Casting to TV's on the Odyssey

[CoolChange37]

Please "dumb" this down for me.  I am technologically challenged and hoping to be able to watch recorded shows on my Firestick that we use at home.  We are on the Odyssey for 14 days in October and I'm trying to figure out what I actually need to be able to use the TV with my gadgets.   I have an iPhone and iPad and can purchase a universal remote (which one?).  What does Casting mean?  We tried the HDMI cable and the Firestick on the Harmony in December and it didn't work, but we didn't have a universal remote.   TIA.  Please no snarky remarks.   I've read everything I can on these forums and still confused.   

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, CoolChange37 said:

 What does Casting mean?

Most mobile devices and laptops have a way to send displayed images and video to a compatible device (the TV in your cabin) wirelessly. Usually, it's a function of your device and you'd have to look up how to initiate the casting. Do that (look up how to do it on your device) and if you have a compatible device at home (newer TV), you can even practice before your cruise.

 

Your cabin steward might also be able to help/set it up for you.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Biker19

[CoolChange37]

Thanks Biker19!    Great advice.   So no remote?   

 

[Biker19]

36 minutes ago, CoolChange37 said:

So no remote?   

If you can practice at home and are satisfied with the casting results, no. If you plan to use the HDMI port, you might want one. 

[RobInMN]

3 hours ago, CoolChange37 said:

Please "dumb" this down for me.  I am technologically challenged and hoping to be able to watch recorded shows on my Firestick that we use at home.  We are on the Odyssey for 14 days in October and I'm trying to figure out what I actually need to be able to use the TV with my gadgets.   I have an iPhone and iPad and can purchase a universal remote (which one?).  What does Casting mean?  We tried the HDMI cable and the Firestick on the Harmony in December and it didn't work, but we didn't have a universal remote.   TIA.  Please no snarky remarks.   I've read everything I can on these forums and still confused.   

Nothing is "recorded" on your Firestick. Your Firestick runs applications, streaming services, like Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, etc. For most streaming services, you are just streaming what they have available. When you talk "recording", then you are talking about services like YoutubeTV, HULU+Live, or even something like DirecTV Stream that take the place of your normal "Cable Service". That said, I think Xfinity may have some form of an app that you can stream content to, but not sure. Anyway, whether it's live or something you asked those services to record, it's all still streamed from the cloud.

The Firestick is just a convenient way to access that content. You can also install almost all the apps on your phone and/or tablet (in your case iPhone/iPad).

If you are running them from your phone or tablet, you can cast them. I don't do it this way, so someone else will need to answer that part.

If you are running them on your Firestick, as you are asking about, then you plug it into the HDMI port of the TV just like you would do at home. I carry a 10 foot HDMI cable and a female-to-female adaptor so that I am not limited to where I have access to an outlet.

Once you've connected the Firestick, you'll need to change the TV's source input to the HDMI port that you plugged your Firestick into. The remotes that Royal provides are custom, and do not have the 'Input' button (many hotels are the same), so this is where you need a universal remote. Honestly, the brand/model shouldn't matter. Just buy something that you can easily program from one manufacturer to the next. Royal uses Samsung on all their ships (so far anyway). If you care, I purchased this recently:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088Y2JFHB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

This is where @mmbtvs mentioned that you can get universal remote apps for Android phones. He specifically said Android, so I guess it's not an option for Apple phones/tablets. I think I might buy a USB IR Transmitter and install a universal remote app and give it a try next cruise. But I'll still bring my physical remote just in case.

 

On the newer ships, like Odyssey - and I've experienced this in hotels as well, it is very likely that you will need to unplug the network connection. That seems to run a custom app on startup that will not allow you to get to the Input sources menu. And then you will probably need to unplug the TV and plug it back it to reboot it.

 

Once you have it set up physically, you'll need to connect it to the wifi.

The first way to do this is to connect it directly to the ship's wifi. You can do this starting the same way you do it at home thought the settings on the Firestick, but then you will need to launch a web browser and try to get the Royal wifi login screen, which will be just like what you do with your phone/tablet for connecting. When connecting, you'll boot off someone else, unless you buy a device count that gives the FireStick it's own dedicated connection. But that seems a bit expensive.

The second way to do it works with some Android phones. From what I understand, you can't do it with Apple phones, and that is to setup a WiFi Hotspot that hotspots the phone's wifi connection. Apparently iPhones can only hotspot a cellular network connection, and some Android phones also. Anyway, on our phones (Samsung Galaxy S's), you setup the wifi hotspot, then turn it on (you can't turn it on if you have airplane mode turned on, so that has to be off). Since airplane mode is off, we want to make sure it doesn't try to hotspot the roaming ship's cellular data connection, so we turn off Mobile Data. And obviously wifi needs to be on and the device connected to the ship's wifi. Then, you connect the Firestick to your phone's hotspot, and you're good-to-go. You can set this up ahead of time, including your hotspot password, and then once on board, you just enable the phone's hotspot, and the Firestick should find it automatically.

