Stateroom free movies eliminated

[Mike981]

41 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

 

I think there is a lot of assuming going on. I would venture to guess none of us know the terms of the contract to show the movies.

 

If it is a contract like used for a movie theatre, X would pay a higher price. Movie studios pay theatres to show trailers to promote upcoming movies. Theatres also rum local ads on . the screen to make money. Then the movie studios take anywhere from 60%-80% of the gross profits for the ticket sales of the first week. X isn't showing trailers or ads....they have nothing to negotiate with.

 

If the contract is more like a public venue purchasing a PPV event to show...say a sports bar is going to show a PPV fight...those contracts are based on number of people that can see the show...say total occupancy.This could be a large number for X if it's based on passenger count.

 

I'm not a contract negotiator, but I would be willing to bet whoever negotiated AA's contract made some comment to the effect of...' we have a captive audience, we average X number of views which get's this or that movie talked about or draws interest in a director or a theme such as Marvel...just as an example.

 

There was a story from 1987 saying AA was able to save $40k/year simply by eliminating 1 olive in each salad. That was 1987 and not major movie studios. I can easily see this as savings of $5M-$10M a year.

 

 

This is a very good post. I worked in radio for years and I was amazed how much our royalty fees were to play music that was promoting the music on one station. We had six and I'm talking small market.

 

There is a whole lot more going on here than the individual changes that keep happening.

 

I'm sorry for those who are upset. I hope that you are still able to have a great trip.
 

[Blazerboy]

1 hour ago, txflood33 said:

 

I think there is a lot of assuming going on. I would venture to guess none of us know the terms of the contract to show the movies.

 

If it is a contract like used for a movie theatre, X would pay a higher price. Movie studios pay theatres to show trailers to promote upcoming movies. Theatres also rum local ads on . the screen to make money. Then the movie studios take anywhere from 60%-80% of the gross profits for the ticket sales of the first week. X isn't showing trailers or ads....they have nothing to negotiate with.

 

If the contract is more like a public venue purchasing a PPV event to show...say a sports bar is going to show a PPV fight...those contracts are based on number of people that can see the show...say total occupancy.This could be a large number for X if it's based on passenger count.

 

I'm not a contract negotiator, but I would be willing to bet whoever negotiated AA's contract made some comment to the effect of...' we have a captive audience, we average X number of views which get's this or that movie talked about or draws interest in a director or a theme such as Marvel...just as an example.

 

There was a story from 1987 saying AA was able to save $40k/year simply by eliminating 1 olive in each salad. That was 1987 and not major movie studios. I can easily see this as savings of $5M-$10M a year.

This what I was thinking, and even about the one olive story. 

 

I love to watch movies when I travel...I'm even fine with oldies but goodies...or even just plain oldies...it's the ultimate luxury to have all that is offered on a cruise available, and decide to sleep in, have room service, and watch a bad movie.  I did it in Corfu a few years ago on a port-intensive trip, where I just wanted a "spa" day.

 

It won't stop me from cruising- but I won't be adding any money to the kitty by paying $14.95.

 

And, yes, I might have a few extra cocktails instead!  Take that, accountants!😉

[gcorgain]

I wrote celebrityonetouch@celebrity.com and let them know of my disappointment.

[Nymich]

1 hour ago, txflood33 said:

 

I think there is a lot of assuming going on. I would venture to guess none of us know the terms of the contract to show the movies.

 

If it is a contract like used for a movie theatre, X would pay a higher price. Movie studios pay theatres to show trailers to promote upcoming movies. Theatres also rum local ads on . the screen to make money. Then the movie studios take anywhere from 60%-80% of the gross profits for the ticket sales of the first week. X isn't showing trailers or ads....they have nothing to negotiate with.

 

If the contract is more like a public venue purchasing a PPV event to show...say a sports bar is going to show a PPV fight...those contracts are based on number of people that can see the show...say total occupancy.This could be a large number for X if it's based on passenger count.

 

I'm not a contract negotiator, but I would be willing to bet whoever negotiated AA's contract made some comment to the effect of...' we have a captive audience, we average X number of views which get's this or that movie talked about or draws interest in a director or a theme such as Marvel...just as an example.

 

There was a story from 1987 saying AA was able to save $40k/year simply by eliminating 1 olive in each salad. That was 1987 and not major movie studios. I can easily see this as savings of $5M-$10M a year.

you should work for X in the cut department!!  j/k

[The_Big_M]

2 hours ago, Nymich said:

So how many "millions" will X save by canning 5 free movies? 

 

Btw he couldn't tell me as I think he knew he stepped outside what should be said.  I think he just said millions because it sounds good. 

 

What do you think it would be if not "millions?"

[Nymich]

23 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

 

What do you think it would be if not "millions?"

