Would an Amazon Fire Stick work with the TV in my stateroom?

[SempreMare]

In the category of:  Things on my Pack List that I hope I never need... Aka Hope for the best, plan for the worst...

 

If I catch Covid, Noro, Monkeypox, etc. during my upcoming cruise and become confined to my stateroom for a week, I'll want to have something on hand to decrease stress and relieve boredom. 

 

2 related questions: 

1)  Would an Amazon Fire Stick work with the TV in my stateroom?  I purchased one during Prime Day last month to bring with me during Q1 work travel.  I have not tested it yet.  At home I use AppleTV boxes for streaming. 

 

Ex:  An Amazon Fire Stick streaming content downloaded from my iPad via the Prime Video app would be a good distraction and stress reliever.

 

I believe making this work would require at least 3 things: 
a) The Amazon Fire Stick + iPad be on the same WiFi network.    

b) an accessible HDMI port on the Viking TV

c) Power to the Amazon Fire Stick from either  a) a USB port on the TV  b) a power bank + a USB cable that I bring

 

However, I'd like to avoid using a power bank to power the Amazon Fire Stick.   Question related to this: 
2) Is a USB port available on Viking stateroom TVs?

 

Not sure if this matters, but I'll be in a Penthouse Junior Suite (PS-2).   I believe that means 2 TVs from memory of Viking's room pics.    Are both TVs identical? 

Edited July 31, 2022 by SempreMare

[TayanaLorna]

Can't plug anything into the TV's that I know of.  Can only use the ship's WiFi for one device at a time per person.  All the TV's are the same.  You may be limited to the programming on the TV which is a lot or whatever you can watch on your IPad.  There are USB ports and electrical outlets on both sides of the bed and most likely some near to the seating area.  We usually bring a really long cable to use our tablets while charging them.

[Jim Avery]

Tanya is correct.. No accessible ports of any kind. They are 42” monitors.

[SempreMare]

36 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Can only use the ship's WiFi for one device at a time per person. 

 

Wow, I did not realize that.    Using my iPad and Phone at same time when traveling is a common use case the night before for finalizing next day plans.

 

hmm.  

 

Since I'm traveling solo but paying THOUSANDS for a non-existent second person in my stateroom, I wonder if that device limit could be upped to 2 devices for me? 

 

[TayanaLorna]

23 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

 

Wow, I did not realize that.    Using my iPad and Phone at same time when traveling is a common use case the night before for finalizing next day plans.

 

hmm.  

 

Since I'm traveling solo but paying THOUSANDS for a non-existent second person in my stateroom, I wonder if that device limit could be upped to 2 devices for me? 

 

You can probably make a case for that.  A connection for you and one for Harvey your invisible roommate.

[Dthomas1]

6 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

You can probably make a case for that.  A connection for you and one for Harvey your invisible roommate.

 

33 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

 

Wow, I did not realize that.    Using my iPad and Phone at same time when traveling is a common use case the night before for finalizing next day plans.

 

hmm.  

 

Since I'm traveling solo but paying THOUSANDS for a non-existent second person in my stateroom, I wonder if that device limit could be upped to 2 devices for me? 

 

The ships WiFi wouldn't be strong enough for an Amazon Fire Stick even if you could connect.

[cmaasfamily]

On our recent Viking Homelands it was two devices per person connected at the same time. If you add a third it will ask which of the other two you would like to disconnect. Not too onerous, IMHO. 

 

Also, I can't address Amazon Fire specifically, but in additional to speed issues, you would have out-of-market license issues with Hulu, Netflix, and others; you would not  be allowed to stream content. 

Edited July 31, 2022 by cmaasfamily
added thought

[travelbug11]

On my South America cruise, I could stream Amazon, Netflix, Apple & Hulu to watch movies.

 

Viking also has quite a repertoire of films as well, not to mention several news channels.

 

 

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, travelbug11 said:

On my South America cruise, I could stream Amazon, Netflix, Apple & Hulu to watch movies.

This could explain why wi-fi was so bad on our TA in March on Viking Sea. Too many people hogging the bandwidth. Is the entertainment on the Viking system not enough?

[travelbug11]

3 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

This could explain why wi-fi was so bad on our TA in March on Viking Sea. Too many people hogging the bandwidth. Is the entertainment on the Viking system not enough?

Wow, not nice.  We only got off the ship twice in 19 days because Argentina was closed to us. I was using one device, my cellphone.

[LindaS272]

Why is it “not nice” to point out that doing streaming chews up bandwidth so that other pax can’t access the internet?

[SempreMare]

Many thanks for your so very helpful replies!  

 

Just to emphasize, I really hope I won't want or feel the need to watch TV while on the cruise.  In other words, I really hope I won't get sick.   And, I'll already have downloaded iPad content for use on flights to and from. 

 

While everyone else were away on their excursions 😥,  and I was stuck in the room, I'd definitely want the TV on with my fave things playing.    A book might be too much energy to consume when sick.  

 

2 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

You can probably make a case for that.  A connection for you and one for Harvey your invisible roommate.