The third option might be the best option for your Apple devices, and that is a travel router/bridge. I think something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1G12SN05NNXFW

Someone else will have to give more specifics, but essentially, you'll connect the router/bridge to ship's wifi and then the Firestick to the router/bridge. You may have to use your phone to get the bridge/router to connect to the ship's wifi, but it's probably easier than trying to go through the Firestick's UI. Also, while you are using the router/bridge you can use your phone/tablet at the same time as watching on the Firestick.

 

It might be worth purchasing a cheap used Samsung Galaxy without a mobile plan?? I wonder if the hotspot will still work. My wifi-only Samsung tablet doesn't have a hotspot option.

 

The last thing I'll add is that I suggest using a VPN. I use ExpressVPN, and Chicago is the closest to Minneapolis, so I use that. I have it installed and enabled on both the Firestick and the phone being used as the hotspot. For the normal streaming services, this will guarantee that you have access to what you expect, and not what's available in whatever country it thinks you are in. The other thing is that for services like YTTV, a lot of content it locationally locked. You can not watch US Broadcast TV, either live or recorded in it thinks you are outside of the US. Further, you can also have issues with recording anything that is syndicated on a local TV station (like Jeopardy!) if it knows that you are outside of that station's local viewing area or in another affiliates viewing area. When you connect directly to the ship's wifi without a VPN, it will eventually figure out that you are not home, and will likely lock you out. Even connecting to my phone's hotspot, I believe the phone's location is somehow passed to the Firestick and YTTV, and I get locked out. I've had the best luck when making sure that the VPN is enabled on both the Firestick and the phone. We recently did the Grand Danube on AmaMagna, and had no problems watching YTTV through 9 different countries, and 3 hotels in addition to the ship. Even when using a server in Chicago. I haven't figured out why YTTV is not complaining about not being in Minneapolis, but I'm just happy it's been working. 

 

Edited May 6, 2023 by RobInMN

[CoolChange37]

Yikes, RobinMN!   That's alot of information.  Thank you so much!   We are from Tennessee going to the Greek Isles and Israel, so thinking that is a bit far from home.  Gonna research the VPN thing.   Completely clueless at this point but have a couple of months to figure it out.   Thanks again!

[RobInMN]

5 minutes ago, CoolChange37 said:

going to the Greek Isles and Israel, 

Awesome! We recently booked that same cruise, also in Oct, but in '24! 

[orville99]

Casting may or may not work at first depending on how the on board IT folks have hobbled the TVs. On Wonder in January we had to negotiate with them to turn that function on.  Even our HDMI set up which works on every other ship in the fleet wouldn't work until they unblocked the HDMI ports. In April everything worked with no issues although between January and April they significantly throttled down the satellite internet speeds so things that streamed in January were "chunky" at best in April. YMMV

[CoolChange37]

On 5/6/2023 at 5:32 PM, orville99 said:

Casting may or may not work at first depending on how the on board IT folks have hobbled the TVs. On Wonder in January we had to negotiate with them to turn that function on.  Even our HDMI set up which works on every other ship in the fleet wouldn't work until they unblocked the HDMI ports. In April everything worked with no issues although between January and April they significantly throttled down the satellite internet speeds so things that streamed in January were "chunky" at best in April. YMMV

May I ask what you mean by negotiate?   We are going to be on the Odyssey and traveling from Rome to Greece to Israel and such.   

[CoolChange37]

On 5/6/2023 at 2:44 PM, RobInMN said:

Nothing is "recorded" on your Firestick. Your Firestick runs applications, streaming services, like Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, etc. For most streaming services, you are just streaming what they have available. When you talk "recording", then you are talking about services like YoutubeTV, HULU+Live, or even something like DirecTV Stream that take the place of your normal "Cable Service". That said, I think Xfinity may have some form of an app that you can stream content to, but not sure. Anyway, whether it's live or something you asked those services to record, it's all still streamed from the cloud.

The Firestick is just a convenient way to access that content. You can also install almost all the apps on your phone and/or tablet (in your case iPhone/iPad).

If you are running them from your phone or tablet, you can cast them. I don't do it this way, so someone else will need to answer that part.

If you are running them on your Firestick, as you are asking about, then you plug it into the HDMI port of the TV just like you would do at home. I carry a 10 foot HDMI cable and a female-to-female adaptor so that I am not limited to where I have access to an outlet.

Once you've connected the Firestick, you'll need to change the TV's source input to the HDMI port that you plugged your Firestick into. The remotes that Royal provides are custom, and do not have the 'Input' button (many hotels are the same), so this is where you need a universal remote. Honestly, the brand/model shouldn't matter. Just buy something that you can easily program from one manufacturer to the next. Royal uses Samsung on all their ships (so far anyway). If you care, I purchased this recently:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088Y2JFHB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

This is where @mmbtvs mentioned that you can get universal remote apps for Android phones. He specifically said Android, so I guess it's not an option for Apple phones/tablets. I think I might buy a USB IR Transmitter and install a universal remote app and give it a try next cruise. But I'll still bring my physical remote just in case.

