Travel. Football. Travel or football? These are the two things that ignite a passion in a lot of people. Unfortunately, it’s quite common that at one time or another the two things fall on a collision course – do you hop on your dream cruise, or do you stay at home knowing you could miss a season defining moment of your much beloved team?
Well, there is a way to ensure you do both with cruise liners now offering holidays stacked with NFL benefits. Here we look at the four best cruises for NFL fans.
Royal Caribbean International
We kick off our look at the best cruises for NFL fans with a look at Royal Caribbean International, which is a company that are well know for their top tier cruises. Well, what is less known about them is that they commit hard to appeasing NFL fans who might be on their travels.
The games are all shown on the ship with this ranging from being available in your own private space all the way through sports bars and onto the big screens, which are also used for showing much loved movies, that dominate up on deck.
Alongside just showing the games, the main locations will come equipped with top of the range speaker systems as well whilst the RCI staff will don team colours and serve pun-heavy food and drink linked to the game. It all adds to the atmosphere ensuring you genuinely feel part of something.
If you’re someone that gets all het up watching your team or if you enjoy placing nerve-wracking bets on NFL odds, then, fear not, you can unwind the next day. Not only is the whole cruise experience with Princess a relaxing one but you’ve got a host of pampering opportunities at your fingertips a well.
Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises is a mammoth name in the world of cruises, and they really need to be a company you consider using if you’re looking to tick the boxes of enjoying a top quality cruise and not missing your football. From a pure cruise perspective, you can expect to find a host of entertainment options – both at day and night, well kitted out bedrooms, vast choice of good food and a strong customer service offering.
Bringing the NFL into focus, you’ve got plenty of tv screens dotted around the ships including in your own room and in specialist sports bars. This means you can take in the game keeping your game day routine as close as possible to your dry land approach – regardless of how you like to absorb the action. If you’ll take some advice, we recommend you check out the biggest screen on board; that’s a 300sq ft screen next to the main pool.
On top of just watching the games, Princess Cruises also have a load of game day activities for NFL fans. These range from special NFL inspired drinks through to typical ‘football food’ and post-game parties where you can really let loose – whether you’re celebrating or commiserating, this ticks the box!
Disney Cruises
When you talk about brand names, they don’t come much bigger than Disney and if you’re heading out on a cruise with kids then they could well be the cruise company that tick every single box for you – including their NFL coverage.
General day to day around the ship is packed with all the usual cruise ship ‘stuff’; we’re talking about swimming pools, good food, a wide selection of soft and alcoholic drinks, entertainment and much more. On top of that there are loads of stuff to keep the children (and Disney loving adults) occupied as well.
The football offering is surprising strong as well where Disney Cruises are concerned. They’ll show all the available games at various locations on board the ships regardless of whether you’re talking about the Super Bowl or a dead rubber between two no-hopers!
And what’s more is that you’ll be able to get wrapped up in the spirit of the sport with activities such as NFL trivia quizzes.
Norwegian Cruise Line
Last but not least we turn our attention to Norwegian Cruise Line. They offer coverage of NFL games on board but, to be honest, it isn’t the centre of their world so the defining matter on whether or not you choose to holiday with them will come down to how they stand up on the non-NFL facing stuff. To be fair, that side of things is pretty damn strong.
NCL, as they are often known, run packages loaded with entertainment. All the bog-standard stuff like comedy, street performers and singers are available but you’ve also got a couple of special touches too with things like activity zones, buzzing deck parties and a ship design that has an extensive promenade style for you to explore.
On the football side, games are broadcast around the ship in many locations. There are a number of bars and sports lounges dotted around the boats that will show games whilst you can get packages that give you unlimited wi-fi; that’s obviously not the dream way to keep in touch with things but it does at least keep you up to date. Don’t expect any special NFL touches around the edges though.
There you have it, the best cruises for NFL fans.