 

@TayanaLorna LOL Harvey 😂!  I'm so going to quote you!   

 

To which Viking person (which role?) would I address that request? 

 

Has anyone experienced the device limit as a per-stateroom thing?  (easily done via geo-fencing) 

Ex:  If your partner was not using any device in your stateroom, could you use [ Limit + 1 ] devices? 

 

Or, is it a per-guest logon with a password where you are timed out after a certain period? 

 

2 hours ago, cmaasfamily said:

On our recent Viking Homelands it was two devices per person connected at the same time. If you add a third it will ask which of the other two you would like to disconnect. Not too onerous, IMHO. 

 

My opinion & experience:  That's the type of thing that might not sound too bad right now. 

 

But in the moment, I'd be really annoyed by that.  It's interruptive.  It creates future task of reconnecting the other device. 

 

99% of the time,  I just want to get a straightforward planning task done for the next day or day after using multiple screens.   Then, get to sleep as soon as possible.   

 

Most common use case:

Look up Email confirmation on my personal  iPhone, while

looking at Google Maps directions on my iPad, and

looking at my whole Calendar on my work iPhone

 

2 hours ago, cmaasfamily said:

I can't address Amazon Fire specifically, but in additional to speed issues, you would have out-of-market license issues with Hulu, Netflix, and others; you would not  be allowed to stream content. 

 

Good point.  Sometimes a VPN to connect to a US server could fix that, sometimes it does not (ex: Netflix).

 

1 hour ago, travelbug11 said:

On my South America cruise, I could stream Amazon, Netflix, Apple & Hulu to watch movies.

 

How did you accomplish that?  Just by logging into your account via the Viking TV as-is?   Or... No login needed? 

 

1 hour ago, travelbug11 said:

Viking also has quite a repertoire of films as well, not to mention several news channels.

 

Great point!   

 

Though I'm going to bring my iPad with my favorite espionage thrillers*  downloaded for the flights there and back.  

 

* The Little Drummer Girl

I want to re-watch.  If you like espionage thrillers and Alexander Skarsgård, The Little Drummer Girl was SO good...
Links:  Imdb,  Amazon Video
 

* The Ipcress File  

Haven't finished this.  

Links:  Imdb,  Amazon Video

Edited July 31, 2022 by SempreMare

[travelbug11]

37 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

This could explain why wi-fi was so bad on our TA in March on Viking Sea. Too many people hogging the bandwidth. Is the entertainment on the Viking system not enough?

One person, one device.

only 300 passengers onboard.

It must have been your location.

[LindaS272]

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/frequently-asked-questions.html
 

“In order to ensure fair usage for all, we reserve the right to limit heavy-bandwidth applications, downloads or software upgrades so that all our guests have access to Wi-Fi. We suggest that guests limit large uploads/downloads and live streaming. Please download your content prior to your cruise, as bandwidth will affect your service and cannot be guaranteed.”
 

Nope “travelbug11”—others on our TA told us too many people were streaming on their devices.

[Doortravel]

On a 2019 river cruise Viking wifi system wouldn't allow VPN connection.

I had to complete all my work without VPN.

[CurlerRob]

3 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/frequently-asked-questions.html
 

“In order to ensure fair usage for all, we reserve the right to limit heavy-bandwidth applications, downloads or software upgrades so that all our guests have access to Wi-Fi. We suggest that guests limit large uploads/downloads and live streaming. Please download your content prior to your cruise, as bandwidth will affect your service and cannot be guaranteed.”
 

Nope “travelbug11”—others on our TA told us too many people were streaming on their devices.

 

The quality of internet service at sea is actually fairly complex. It's a function of many things, among them:

 

- The number of users / devices connected to the network (more is bad).

- What those people are doing (high bandwidth like streaming is worse than email).

- Atmospheric conditions

- Sea conditions (rough seas tax the ability of the antennae to stay locked on the satellites).

- Geographic location - higher latitudes, north or south, decrease the quality of the signal due to satellite angles.

- Terrestrial obstructions (such as fjords - not an issue when in mid-ocean). 

- User access prioritization - (ship instrumentation, crew access).

 

It's correct that more pax trying to stream will adversely affect everyone's performance, but it's far from the only issue.

 

If it's of any comfort, too many people sucking up bandwidth means that no-one gets satisfactory service - especially those trying to stream 😈. It's not like some people have great service and others none - all are penalized. (which hopefully leads to people reducing their demands on the system).

 

I find it encouraging that Viking continues to treat us as adults in this respect - asking us to be considerate of others. Some cruise lines take much more active steps, including throttling access speeds when you have used up a (usually minimal) amount of access - that tends to ruin everyone's experience all the time! 🍺🥌

[ericosmith]

Ok, but if the content is already on the tablet why do you need ships wifi at all.  Just a little travel router to set up your own network.  It doesn't need to be connected to the internet.  Of course that assumes there is an hdmi port to connect the firestick to.