 

On the newer ships, like Odyssey - and I've experienced this in hotels as well, it is very likely that you will need to unplug the network connection. That seems to run a custom app on startup that will not allow you to get to the Input sources menu. And then you will probably need to unplug the TV and plug it back it to reboot it.

 

Once you have it set up physically, you'll need to connect it to the wifi.

The first way to do this is to connect it directly to the ship's wifi. You can do this starting the same way you do it at home thought the settings on the Firestick, but then you will need to launch a web browser and try to get the Royal wifi login screen, which will be just like what you do with your phone/tablet for connecting. When connecting, you'll boot off someone else, unless you buy a device count that gives the FireStick it's own dedicated connection. But that seems a bit expensive.

The second way to do it works with some Android phones. From what I understand, you can't do it with Apple phones, and that is to setup a WiFi Hotspot that hotspots the phone's wifi connection. Apparently iPhones can only hotspot a cellular network connection, and some Android phones also. Anyway, on our phones (Samsung Galaxy S's), you setup the wifi hotspot, then turn it on (you can't turn it on if you have airplane mode turned on, so that has to be off). Since airplane mode is off, we want to make sure it doesn't try to hotspot the roaming ship's cellular data connection, so we turn off Mobile Data. And obviously wifi needs to be on and the device connected to the ship's wifi. Then, you connect the Firestick to your phone's hotspot, and you're good-to-go. You can set this up ahead of time, including your hotspot password, and then once on board, you just enable the phone's hotspot, and the Firestick should find it automatically.

The third option might be the best option for your Apple devices, and that is a travel router/bridge. I think something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Wireless-Travel-Router-TL-WR902AC/dp/B01N5RCZQH/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1G12SN05NNXFW

Someone else will have to give more specifics, but essentially, you'll connect the router/bridge to ship's wifi and then the Firestick to the router/bridge. You may have to use your phone to get the bridge/router to connect to the ship's wifi, but it's probably easier than trying to go through the Firestick's UI. Also, while you are using the router/bridge you can use your phone/tablet at the same time as watching on the Firestick.

 

It might be worth purchasing a cheap used Samsung Galaxy without a mobile plan?? I wonder if the hotspot will still work. My wifi-only Samsung tablet doesn't have a hotspot option.

 

The last thing I'll add is that I suggest using a VPN. I use ExpressVPN, and Chicago is the closest to Minneapolis, so I use that. I have it installed and enabled on both the Firestick and the phone being used as the hotspot. For the normal streaming services, this will guarantee that you have access to what you expect, and not what's available in whatever country it thinks you are in. The other thing is that for services like YTTV, a lot of content it locationally locked. You can not watch US Broadcast TV, either live or recorded in it thinks you are outside of the US. Further, you can also have issues with recording anything that is syndicated on a local TV station (like Jeopardy!) if it knows that you are outside of that station's local viewing area or in another affiliates viewing area. When you connect directly to the ship's wifi without a VPN, it will eventually figure out that you are not home, and will likely lock you out. Even connecting to my phone's hotspot, I believe the phone's location is somehow passed to the Firestick and YTTV, and I get locked out. I've had the best luck when making sure that the VPN is enabled on both the Firestick and the phone. We recently did the Grand Danube on AmaMagna, and had no problems watching YTTV through 9 different countries, and 3 hotels in addition to the ship. Even when using a server in Chicago. I haven't figured out why YTTV is not complaining about not being in Minneapolis, but I'm just happy it's been working. 

 

My next question.  We live in the US and will be traveling to Italy, Israel and Greece.  What type of VPN would you suggest for a Firestick to be able to pick up my recorded shows or casting from my iPad to the TV for recorded movies/shows?   TIA

 

[orville99]

1 hour ago, CoolChange37 said:

May I ask what you mean by negotiate?   We are going to be on the Odyssey and traveling from Rome to Greece to Israel and such.   

Debate with guest services over whether that capability was available and why their “we can’t do that” answer was BS since it was available on the same ship one month earlier.

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, CoolChange37 said:

My next question.  We live in the US and will be traveling to Italy, Israel and Greece.  What type of VPN would you suggest for a Firestick to be able to pick up my recorded shows or casting from my iPad to the TV for recorded movies/shows?   TIA

 

Any VPN with servers in the United States will work.

Like I said in my previous post, I use ExpressVPN, but NordVPN & SurfShark are 2 other highly rated ones with large user bases. There are plenty of other ones out there also.

[CoolChange37]

9 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

Any VPN with servers in the United States will work.

Like I said in my previous post, I use ExpressVPN, but NordVPN & SurfShark are 2 other highly rated ones with large user bases. There are plenty of other ones out there also.

Thanks.   That's the one I was looking at.