Freedom OTS and college football

[tightend88]

I wanted to see if anyone has had an issue similar to mine and if there is any advice I can get.

We are leaving on Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale on November 25 for an 8 night cruise. Since my wife booked this trip and didn't check the dates I had to let her know that the 25th is the Ohio State/Michigan game that starts at noon and the Big Ten Championship Game on December 2. I am concerned that we wont be able to see the game in any of the ship's bars or entertainment venues.

I was wondering if anyone else has had an issue like this and if the ship was able to help out viewing the game. If not, are there any suggestions on how to watch the game on the ship

[Clarea]

There's no way to know which game the ship will get, and the bartenders will not be able to select a different game. I'd have a plan B.

[blackshirt]

I would not bet on the Ohio State/Michigan game being on but the Big Ten championship is probably a good bet. For a possible plan B, if you intend to bring a laptop or mobile device and also plan to purchase the ship’s internet, get yourself a Slingbox and connect it to your home internet and tv. You will then be able to watch remotely by connecting to the Slingbox. You would likely need the surf & stream internet to watch.

[WisconsinFan]

Good luck! We tend to sail during March Madness and let's just say ESPN Caribbean isn't the first choice for American sports! We actually had a ton of folks in On Air watching the rotating games (yes, the games rotate through- get a break on on game, move on to the next) and had people wanting to sing karaoke. They were trying to convince us that these games were over- all replays! Once the Wisconsin game was over (we won!) they pulled up the screens and started karaoke. Wish Royal had a true sports bar.

[irishgal432]

I wanted to see if anyone has had an issue similar to mine and if there is any advice I can get.

We are leaving on Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale on November 25 for an 8 night cruise. Since my wife booked this trip and didn't check the dates I had to let her know that the 25th is the Ohio State/Michigan game that starts at noon and the Big Ten Championship Game on December 2. I am concerned that we wont be able to see the game in any of the ship's bars or entertainment venues.

I was wondering if anyone else has had an issue like this and if the ship was able to help out viewing the game. If not, are there any suggestions on how to watch the game on the ship

 

First of all, what good is your wife if she did not know that the game is always on that weekend.;p

 

As a wife of a Michigan fan and living in SEC country, it has indoctrinated in me to always check the football schedule. With that being said we did cruise over Thanksgiving and they did have the game on. This year it is at noon on Fox so I doubt they will have it. I did watch the Georgia game on my Ipad with the Voom and my friend watched the Alabama game on their ipad. I know it is not the same as a big screen tv, but I was able to sit outside enjoy the ocean and view the game all at the same time. You can purchase just a single day of Voom.

[sailor05]

I'm not sure (someone else answer?) but you might be able to purchase the high speed internet for 1 day if the game is all you want. Between my cable comapany and wireless carrier I can watch all games using the ESPN, BIG10, FOX SPORTS, apps. You HAVE to find a way to watch the Bucks put a whoopin on the Wolverines!!;p:') How bout that Penn State game!! WOW!!:p:D:cool:

[BillOh]

I wanted to see if anyone has had an issue similar to mine and if there is any advice I can get.

We are leaving on Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale on November 25 for an 8 night cruise. Since my wife booked this trip and didn't check the dates I had to let her know that the 25th is the Ohio State/Michigan game that starts at noon and the Big Ten Championship Game on December 2. I am concerned that we wont be able to see the game in any of the ship's bars or entertainment venues.

I was wondering if anyone else has had an issue like this and if the ship was able to help out viewing the game. If not, are there any suggestions on how to watch the game on the ship

 

 

First of all, OH

I've sailed Freedom twice and each time a major sporting event was occuring, but this wan't football season. They made an effort to make a couple of key games and even a PPV boxing event available. So ask when you get on board. Of course with Ohio State winning 10 of the last 11, you can rest assured if you don't see it.

Take a few quarters with you to appease any Wolverine cruisers.

