Cruise lines operate each cruise ship as its own business more or less. Cruise operators track their costs and compare them to the value of tickets sold, the various onboard extras people pay for, and any other revenue earned.
Some costs are fixed. You can't really change crew size cruise by cruise. The same goes for fuel and in-flight entertainment. Royal Caribbean has to pay the pub's guitarist even if the pub is empty, and Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) You have to pay the pianists who sing in the bar, whether that place draws a crowd or not.
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However, there are some costs that cruise lines can choose about. Before the pandemic, Royal Caribbean (RCL) They show movies all day on the big screen on the boats that have a screen on the pool deck. It showed the movies that were shown there at night more as background content.
Since the Covid restart, the cruise line is now only showing movies at select times. This is a budget-saving measure that probably hasn't bothered many passengers because it still offers recently released movies in the evenings, but not all the time.
The same logic applies to sports programming. Royal Caribbean and Carnival, under their namesake brands, typically have the big games and playoffs, but they may not have all the games customers want to see.
This is because they are choosing which networks to license and that can leave them with coverage holes. Both cruise lines also have a fairly limited selection of television channels in the passenger cabins and that is something that some cruise ships have complained about.
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Carnival promoted more television options
Some cruise passengers never use their cabin television, while others like to use it to watch internal programming. Both Carnival and Royal Caribbean have channels dedicated to onboard programming that often includes a daily show with the cruise director, as well as channels dedicated to excursions and booking future cruises.
However, there are passengers who like to keep up with the real world while at sea, and one of those cruise ships reached out to Carnival brand ambassador John Heald.
“John Heald. Talk to the beardies while you call them and tell them this. We need the major networks plus Fox News in this election year in the states. Plus, we want USA Network, HBO, FX. Since you guys are too cheap to pay for it, make it known that there should be an option of, say, a $20 to $100 increase in the cost of the cruise and add something like Internet or Cheers That kind of thing would pay 90% for an add-on like this,” M wrote. .
It's worth noting that cruise lines generally don't have the ability to license television networks on a per-person basis. Either they pay to have the channel on the boat or they don't.
The selection, however, may vary depending on the boat. Royal Caribbean ships, for example, that do not have the Playmakers Sports Bar have a smaller selection of sports channels in the cabin.
Carnival's Heald gives an answer, asks a question
“Well, as I've mentioned many times before, the cost of these types of channels is enormous,” Heald wrote.
He then asked his followers a question and got more than 3,400 responses.
“Do you agree? Would you ever want to pay an extra fee for these types of stations?” she added.
The results were mixed, but no one seemed to like the idea of paying more for a larger selection of channels.
“No! Vacations are time to unplug,” Colleen Halleran Coon responded.
That was a very popular response, but not universal.
“Yes, I would like more channels on TV. I like to watch a little TV before bed,” Beth McDonald wrote.
Barbara Thibault shared a practical approach.
“I would record anything I wanted to see. I'll watch it when I get home,” he shared.
Some people liked the idea of ”M”.
“Yes, I would pay more for additional channels as I like to watch the news while having coffee and my traveling companion sleeping in,” wrote Shirley Abts.
“Yes, I sure would. Vacations are whatever you do and enjoy. I don't drink, but I don't mind having all the bars. I enjoy relaxing, letting my mind rest and watching TV in the morning and evening,” he added. Travis Lester.