I thin he is a guy who answers the phone for X and has no clue what he was saying.  Personally I have no idea what X saves by doing this but it's a cheap move imo.

[twodjs]

How is it that Holland America can offer lots of very current movies on demand all for FREE and charge less for their cabins when Celebrity charges way more and can't figure out how to provide decent movies built into the price of the cruise? Sure it may cost millions per year. But this decision also created lots of really unhappy customers. If they thought it through, that one less drink that someone had (premium drink package) because they were watching a great movie in their cabin, probably more than paid the fee Celebrity was charged to have that viewing. And to take away the free movie option is just a bad PR move. I bet they thought no one would notice. Surprise! I'm calling tomorrow. Thanks for the posts!

[lori.ki]

This is very upsetting to me. My mom and I loved watching a movie at the end of the night. It's especially good for those who may have difficulty being out around all the noise and people, like me because I'm autistic. We're on the Equinox on 9/23. I was counting on being able to watch movies. I'm going to have to figure something else out. Does anyone know how long you get a movie for if you pay the $14.95? 24 hours or something? A portable DVD player is so small and hard for two people to watch. For as expensive as a cruise is, this seems like a silly thing to take away. Maybe they could do an unlimited in-room movie package for a certain amount per day. It'd be better than nothing.

[the_dylaness]

The customer service rep AND management person I spoke to yesterday indicated (FWIW) that they REALLY are interested in this feedback.  The mgmt person especially seemed to grasp why I was frustrated, and actually even sighed and said "oh my gosh!" when I told her how much they were asking for to watch a movie.

 

I think the more people who call and complain we may have some chance of finding a compromise.

The rockers are gone, right?

[Suite Susie]

We got off the Silhouette on Sunday and we had about a dozen free movies to watch.  Watched a couple.  The TV selection was truly awful and we noticed a big difference from previous cruises.  Hardly anything to watch apart from News and Sport.  We always spend time in our cabin late afternoon and like to watch something, whilst we relax and recharge our batteries for the evening.  Will be very disappointed if they remove the free movies entirely.

[hcat]

If this holds we may have to bring our  larger ( heavier)  lap top  for  movies on longer cruises.,,but of course it won't fit in the safe!  

 

  Carrying that on, plus wine, water,  and all the other stuff, kind of annoying.!

 

BTW SW Air has a great playlist of movies, current and classic and also lots for kds!

[omc329]

We have our  first cruise booked with x next year. Since I booked it, I have been reading these boards and catching up on what's what. I'm not impressed. I've purchased the beach balls for the balcony, but bringing a dvd set-up on  board is a little over the top. REALLY!?!

 

Yes, we are in the camp where sometimes you just want to chill in the quiet of your cabin and watch a movie together. I've never heard of a cruise line that didn't offer free movies in the cabin. $15!?! I can see a first run matinee at the movie theater for only $5 or 6 a person and rent online for $5 bucks, a wide variety of films. Again, FIFTEEN!?!

 

This might well be our first and only on x. We'll see. Frankly, we're thinking about taking 2021 and skipping the cruises for the year. All the cuts on all the cruise lines are beginning to blow the experience entirely. Balconetts, loss of promenades, loss of furniture, loss of quality foods, lowering entertainment and on and on. It used to feel luxurious to get on a ship.

 

Ds is working on putting together a land trip to Japan. If he gets it worked out, we will cancel the cruise we had booked there in '21. We'll get more time, and a much better experience for fewer $$$. The only thing I'll lose is the loss of lines all over the ship and the feel of the waves. Nothing to rock me to sleep at night. Oh well.

[dezscott]

Has anyone besides the OP been able to confirm this. It was just a few weeks ago that everyone was upset about paying gratuities on the beverage package.

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, doubled said:

Although we don't cruise to watch movies in our stateroom, we usually cruise for 10 nights or longer and have enjoyed being able to catch a movie in our stateroom on occasion.  Disappointed to see this happen. 

Agree with you.  We watch a lot of TV at home.  We have Netflix and Amazon Prime too.  Probably like lots of people here.  So on a cruise the option to escape TV and movies and enjoy other types of entertainment is what we prefer.  But that is just us and many people like to relax with a movie in their stateroom.  We have too but really on rare occasions.  It is just not an option we use very much on ships.  But I agree with everybody that Celebrity should bring back the free movies for those that want to enjoy them.

[Nymich]

2 hours ago, Suite Susie said:

We got off the Silhouette on Sunday and we had about a dozen free movies to watch.  Watched a couple.  The TV selection was truly awful and we noticed a big difference from previous cruises.  Hardly anything to watch apart from News and Sport.  We always spend time in our cabin late afternoon and like to watch something, whilst we relax and recharge our batteries for the evening.  Will be very disappointed if they remove the free movies entirely.

