How to Get Your ChromeCast Connected and Streaming on HAL Rotterdam

[PointsNerd]

Hey guys, 

 

I've received a lot of great information from the community in preparing for my first HAL cruise aboard the Rotterdam, which I am currently on, so I thought I would give back.

 

One of the things that I was most curious about was whether or not I could get my ChromeCast set up in the room so I could stream and cast to my TV.  Well the answer is that you definitely can.  I can't say that you will be able to get yours working but here's what I did to get mine to work.  

 

I'll break this into two parts, the Internet, and the ChromeCast Connection.  A word of warning - you need a bit of technical chops to pull this off but it's not impossible by any means - if you know how to tether your phone and how to change some settings in your ChromeCast before getting on board, you should be good to go.

 

The Internet

First off, you will need the Premium Internet Package (not the Surf).  We received the Surf Package as part of the Have It All (HAL) package and used it to connect my phone.  I then upgraded the package to the Premium Internet Package, which was priced at a reasonable $50 for the duration of our 12 day cruise.  

 

As a sidebar - the speeds I saw on the Surf Package are exactly the same as the Premium Package ... it's just that HAL blocks access to streaming sites unless you upgrade to the Premium.  A bit of a cash grab but the pricing is nominal so I'm not too upset.

 

 

I would HIGHLY recommend that you use your phone to connect to the Premium Internet Package.  I use an Android and Android makes it super easy to create a Hotspot with your phone.  Once you get your phone connected, use it to create a Hotspot - this is the wifi network your ChromeCast will connect to.

 

The ChromeCast Connection

The first thing you should know is that you will have to do a bit of pre-work with the ChromeCast before you get on board the ship.  I can't guarantee that this is what is what makes it work but it's a pretty good hypothesis.  You will need to enable HDMI-CEC on your ChromeCast which can be toggled on in Settings - Display & Sound - HDMI-CEC (see below).  When I plug in the ChromeCast into one of the HDMI ports, it automatically switches the input to the ChromeCast - I believe the HDMI-CEC setting is why that happens.  Again, it's an educated guess.

 

 

Before we get started, turn on the TV in your cabin as it needs to be on so that it can detect the ChromeCast when we eventually get it plugged in.

 

The HDMI port itself is a pain in the rear to get to.  When facing the TV, it is on the left hand side about 1/3 of the way down.  I have attached a picture of the connections behind the TV for reference.  I found that taking a picture with my phone and approximating the location of the plug, helped me blindly try to plug it in.  The TV is so tight to the wall, there's no real way to see the port while trying to get to it.  I found that reaching behind the TV from the top was the easiest way to do it.  The flat side of the HDMI port is towards the wall, so position your plug accordingly as you won't be able to turn it with the limited space once you're back there.  

 

 

Okay, now that you have the ChromeCast plugged in, the next part of the puzzle is getting power to the device.  Unfortunately, there's only one plug behind the TV and the TV is plugged into it, so you don't have any option to plug it in from behind the TV.  The closest plug in is by the bedside, at least in my room.  I ended up plugging in my laptop charger into the bedside plug and getting the laptop as close to the TV as possible with the long laptop plug cord.  I then ran a USB-C wire from the laptop to the ChromeCast and basically used the laptop as an extension cord.  If I had more information on the layout of the room, I would have just brought my battery pack and run the ChromeCast off of that - that's what I would suggest you do.

 

Once I plugged in the ChromeCast, the TV switched inputs automatically and picked up the ChromeCast!

 

 

Now all you have to do is connect your ChromeCast to the tethered wifi network you created above.

 

What Services Work

I can't say definitively what will work for you but the following things worked for me for streaming: YouTube, Prime Video, CBC Gem, Google TV Live

 

Netflix and DisneyPlus did not work.  Based on the diagnostics in the Netflix app, it looks like it's being blocked by HAL, rather than not being possible to stream.  I assume the same is true of DisneyPlus.  You'll notice that Netflix is clearly absent in the streaming icons in the Premium Package

 

 

 

 

Things to Consider

This is our first night aboard so I'll add information in the event that I discover anything new but the first thing I noticed is that during turndown service, the room attendent, took out our key card from the Master Power card reader, so power was not going to the TV or ChromeCast.  When I went to turn on the TV, I couldn't get any picture to show but I could see the volume move up and down with the remote.  I managed to get the ship's TV channels to show up but they appeared about a quarter of the size and on the right hand side of the screen - it looked really weird.  I needed to unplug and re-plug the ChromeCast from the HDMI port so that it recognized the device again.  Luckily it switched over fine but just something to watch out for.

