I am a fist time cruiser and we will be on the boat the day of the Superbowl. My husband and I are huge football fans and didn't realize that it was the same weekend. Do you think we will be able to watch it on the boat? Any tips on where to watch or how to make sure we have good seating for it? We are sailing in the Monarch of the Sea out of Port Canavral on the 5th of February.
Any other tips? My husband surprised me with this trip for my 40th. how do we get a good table at dinner? Should we "over tip" to start with?
sorry for the long post and thanks for any help you can offer!
Hi smbmayer and welcome to Cruise Chat. I am sure that many have sailed during Super Bowl and can fill you in on this. I would imagine that the game will be shown on your TV in your stateroom as well as around the ship for your viewing pleasure. Also, it will depend on the time when and where you are as to whether it may be shown live. Congratulations on your 40th Anniversary and he certainly is a smart one to celebrate it with a cruise. Your table for dining will be assigned prior to your sailing and will be shown on your cruise card. There is no need to tip at your first seating. You can take a peak at your table prior to the first dining to see where it is and also can ask for a change in seating; however, this is not always an option. We have sailed alone and enjoyed joining larger tables and had many an enjoyable dining experience with others.
We sailed Monarch's sister ship, Majesty of the Seas, during a Redskins' playoff game (that tells you how long ago *that* was!) and it was really fun. All the lounges had the games on tv. We passed by one of the other playoff games earlier that day, which was being played on big televisions in the Viking Crown Lounge, with a big crowd watching the game. We chose to watch the game in our room. When we went down to our deck, we found lots of folks were watching with their cabin doors open, and it became a big party. Folks had ordered room service food, some people were standing in doorways, watching pieces of the game as they walked by. It was like a college dormitory for a while.
There are some groups that sail on Superbowl Sunday every year, so you know that the ships have good viewing opportunities available.
We were on a cruise during the Super Bowl a few years ago. The ship played the game live on all of the TVs in the bar areas as well as a large projection screen in one of the lounges. I suggest that you stake out your game time area early. Many people showed up right at kickoff and were disappointed that they couldn’t sit front and center.
Enjoy your cruise!
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I have done seven cruises on Superbowl. I have done it with three different cruise lines. They will be showing the game anywhere on the ship where there's a TV. On the Monarch the Schooner Bar and Viking Crown will be good locations. Some cruises may be showing it on the big screen in the main show lounge. You will want to go early to stake out your seat. I've been on two Superbowl cruises with Royal Caribbean, and the one real big disappointment was they blacked out the Superbowl commercials. The other cruise lines I've been on for Superbowl showed the commercials. Also, they will have some tailgating food in the lounge where they're showing the game. People will be wearing their teams jerseys. It's a fun time.
Thanks for all of your informative posts. I am really getting excited to celebrate my birthday at sea.
Another question if you don't mind, a birth certificate will work on this type of closed loop cruise, correct? Everyone including the cruise line have said yes, but I would like to hear it from an experienced cruiser.
a birth certificate will work on this type of closed loop cruise, correct?
And you need to make sure it is either an original or a certified copy from a government agency with some sort of seal or official stamp on it. Photocopies or notarized copies are worthless.
You definitely don't want to show up too close to the sailing time. I believe the current rules with Customs and Border Protection require passengers to be checked in 90 minutes prior to the published sailing time.
Even though cruise lines normally say "boarding begins at 1pm (or 1:30, or 2), it is funny they alway have a start time for the lunch buffet around noon. That's because passengers are usually allowed to board the ship in the 11am to noon time frame. It isn't an exact science but if you show up around 11am I pretty much can say you'll be aboard and eating lunch within an hour or so. Cabins usually are not available until 1 or 1:30pm so you'll have to cart your carry-on luggage around with you for a little while.
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