We had someone else report in that the Silhouette did not have free on demand movies.  The date Celebrity said they chose not to renew their contact was Wednesday September 4th.  Free movies were there earlier than that date.

[Nymich]

29 minutes ago, dezscott said:

Has anyone besides the OP been able to confirm this. It was just a few weeks ago that everyone was upset about paying gratuities on the beverage package.

If you read through the thread two ships have reported no free movies as well as Captains Club has confirmed this.    If the pressure continues maybe they turn them back on.   

 

Oh and welcome to Cruise Critic with your first post.

Edited September 11, 2019 by Nymich

[Nymich]

6 hours ago, twodjs said:

How is it that Holland America can offer lots of very current movies on demand all for FREE and charge less for their cabins when Celebrity charges way more and can't figure out how to provide decent movies built into the price of the cruise? Sure it may cost millions per year. But this decision also created lots of really unhappy customers. If they thought it through, that one less drink that someone had (premium drink package) because they were watching a great movie in their cabin, probably more than paid the fee Celebrity was charged to have that viewing. And to take away the free movie option is just a bad PR move. I bet they thought no one would notice. Surprise! I'm calling tomorrow. Thanks for the posts!

This is another awesome post and hitting the point straight on!   I agree on all points!

[bermadu22]

On 9/9/2019 at 9:47 AM, Nymich said:

No doubt Bo it is however people need to know Celebrity has made all movies on demand an upcharge according to Equinox Guest Relations Desk.   It is a big change when competitors like HAL offer 20 newer movies at no charge.   We sail them both for different reasons.

I am still waiting for someone on any X ship right now to verify this.

It seemed to be the case on the Summit when we cruised 9/1 to 9/8. Food Network, HGTV, the occasional odd episode of a TV show like Vikings, but any TV show episodes were one offs, and repeats of the same episodes of Modern Family, Suits, and Pretty Little Liars. We rented one On Demand Movie, but even that selection of movies was pretty slim. We don't cruise to watch TV, but it's nice to have something to watch after retiring to the cabin. So no free movies that we could find on the in cabin TV. We weren't thrilled with the in room entertainment, or the buffet since they changed it. Not much variety or quality in the buffet anymore, and lots of empty space. If we travel with X again, I think it will be on a different ship. 

Edited September 11, 2019 by bermadu22

[Georgia_Peaches]

7 hours ago, twodjs said:

How is it that Holland America can offer lots of very current movies on demand all for FREE and charge less for their cabins when Celebrity charges way more and can't figure out how to provide decent movies built into the price of the cruise?

I know very little about HA but I do  know that Celebrity just launched a very expensive new ship and has another one following behind very soon...perhaps it's time for Celebrity to pay the piper for those very expensive endeavors and in order to do so, they raise prices and make cutbacks...just my guess.

[WAVTAM]

55 minutes ago, Nymich said:

This is another awesome post and hitting the point straight on!   I agree on all points!

Thou we are Elite +, this is just more of the nickel/diming that we have seen thru the years. Have moved on to Viking Ocean with no dimes to spend on ANTHING.

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 minutes ago, WAVTAM said:

Have moved on to Viking Ocean

Side bar question...Is there a casino on their ships?

Edited September 11, 2019 by Georgia_Peaches

[WAVTAM]

Just now, Georgia_Peaches said:

Side bar question...Is there a casino on their ships?

No casino, no kids , no photo people...just simple elegance.

[bermadu22]

1 hour ago, dezscott said:

Has anyone besides the OP been able to confirm this. It was just a few weeks ago that everyone was upset about paying gratuities on the beverage package.

We were on the Summit last week. There was TV, but we didn't find any free movies on the TV. We paid 14.99 to rent a movie one night when we stayed in, DH's knees were bothering him. Maybe there were free movies, and we didn't find them, but I doubt it. We weren't thrilled to pay $15 for a movie, but that's what we chose to do. As for outdoor movies, they played Footloose two nights in a row up there. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Anyone know if you can still use a HDMI cable to hook up a portable DVD player to their new Smart TVs?

[Nymich]

9 minutes ago, bermadu22 said:

We were on the Summit last week. There was TV, but we didn't find any free movies on the TV. We paid 14.99 to rent a movie one night when we stayed in, DH's knees were bothering him. Maybe there were free movies, and we didn't find them, but I doubt it. We weren't thrilled to pay $15 for a movie, but that's what we chose to do. As for outdoor movies, they played Footloose two nights in a row up there. 

So now we have the Reflection, Equinox, Summit and Silhouette that have reported in that there are no free on demand movies.  We also have a few reports from people including myself who have called the Captains Club and have verified the free movies are gone from all the ships.  I think we have enough evidence to show that it is true.  Funny how we had to do all this legwork when X could have just announced this Cut by email or on their website.