 

Also, one other thing to note is that the streaming services we are subscribed to are from the Canadian versions of the services because ... well you guessed it, I'm Canadian. Not sure if that has any bearing on what works or not but just in case it's helpful

 

Good luck - hopefully this opens up a little more entertainment for you.  Let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to respond.

 

Edited December 4, 2023 by PointsNerd

[PointsNerd]

RESERVED 

[oakridger]

I know there are many who want to stay in their cabin and watch sports or whatever, so your info is valuable to them. I really mean that.  Everyone has their own personal things that bring them joy.

 

Me?  I'll be listening to the waves and enjoying the sea and the stars.  I go on the ship to experience the travel and scenery. (And the restaurants, drinks, music and people!) I can stay home to watch TV.  

 

~Nancy

[Mary229]

Thanks.  Do you think it will be the same method for a Roku?  

[PointsNerd]

7 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Thanks.  Do you think it will be the same method for a Roku?  

I don't have any experience with the Roku but I would imagine it would work just fine ... I would say that if the Roku doesn't automatically switch the input, you might need to bring a programmable universal remote for the TV.

[Torquer]

@PointsNerdGreat article.  There are a few things you are missing which may affect how it works for other people.  First, CEC is the technical name for the interface of how HDMI devices can control the TV via their remote control, or vice-versa.  Although, CEC is the real name for it, TV vendors call it different things:  Samsung calls it AnyNet, LG calls it SimpLink, etc.

 

The key point is that the protocol has to be enabled in the TV's menu for it to work and automatically connect to the HDMI device (Chromecast in this case).  I guess it was in your case, or you didn't mention the details.  There are a couple problems with this part.

 

First, all HAL ships have different model TVs, depending when the cabin was last renovated.  In the last year, we have seen both LG and Samsung TVs on ship.

 

Second and most importantly, on some ships/cabins, the remote control they give you is a minimal one and does not have all the functionality as the original TV remote.  For example, it may not have a source/input selection button and it might not have a button to take you into the TV setup menu where you can change things.  To get around this problem, we carry a small multi-function remote control that can control any modern TV.  We have used it on ships and hotels to watch movies from our laptop, which is a similar problem to Chromecast.

 

The final problem you might encounter, is the TV is setup in "hotel mode" and even if you have a real remote control, it will not let you change settings, like its inputs.  There are "secret codes" you can find on the internet if you search, that you can push on your remote control to take the TV out of hotel mode and put it back into it.

 

So although this worked for you, it is not necessarily an easy problem for a non-technical person to solve, particularly if they don't have the TV's original full-function remote control available.

[REOVA]

Glad you got it to work. It wouldn't for me on my last cruise. I have a Samsung and was able to cast on their Samsung TV previously but couldn't last month. Also depending on the TV the ports may be on the right or left (ours were right) and it is a tight fit as HAL doesn't want us accessing it. I also had a problem in my cabin streaming on my android as we weren't close to a booster/router so connection was very slow. For the person asking about Roku, you will need to check the version as older Roku won't cast. 

[TiogaCruiser]

So if one gets this to work, is there something that they should do before disembarking to return the TV to its former state?

[PointsNerd]

18 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

So if one gets this to work, is there something that they should do before disembarking to return the TV to its former state?

Nope. Just unplug the Chromecast. Everything should go back to normal 

[cruisedd]

Nice write up @PointsNerd.  I'm on Rotterdam this week and was able to get Chromecast working just as you described.  I tried plugging the Chromecast power USB into the TV (instead of the wall) but it didn't work for me.  So I used a long cord to the wall like you did.   Maybe the TV can't supply enough current.  I like your way better any way because it makes it easier to switch back and forth to HAL TV - just unplug or plug in the power.  That is hard to do with such a tight fit behind the TV!  Did you sign up for the meet and mingle on 12/6 at 10am?  It's in the Crows Nest.   Hope to see you there!