Dive In Movies, What's going on!?

[tap_out]

We recently returned from a 7 day Bermuda cruise on the Magic. I was really disappointed in the Dive in movies. It may seem strange to some but the main reason I come back to Carnival is because of the dive in movies. Imho there is nothing better then being under the stars with a Caribbean breeze in your face, drink in hand and watching a movie. This was a big bust here. I don't know if this is something new or just how they are doing things on the Magic but it was a big fail. Normally they would show an early movie more kid friendly around 5:30-6:00 followed by another movie around 8ish. Worked out perfect for us. Early dinner, go to the early show, watch a movie then late night comedy. The odd thing is almost all the movies were shown around 5:30 or 6 with no late movie. Sitting out in the son when its still hot with people still swimming kind of takes away from the whole experience. Looking at the fun times it appears they did this because they had deck parties every night. Which I am all for, but they must have started earlier then normal. On all of our past cruises they found time to do both. Looking at the list of movies John Heald posted we were excited. For some reason the played to movies twice. Not sure why they would do this, so there were several movies we looked forward to seeing that were never shown. Again it might seem like a petty gripe but I was kind of bummed. I hope this was just a Magic thing and not something they are moving towards across the fleet. If anybody else has sailed on any other ships and is a fan 

[1025cruise]

Did you ask the Entertainment Director when on board?

[tap_out]

9 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Did you ask the Entertainment Director when on board?

 

Yes spoke to them and got the run around for the most part. However no movie was scheduled on Sunday and I was able to convince them to play one so that was a win, however it started at 6:00 : ( 

[Kermarkim]

I think OP has a valid issue.  I also enjoy the dive-in movies and consider that an added perk for a Carnival cruise.  I appreciate the movies under the stars as well.  I generally catch at least 1 if not 2 movies per cruise, depending on the length of the cruise.  This past weekend on my 3 night cruise, we caught none due to the timing of the movies.  Not sure why it didn't work for us because we have always had early dining, then attended the early comedy, a show in the theatre and then at least one evening movie.  I have also caught one during the afternoon especially on sea day.  There was no daytime move during sea day at all and we never made it to the evening shows.  We still had a fantastic cruise but I did miss the dive in movies.  I hope I will be able to catch one in December on the Freedom.

[Guest BasicSailor]

I'm still pissed they started charging for popcorn 😆 JK.

[shof515]

2 minutes ago, BasicSailor said:

I'm still pissed they started charging for popcorn 😆 JK.

the popcorn is not worth the 5 bucks or so whatever the cost is

[ledges1]

My recent cruise experience has been a bit different on the Valor and Glory. They did have afternoon movies, but these were during port days. We did have evening movies, some starting as late as 9:00 PM (Uncharted). Of course these were nights when there was not a deck party. The movies are more of an alternative for a smaller group of cruisers in my opinion. It is not a money maker. People do not watch a movie and buy a bucket of beer in any volume. I do enjoy an occasional movie but sometimes it is had to hear if there are a lot of kids in the pool. 

[Guest BasicSailor]

Just now, ledges1 said:

My recent cruise experience has been a bit different on the Valor and Glory. They did have afternoon movies, but these were during port days. We did have evening movies, some starting as late as 9:00 PM (Uncharted). Of course these were nights when there was not a deck party. The movies are more of an alternative for a smaller group of cruisers in my opinion. It is not a money maker. People do not watch a movie and buy a bucket of beer in any volume. I do enjoy an occasional movie but sometimes it is had to hear if there are a lot of kids in the pool. 

You never watched Animal House have you 😋

[mz-s]

Last few cruises I've been on haven't even noticed popcorn being available...not even to charge for it.

 

I like the movies too. It is sad that Carnival seems to be moving away from them in favor of deck parties. Obviously the deck parties drive revenue sort of like the night club - encouraging alcohol sales etc...

 

I think part of the problem is Carnival is still not doing atrium parties last I saw. All the parties have to be out on open deck. I don't know when this will change or if it will. So that obviously takes over the venue that the movies used.

[Lee Cruiser]

We haven't been to a single movie since restart (three cruises) because there wasn't anything really worth watching.  This is sad because that's one of the things we've always enjoyed doing.

Edited September 1, 2022 by Lee Cruiser

[tap_out]

I would just like to add that it may be a small group compared to others but it is still a fairly large group that enjoy the movies. When a decent movie is showing you cant find a deck chair on the pool deck and the next deck up is always packed. I will say they do sell a good bit of drinks, I am sure not as much as they would during a deck party. I would say pop corn was only available about half the time. While is sucks to have to pay for it we still enjoy it, even though its bland lol. 

 

One thing somebody else mentioned was lack of atrium parties. I didn't think of that but since mentioned it was true on our cruise. I used to enjoy those as well. 

