ACTION! TV AND BIG SCREEN ENTERTAINMENT ON CRUISE SHIPS

There was a time when the simple pleasure of being at sea on a cruise ship was dubbed entertaining enough in it's own right. But, with the explosion in digital and televised media over the last few years, that's no longer the case. Like many others in the leisure industry, cruise lines have been forced to move up a gear and provide far better, more comprehensive features for showing action movies, and even humble films and documentaries, both indoors and in the comfort of your cabin.

While the days of large, on board dedicated cinemas are largely gone, some lines are still stubborn hold outs. Top of the range is Holland America Line, which provides free hot popcorn for all major viewings. Both of the superlative Crystal ships provide full cinemas, as do two of the Fred. Olsen ships. And yes, there's still a sense of occasion about going 'to the movies' after an excellent dinner at sea. But these are very much in decline elsewhere, and it's not really so surprising.

Out on deck, giant movie screens known as 'Jumbotrons' are all the rage across the likes of Carnival, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean, amongst others. They can screen major sporting events out in the mid day sun, where food and drink outlets are easily to hand. at night, many of these screen a range of pre advertised blockbuster films. Particularly excellent in this respect is Princess Cruises, whose 'Movies Under The Stars' programme comes complete with a sun lounger and warm blanket for those less than balmy evenings.

Another big thing on cruise ships today is the dedicated sports bar, which can have anything up to a dozen screens in one venue, showing a range of top notch sporting entertainment from around the world at any one time. Needless to say, the volume of noise in these venues can be something else; watching the Super Bowl aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean, for instance, is not something that you instantly forget.

Today, even most of the smallest inside staterooms on cruise ships come with a TV that screens a string of pre programmed channels. More upscale lines such as Silversea and Crystal have hundreds of films, documentaries and even boxed sets pre loaded to use at a whim, and even an extensive range of DVD's available to hire for when you fancy that quiet 'night in' after dinner.