Popcorn at movies

[abby1257]

Does Carnival charge for popcorn while watching a movie?

[dbrucern]

It was $3 on our last cruise

[abby1257]

• Unbelievable....

[staceyglow]

From my understanding, the charge for popcorn is to help offset the cost of cleaning the mess some people leave.. I can't imagine how long it takes to clean up all that popcorn from under and between the deck chairs, especially if it gets wet.

[ABQrobin]

I also think they did it to keep people who are NOT watching the movies, from stopping buy and grabbing a bag and walking away.  It seemed like they never had any if we came up after the movie had already started but we wouldn't see anyone eating it.  

[bigdog1958]

20 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

From my understanding, the charge for popcorn is to help offset the cost of cleaning the mess some people leave.. I can't imagine how long it takes to clean up all that popcorn from under and between the deck chairs, especially if it gets wet.

what cost? are you saying carnival hired additional staff on each ship to clean popcorn? I agree there is extra time spent cleaning, but I am sure carnival did not spend money. They just told a worker or two to clean it. 

[kelkel2]

I never even saw it available on the Mardi Gras. Where do you get it from? 

[Kevin308]

Isn't a change I like.  Don't get me wrong if they want to charge for popcorn I am fine with it if they had popcorn worth paying for.  What they have just isn't good enough for a charge.   But I would be all for a popcorn bar with different flavors and or good butter popcorn.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I remember getting free popcorn for the movie on Pride, in 2016.

 

The popcorn was extremely salty and, otherwise, tasteless.  When the movie ended, I went to drink about a gallon of water.

 

Perhaps if the popcorn was better, it wouldn't have wound up all over the deck to be cleaned up.

[shof515]

49 minutes ago, kelkel2 said:

I never even saw it available on the Mardi Gras. Where do you get it from? 

it is usually at one of the bars near the pool 

[FTLCruiseGal]

The cost may also be to deter people from taking multiple bags at a time.  I’ve seen people taking 5 bags at a time, leaving none for guests at the back of the line.

[Rudyard]

50 minutes ago, FTLCruiseGal said:

The cost may also be to deter people from taking multiple bags at a time.  I’ve seen people taking 5 bags at a time, leaving none for guests at the back of the line.

I haven't had any of the popcorn since before covid so don't know if it's changed, but those people grabbing multiple bags were about on par with chair hogs IMO. The popper was so small it could only make enough for maybe 8 to 10 bags at a time (if that) and to see the first few people in line grab three or four bags when the line was already long sucked. Luckily it wasn't good popcorn and I soon gave up on even worrying about it.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

58 minutes ago, FTLCruiseGal said:

The cost may also be to deter people from taking multiple bags at a time.  I’ve seen people taking 5 bags at a time, leaving none for guests at the back of the line.

Well... all that weed gave them the munchies 😈

[john91498]

The popcorn was free on the Radiance last July.

[south-carolinagirl]

It was awful anyway and it cost $3 on recent Sunshine cruise, won't buy again. Ugh! 

[kctwinmommy]

Yep, on our November cruise it was a charge. Not only that, they stopped selling it when the movie was "almost over." But apparently "almost over" meant with an hour left to go! And it was Top Gun Maverick, the deck was packed!

[jimbo5544]

20 hours ago, abby1257 said:

• Unbelievable....

Last count they are 24 BILLION in the hole from being shut down (not of their own accord ).  This is a cruise line (my favorite cruise line) that for the last set of notes they had to borrow, The had to put up the last 9 ships in all of their lines as collateral. I am fine with them charging for anything.

[jimbo5544]

There was no popcorn being sold on the Celebration on our January cruise.

[pe4all]

None on Spirit on our January cruise, but they had it on Magic in June.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

2 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Last count they are 24 BILLION in the hole from being shut down (not of their own accord ).  This is a cruise line (my favorite cruise line) that for the last set of notes they had to borrow, The had to put up the last 9 ships in all of their lines as collateral. I am fine with them charging for anything.

I agree that they need to raise revenue.  But, customer satisfaction is also of prime importance;, for both repeat business and referrals to new cruisers. 

 

Small touches, like free popcorn, go a long way for that.  A charge for this, a charge for that, starts to annoy people, decreasing overall satisfaction.  Charge for the bigger stuff (excursions, photos, alcohol, etc.) but keep tons of the smaller things included.

 

The same person who pays $150k for a car will grumble the dealership charged them fifty cents for an air freshener. 

 

Raise prices by $5 per passenger and give away $2 per passenger in free stuff will give more revenue and higher guest satisfaction than the $5 lower fare but charging $1 for the stuff. 

[13cheermom]

I remember seeing some with the popcorn bags on lido deck while a movie was playing at night.  However it was too windy to stay outside to watch a movie so we weren't really sure where they got it from.  This was on the Mardi Gras at end of January.  We actually never saw a movie, they were all movies we had seen prior.  Always enjoyed sitting out with a blanket and watching a movie under the stars on previous cruises.  Mardi Gras has too many other activities going on that kept us busy. 😀

[sparks1093]

They were charging for the popcorn pre-COVID so this is nothing new and I recall the price being $3. For what it's worth, Royal sells their popcorn for $5 for the same sized small bag.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

I agree that they need to raise revenue.  But, customer satisfaction is also of prime importance;, for both repeat business and referrals to new cruisers. 

 

Small touches, like free popcorn, go a long way for that.  A charge for this, a charge for that, starts to annoy people, decreasing overall satisfaction.  Charge for the bigger stuff (excursions, photos, alcohol, etc.) but keep tons of the smaller things included.

 

The same person who pays $150k for a car will grumble the dealership charged them fifty cents for an air freshener. 

 

Raise prices by $5 per passenger and give away $2 per passenger in free stuff will give more revenue and higher guest satisfaction than the $5 lower fare but charging $1 for the stuff. 

LOL, if the charge bothers them, skip the popcorn. Cruise lines, ALL cruise lines are experiencing tough economic times complicated by the huge inflation factors as well.  When these things happen (at a rate not experienced in decades), ON TOP of the being shut down and incurring billions in costs from the shut down and then having all these OBC they had to issue to keep them afloat (which means they have cruisers sailing for free), something has to give.  Your take is to raise large priced items (which then people forgo), their plan is to give the best cruise experience (not popcorn experience) they can.  We can disagree.

[Florings]

I never thought the popcorn was that good, no flavor at all for the most part.   I had never thought of taking my own snacks onboard until last cruise when my brother suggested it... we took store-bought popcorn, both buttered and cheese flavored (BOGO at Publix) and it was worth carting it onboard in a tote bag.   I'm doing it again this weekend when we board for the southern Carribean.

[sammee]

18 minutes ago, Florings said:

I never thought the popcorn was that good, no flavor at all for the most part.   I had never thought of taking my own snacks onboard until last cruise when my brother suggested it... we took store-bought popcorn, both buttered and cheese flavored (BOGO at Publix) and it was worth carting it onboard in a tote bag.   I'm doing it again this weekend when we board for the southern Carribean.

It reminded me of the popcorn we give to the animals at our local zoo. No taste whatsoever. What was worse is it smells so good when you approach the area. You can't wait to take that first bite and than nada. I'd gladly pay the 3 bucks, if we had some salt and butter on it.