[pe4all]

Interesting.  When we were on Magic in June some movies started around 7:30, but on some days there was a movie at 6ish, and another different movie later.  Wonder why the change.  On a side note - we loved the popcorn.  Freshly popped with salt to add on your own.  Didn't bother us spending $3 for it.

Edited September 1, 2022 by pe4all

[groundloop]

1 hour ago, Lee Cruiser said:

We haven't been to a single movie since restart (three cruises) because there wasn't anything really worth watching.......

 

Our last cruise was in March on Spirit and I managed to watch a couple of good Dive-In movies including the latest James Bond.  If you don't like James Bond you must be un-American  😁 .

 

This is the first I've heard that any of ships were cutting back on movies, that's disappointing.  We'll be on Magic for Christmas and I'm hoping they'll have movies under the stars.  However, I can totally see the Carnival bean counters moving toward more parties in order to drive alcohol sales and it's sad if this is the reason they're cutting back on movies.

Edited September 1, 2022 by groundloop

[Susan in Maine]

I wo night wonder if they will be showing NFL football on deck at night? Last November I saw three  games and it was a great way to watch football! 

[bguppies]

1 hour ago, Lee Cruiser said:

We haven't been to a single movie since restart (three cruises) because there wasn't anything really worth watching.  This is sad because that's one of the things we've always enjoyed doing.

That is more of a Hollywood thing, than a Carnival thing.

The movies since the theaters reopened have been poor.

You can count on one hand the really good movies  released since the theaters reopened. (two hands if you count the mediocre movies like the Batman, etc.)

 

I'm hoping that Top Gun Maverick gets added before my cruise at the end of the month.

 

If Carnival keeps getting so l;azy about some of their offerings, like the theater offerings and tv offerings they are going to lose some loyal customers.

I don't  mind the movies by the pool so much, butto  DW it is one of her most important things to do every cruise. Plus she likes watching movies in the cabin each night as she goes to bed.

These all seem like little things, but they all add up in deciding which cruiseline top choose.

[mondello]

@mz-s Yeah, I didn’t see any popcorn either. Found out it is available over at the Lido bar (Red Frog or Blue Iguana?) for $3.

 

Seemed like Sunshine 12/26 and Vista 3/26 had a lot more movies late than the nearly none on Valor 7/25-8/4.

[ledges1]

4 hours ago, BasicSailor said:

You never watched Animal House have you 😋

Never on a cruise ship. 

[CorrieCJ]

ON my 8/6 Horizon cruise, they would show an early movie (maybe around 6 or 7?) and a late movie at 10pm. There were two or three deck parties on the 8-night cruise, so on those nights there was no 10pm movie.  However, one night there was a midnight movie. Pool stayed open until 11:40 PM or so every night, whether movie or no. My only disappointment was that the movies were repeated two (or three!) times, rather than a new movie every night. 

[nycruise1]

We were also on the Magic and the "evening" movies seemed to be at 6, 6:30 or 7.  They also were not that good and not worth skipping the MDR or rushing dinner over.  Prepandemic I had memorable movie experencies, especially the Martian where the space scenes from the movie seemlessly blended into the night sky.  Also saw Black Panther and Hidden Figures.  San Andreas Fault wasnt a masterpiece but was kind of fun seeing on the big screen outdoors.

[mz-s]

3 hours ago, mondello said:

@mz-s Yeah, I didn’t see any popcorn either. Found out it is available over at the Lido bar (Red Frog or Blue Iguana?) for $3.

 

Seemed like Sunshine 12/26 and Vista 3/26 had a lot more movies late than the nearly none on Valor 7/25-8/4.

 

They used to roll the popcorn maker out to under the big screen, it was plainly visible, and they gave boxes of it to anyone who wanted one. It was really nice. Of course it couldn't last.

[Guest BasicSailor]

2 hours ago, ledges1 said:

Never on a cruise ship. 

I missed it too😉 II would love to see the Legend of 1900 on one of those movies by the sea screens.

[Saint Greg]

Hmmm. I’m on Magic now. I don’t normally watch dive-in movies but I’m considering watching the Batman tonight at 7:30.

[bguppies]

31 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

Hmmm. I’m on Magic now. I don’t normally watch dive-in movies but I’m considering watching the Batman tonight at 7:30.

Very mediocre movie. Horrible when the villian is way better than the emo Batman.

Hold out for Spider-man or Jurassic Park, etc.

I saw no Top Gunfor my cruise later this month. Hopefully it'll be added by my December cruise.

[luvs2beachit]

Does anyone know what movies will be playing on the Magic this month?

TIA

[mondello]

6 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

They used to roll the popcorn maker out to under the big screen, it was plainly visible, and they gave boxes of it to anyone who wanted one. It was really nice. Of course it couldn't last.

They probably have it over at the bar so they can hit your S&S card for $3. I don’t think I even saw it on Sunshine or Vista; saw it on Valor when I was passing by. I don’t care for movies until after dark. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by mondello
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