Edited October 30, 2017 by BillOh
Directions to Michigan - North till you smell it, West till you step in it.

[Clarea]

I'm not sure (someone else answer?) but you might be able to purchase the high speed internet for 1 day if the game is all you want. Between my cable comapany and wireless carrier I can watch all games using the ESPN, BIG10, FOX SPORTS, apps. You HAVE to find a way to watch the Bucks put a whoopin on the Wolverines!!;p:') How bout that Penn State game!! WOW!!:p:D:cool:

Yes, Stream speed level can be purchased for one day for $28. However, I would check with the streaming provider because they may detect the ship's IP address as being outside the licensing limits.

[BillOh]

Yes, Stream speed level can be purchased for one day for $28. However, I would check with the streaming provider because they may detect the ship's IP address as being outside the licensing limits.

 

 

Interesting point I hadn't considered. I've streamed to my TV provider from around the country, but never tried it from a possible foreign IP.

[Clarea]

Interesting point I hadn't considered. I've streamed to my TV provider from around the country, but never tried it from a possible foreign IP.

I've seen reports where people say they have had no problem streaming on board, and others who say the streaming was not allowed. I'm not sure how to figure this out in advance.

[mil76]

Was on Liberty last week so maybe this will give you some perspective.

 

Saturday Noon EST games....don't hold your breath. European soccer games are still on then, so assume one or both of the two ESPN channels will have that. Soccer rules in the Caribbean, and we got Juventus-AC Milan. I'm also a soccer fan and I was hoping to catch the Chelsea-Bournemouth game which was on NBC in the states at that time, but no luck for me either. The 2nd ESPN channel showed a black screen for that time slot, so maybe they meant to show a college football game or even Chelsea-Bournemouth, maybe they didn't, but no one bothered to fix it for the entire time slot. Late afternoon games are a crap-shoot, and normal assumptions do not apply. Based on ranking of teams you would have thought that Ohio St.- Penn St. would have been on, but we got Notre Dame-NC State from NBC instead. For night games, these are a little more predictable as you'll probably get the ESPN/ABC night games. We even got the late-late USC-Arizona St. game.

 

Plan B's can be tricky as well. Just because you get a streaming package, don't assume you'll easily get the game. We wanted to watch Virginia Tech - Duke, so we got the streaming package (yes, you can buy by the day). I figured I'd get the game through WatchESPN, but I was mistaken as they blacked it out since I was out of the country. I did check other games on WatchESPN and they did play, but I have no idea why. We then did a Google search and found the ACC Network website which did allow us to stream. Also for those who have streaming DVRs, Xfinity X1 performance was miserable on Liberty, even with the fastest Xfinity internet at home, and we found much better luck with dedicated streaming sites like WatchESPN, HBOGO, etc. If you really want to catch the game, I suggest you do the research before you leave and have Plans A through D, and still be prepared that you may be SOL.

 

Speaking of the "Uh-oh, I wasn't planning on this when we booked the cruise" people, it was pretty cool to see all the Astros fans on-board. Nobody seemed to expect this, and the only place they could catch the game with sound was On-Air (poolside wasn't an option as the weather was bad all week).

[alfaeric]

I wanted to see if anyone has had an issue similar to mine and if there is any advice I can get.

We are leaving on Freedom out of Ft. Lauderdale on November 25 for an 8 night cruise. Since my wife booked this trip and didn't check the dates I had to let her know that the 25th is the Ohio State/Michigan game that starts at noon and the Big Ten Championship Game on December 2. I am concerned that we wont be able to see the game in any of the ship's bars or entertainment venues.

I was wondering if anyone else has had an issue like this and if the ship was able to help out viewing the game. If not, are there any suggestions on how to watch the game on the ship

We've sailed T-Giving a few times, and one of the two ESPN Caribbean did show the UM-OSU game each time.

 

It's not as if you are missing anything, anyway.... ;)

 

Go Blue.