When you take a cruise, you leave the US.
Your stateroom may look like a hotel room, but it's actually part of a ship that travels to various ports around the world. So unlike a US hotel stay, you won't have a full range of TV channels. Each cruise line enters into licensing agreements to offer a selection of entertainment, news and sports.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line warns its passengers about behavior on board
In most cases, these are the international broadcasts of those channels, so if you're watching the Super Bowl on a boat, you won't be able to see the commercials. Most large cruise ships will have access to the major sporting events, but not all.
In 2019, for example, Royal Caribbean (RCL) I was using a couple of older ships to travel to Cuba. When those voyages were canceled (then-President Donald Trump banned visits to the island), the cruise line kept Majesty of the Seas in the fleet even though it lacked many of the company's newer amenities.
Among the places missing was a sports bar, and that meant passengers on a July 2019 trip couldn't watch the U.S. Women's National Team take on England in the World Cup semifinals. The ship docked that day, but left port before the game ended.
This outraged many passengers, who didn't understand why the cruise line couldn't just start the game (it had no right to do so and would have faced huge fines).
The situation could have turned ugly, except that the manager of the Schooner Bar, the ship's main entertainment venue, handed out free drinks while angry passengers put aside their anger and gathered around a passenger's iPad to watch the game.
Now, Carnival Cruise Line passengers are facing a similar situation and brand ambassador John Heald did his best to calm any potential anger.
Image source: Getty Images
Cruise lines often offer major sporting events.
Most Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) and Royal Caribbean ships have sports bars. They will usually show all the major games, as well as a selection of others. In many cases, when it comes to regular season games, cruise lines show what they have by not making transportation specials for individual games.
In many cases, for large events they will also show games on poolside screens, in their casinos, and in theaters that have screens. For the Super Bowl and other championship games, both Royal Caribbean and Carnival typically offer a few special food options right next to the screen and ensure there are plenty of waiters around.
However, no cruise line offers that type of treatment for any other type of television programming. A Carnival passenger messaged Heald to explain what a serious mistake he had been. The brand ambassador responded with his usual mix of humor and honesty.
Carnival passengers will miss a popular show
“And now we move on to some serious bad news,” Heald said during his weekly Facebook video. “I am very sorry to have to tell you this, but I will start by reading this letter.”
Heald's facial expression as he says this suggests that while the news will be bad, in his mind it is not as dire as it is to the passenger asking it. He described the letter's author as “a young woman whose name begins with 'G'.”
“No one at Carnival can give me the answer to this. I've called, no one knows. Someone on my list (an unofficial social media forum for a cruise) told me I should write to you,” G wrote. “My sister and I are leaving at the Glory on March 24,” Heald read before stopping.
The brand ambassador then pretended to be upset about having to deliver bad news.
“The final episode of 'The Bachelor' is on March 25. I don't want to miss this episode. Will the ship get ABC and be able to appear on the big screen?” he asked.
Joey's journey to find love, he wrote, “has captured the hearts of America. Carnival is an American cruise line. I hope they know that not showing 'The Bachelor' will mean a lot of disappointment and anger for passengers.”
With fake tears, Heald broke the bad news.
“I'm so sorry, we can't show it,” he said, hiding his face behind his hands. “Joey, poor Joey, will he find love? Is Joey a man or a woman? I don't know, I don't know anything about Joey.”
Heald, who lives in England, noted that “The Bachelor” does not air there.
“You'll have to record it or buy the Internet and stream it,” he added.
Heald explained that three other passengers had also asked if the show would air, but “G” achieved special status.
“You're the one who got the angriest,” he said.
“We don't have ABC. Most cruise lines don't have networks (Royal Caribbean also won't air “The Bachelor” finale on board).”
Royal Caribbean also does not offer ABC nor do Norwegian, MSC Cruises or Virgin Voyages. Disney Cruises, however, offers ABC (since Walt Disney owns it) and will show the finale of “The Bachelor.”