[SempreMare]

Question for @CurlerRob :

 

Even if I have already saved the movies I'm watching locally to my iPad, 

IF I COULD (I realize the above replies confirm that I can't)

IF I COULD connect the Amazon Fire Stick to the Viking TV's HDMI port,  

Then I would still be creating WiFi network congestion since 

both the Firestick in my room and the iPad in my room connect to each other over WiFi. 

 

Is that correct? 

 

So the proper way to watch locally saved movies but NOT create network congestion

IF I COULD access the HDMI port 

Would be to connect

iPad to the USB-C --> HDMI adapter from Apple. 

HDMI to HDMI cable to the TV

 

This [See picture below] is how I typically do it in hotels when traveling for work...

Pic taken in the Hong Kong  (Tsim Sha Tsui) amazing hotel , The Langham.

Ironically, here I'm using this just to listen to a podcast over the room speakers and in the bathroom, not even to watch TV ;-).    I actually almost never watch TV shows / movies of any kind when I'm traveling!  😂   Too much to do! 

 

But if confined to the room,  I 100% would. 

[SempreMare]

23 minutes ago, ericosmith said:

Ok, but if the content is already on the tablet why do you need ships wifi at all.  Just a little travel router to set up your own network.  It doesn't need to be connected to the internet.  

 

I do have a Asus 330 travel router for this purpose.  But I was hoping to not bring it. 

Using that travel router always seems to require 15 min of debugging / fiddling with settings at a moment when I least want to do that.

 

On the other hand,  it would be a lot lighter than a long HDMI cable. That cable in the pic above weighs a ton. Much less suitcase space too.

 

And, this would be a way around the device limit without needing to convince anyone to increase my limit since I'm paying for 2 people but I'm only 1 person :-). 

 

@ericosmith which travel router do you use? 

 

Edited August 1, 2022 by SempreMare

[Jim Avery]

Like I said above there are no ports, HDMI or otherwise. The”tv” is a monitor for the ships network.

[SempreMare]

6 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Like I said above there are no ports, HDMI or otherwise. The”tv” is a monitor for the ships network.

Yep, that's why I emphasized in italics in my reply

"If I could..." 

while on the ship.

 

The above config is what I could use for before and after hotel stays.

 

Separate from the HDMI discussion, 

The travel router aspect brought up by @ericosmith Reminded me this would be a way around the device limit

1) without needing to convince anyone to increase my device limit because  I'm paying for 2 people but I'm only 1 person :-).

 

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, SempreMare said:

Even if I have already saved the movies I'm watching locally to my iPad, 

IF I COULD (I realize the above replies confirm that I can't)

IF I COULD connect the Amazon Fire Stick to the Viking TV's HDMI port,  

Then I would still be creating WiFi network congestion since 

both the Firestick in my room and the iPad in my room connect to each other over WiFi. 

 

Is that correct? 

 

So the proper way to watch locally saved movies but NOT create network congestion

IF I COULD access the HDMI port 

Would be to connect

iPad to the USB-C --> HDMI adapter from Apple. 

HDMI to HDMI cable to the TV

 

 

Correct - if you use the ship WiFi for data-intensive functions, that adds to the network load.

 

Also correct that the USB --> HDMI connections does not affect the WiFi network, as it's hard wired. As you've noted, this isn't possible. I've yet to find the cruise line that doesn't "seal" up their TV's such that no ports are accessible at all. I'm not sure why they do so - they state security as a reason, but I'd think the hacking risk through a TV is minimal. I had the identical problem a few years ago - downloaded some stuff I wanted to watch to my iPad, but no way to access the TV from it. Hotels are much more accommodating - loved your HK setup!

 

The local router approach sounds interesting for operating multiple devices, but doesn't solve the port access on the TV for content playback, unless I'm missing something. 🍺🥌

[Heidi13]

15 hours ago, travelbug11 said:

Wow, not nice.  We only got off the ship twice in 19 days because Argentina was closed to us. I was using one device, my cellphone.

 

Sorry, but that's a rather lame excuse, as that ratio isn't that uncommon with longer cruises.

 

To put it in perspective, on the MMT, after departing Darwin, we only had 3 days ashore in 71 days, until we disembarked in Gibraltar. So much to do on the ship, we had no time to stream anything, even if we did wish to contravene Viking's clear wi-fi use guidelines.

 

Since the wi-fi was always available and useable, I'll suggest most, if not all pax followed the guidelines.

[traveljkkk]

Do the TVs have closed caption yet?  I think on my 2019 cruises there was no CC setting.

[travelbug11]

7 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Sorry, but that's a rather lame excuse, as that ratio isn't that uncommon with longer cruises.

 

To put it in perspective, on the MMT, after departing Darwin, we only had 3 days ashore in 71 days, until we disembarked in Gibraltar. So much to do on the ship, we had no time to stream anything, even if we did wish to contravene Viking's clear wi-fi use guidelines.

 

Since the wi-fi was always available and useable, I'll suggest most, if not all pax followed the guidelines.

Andy,
Thank you so much for your explanation, I didn’t know the ground rules.

 

You have always been so helpful and knowledgeable.