter on the iPad?  Plugs into the lightning port and it provides an HDMI & a lightning port (for charging while watching).  This would eliminate having to take the Apple TV.  This is the setup we use when traveling.  Our November Hawaii Cruise on the Grand will be my first test on Princess.  We last used this on RCCL’s Anthem.  

[Kingofcool1947]

12 hours ago, jmadams said:

Does anyone know if the television sets on princess cruises have accessible HDMI ports?  I am sure people bring Roku‘s, Kindle fire TVs, and Apple TVs etc, right?

Yes.

[pablo222]

13 hours ago, jmadams said:

Does anyone know if the television sets on princess cruises have accessible HDMI ports?  I am sure people bring Roku‘s, Kindle fire TVs, and Apple TVs etc, right?

 

This is answered pretty well for Regal in this thread:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2587947-help-is-hdmi-in-reach-on-regal/

 

There are some configurations, like some of the sideways inside cabins where you simply can't get your hand into the right place.

 

You ask about 'princess cruises'.    Princess enjoys being inconsistent.

 

You may find different brand TVs even on the same ship.

(Royal when it entered service had Vizio and Samsung)

 

Most of the TVs are setup for 'Hospitality Service', so even with the 'right' remote you may not

be able to change inputs.

 

So, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to your question.

 

 

 

 

Of course, you can always google some secret button press sequence to exit hospitality more.

 

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by pablo222

[MissP22]

My DH managed to switch inputs on the last few cruises using the TV's controls. No additional remote necessary.

That being said it was a bear to reach the HDMI input on wall mounted models. He's bringing a pair of needle nose pliers with him on our next cruise. 😉

Also if you use something like the OP suggested wouldn't it require a unlimited internet package? 

14 hours ago, jmadams said:

I am sure people bring Roku‘s, Kindle fire TVs, and Apple TVs etc, right?

 

[jmadams]

11 hours ago, fredflint said:

Yes we are the weird people that in the afternoon will go back to our room to relax and watch TV.

 only a cool person own a Komondor Mr. Flint 🙂 ( my apologies if it’s a white puli)

[jmadams]

10 hours ago, Dublin_Ca said:

You mentioned an Apple TV, have you tried just using the Apple Digital Video Adapter on the iPad?  Plugs into the lightning port and it provides an HDMI & a lightning port (for charging while watching).  This would eliminate having to take the Apple TV.  This is the setup we use when traveling.  Our November Hawaii Cruise on the Grand will be my first test on Princess.  We last used this on RCCL’s Anthem.  

I think I have the adapter you’re referring to. I got one so I could hook up a projector to an older iPad. I was playing It’s a great pumpkin Charlie Brown on my garage one Halloween for the trick-or-treaters.  Sometimes it’s easier just to watch stuff on the iPad by yourself but harder with others.

[jmadams]

3 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Also if you use something like the OP suggested wouldn't it require a unlimited internet package? 

Yes you do or it could cost you a quite a bit.  I’m embarrassed to admit I bought myself one for my phone  and didn’t realize my sister bought a package for all four of us.  I will use the second one for my iPad.   You can only register one device per account but you can set your device up as a temporary  Hotspot.

 

I’m really hoping I can get my internet set up why I wait to embark.  Its not real clear how you get your passwords  and connection info,  from my stateroom?   Too much to hope that they’ll automatically detect me.

 

Will most of the features of the new MedallionClass™ apps work while I’m waiting to embark or do I actually have to wait until I am on the ship?  I wanna try and see if I can use some of the apps that way if I have any problems I can ask for help at the CC sail away party!   Plus I’m gonna have to show my mom how to use them.   She was unable to do the OceanReady® herself.

[Valiamo]

11 hours ago, steelers36 said:

I have read in the past about taking a Universal Remote.  I guess you just have to figure out the setup code in order to work the TV.  I believe I have read on this board in the past an older thread about TV setup changes, but I am sure it was older TV's.  Anyway, it would be nice to have an easy way to plug in your own movies and such.

 

As the TV is a JVC (and not a "no name" generic TV), all modern Universal remotes will have a codes for JVC.  I did a quick google and it came up with a number of codes (it is based on the remote).   Luckily; most of the newer TV universal remotes will cycle through the available codes and it is a very easy process.    

[pablo222]

 

1 hour ago, Valiamo said:

 

As the TV is a JVC (and not a "no name" generic TV), all modern Universal remotes will have a codes for JVC.  I did a quick google and it came up with a number of codes (it is based on the remote).   Luckily; most of the newer TV universal remotes will cycle through the available codes and it is a very easy process.    

 

 

On Royal, we had a mini suite with two TVs.

We have a princess remote, and an official samsung remote.

 

The 'real' remote does no good when the tv is locked in hospitality mode.

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by pablo222

[Valiamo]

4 hours ago, pablo222 said:

 

On Royal, we had a mini suite with two TVs.

We have a princess remote, and an official samsung remote.

 

The 'real' remote does no good when the tv is locked in hospitality mode.

 

 

Yep, a locked TV would pose a different problem... 

 

Guess it is different depending on the set-up of the ship.   We were on the Star at the time the photo's were taken. 

[pablo222]

18 hours ago, MissP22 said:

My DH managed to switch inputs on the last few cruises using the TV's controls. No additional remote necessary.

That being said it was a bear to reach the HDMI input on wall mounted models. He's bringing a pair of needle nose pliers with him on our next cruise. 😉

Also if you use something like the OP suggested wouldn't it require a unlimited internet package? 

 

 

Four bucks at Harbor Freight.  Might be good for budget dental procedures as well.