movies--are they that big a deal?

[cruiser21]

Most Disney movies I would not spend money on, but if I can see them for free I'll go. Mixology and spa treatments cost money....wait I forgot nothing on a Disney cruise cost extra.

I'll confess I watch the on demand movies in the room too. I like to run, work out, eat. watch movies, try fancy drinks, sit in the hot tub. and read. I also buy internet. Im not big on activities. Most of them I find silly. I will go to the trivia in Ogills at 745...mostly for the beer and wings.

When I think about my life on the ship its not much different then my life at home minus work and daily chores. I can't change what I like to just because I'm on vacation. If I could get Netflix on the ship I'd probably do that too. Binge watching Netflix is one of my favorite guilty pleasures.
Everything is just better when you're on a ship even the daily workouts. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to vacation as long as you leave refreshed and happy. Even if you prefer to leave the ship tired and stressed that's ok too.

 

[Ruben Anthony]

My boy and I have a tradition of going to late night movies on the cruise after mom falls asleep. It's what WE like to do and don't feel as if we're wasting time. To each their own, right?

I'm definitely gonna do that with my boys.Thanks for the idea!

 

[darnheather]

Seeing Pirates of the Caribbean 5 in 3-D with the ship rocking was AMAZING! Not a movie I would have seen otherwise but so much fun that way.

 

[darnheather]

Agreed. On a short cruise, I think it's a very bad investment of our time.

Let's say I booked at 700$/pp for a 3 nights cruise and we boarded early and we'll disembark late (9h), without ever leaving the ship (or just disembarking at Castaway Cay as we'll count Castaway Cay as an incentive of cruising with DCL). We'll spend 69 hours on the ship.

So we pay more or less 10$ an hour to be on the ship (and even more if you chose to disembark in Nassau). That movie "cost" us 20$ and prevented us from enjoying the ship and/or other entertainment exclusive to DCL...

p.s.: I'm talking about Movies in the theater of course. A "dive-in" movie is a different experience.

That seems like a horrible way to look at a vacation. If you enjoy watching a movie just do it. Why does everything have to add have financial value to be worthwhile.

 

[kiford]

We are within walking distance of a movie theatre at home and we go maybe once-twice per year. Movies on weeknights are too late for us so weekends are really the only free time we have to go to a movie and we're busy with other things (like stuff we didn't get time to do on weeknights because we work long hours). We could rent the movie or play it on Netflix once it's on (and we do) but sometimes it's just a nicer experience in a theatre. So when I'm on vacation, we like to relax by watching a movie. It's not weird if you don't like to do it, but for us we don't feel that it's wasted time just because we also happen to be on a ship. We are on vacation. On vacation we do what we enjoy and we enjoy watching movies. And an afternoon "cheap" matinee at home for the two of us is a little over $25.

 

[mevelandry]

That seems like a horrible way to look at a vacation. If you enjoy watching a movie just do it. Why does everything have to add have financial value to be worthwhile.

"Horrible way"? Doesn't it sound a little bit over dramatic?

I don't think being logic about money is horrible, sorry. (If you find my way horrible, I can't imagine what you think about finance gurus like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman!)

 

[Amunet]

For us, in order to save for the cruise, we cut out extras, like going to the movies. Once on board, we can watch the Disney movies we missed out on.

 

[bbn1122]

I am going to chime in on this topic.

DH and I never get to the movies, so we love seeing one on even a short cruise. We are not big drinkers, so it’s a great way to do something in the evening. Also, we always seemed to really enjoy one that we would never think of watching off the ship.

My boys on longer cruises loved being able to see a favorite over and over again. Lol!

 

[mevelandry]

For us, in order to save for the cruise, we cut out extras, like going to the movies. Once on board, we can watch the Disney movies we missed out on.

That, I get 100%. I know people who live an hour drive from a movie theater so when they get to see a movie in a theater, it is very special for them.

For us, it's nothing special as there's a movie theater a 5 minutes walk from my office and we can easily take advantage of tuesday discount... Routine.

 

[Joe Brig]

Opening night can be fun for some movies, people dressed up for Star Wars (TFA). Mary Poppins is opening on my next cruise, that should be popular. Hopefully, Disney doesn't mess that one up, cough-TLJ-cough.

 

[darnheather]

"Horrible way"? Doesn't it sound a little bit over dramatic?

I don't think being logic about money is horrible, sorry. (If you find my way horrible, I can't imagine what you think about finance gurus like Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman!)

You say "logic" I say "extra stress" on a vacation that is already paid for. I've never needed a finance guru as I'm a frugal person.

 

[darnheather]

Opening night can be fun for some movies, people dressed up for Star Wars (TFA). Mary Poppins is opening on my next cruise, that should be popular. Hopefully, Disney doesn't mess that one up, cough-TLJ-cough.

Captain Marvel is premiering on our next cruise and I know my daughter will be there for the midnight showing. It's her cruise tradition.

 

[KashasMom]

The FB book for my cruise has a couple of threads talking about what movies will be playing. Is it weird that for a short cruise, I have no intention of spending 2 hours in a theatre? If I want to see a movie I can go while I'm home--even if Im cheap I can go on a Tuesday for $5.
Now for a longer cruise, one with a sea day, maybe that would be a good idea. Or if it rains on CC day and drives us back on the ship. Or if we had kids with us. But we are spending our Nassau day onboard and have spa day passes and a mixology class scheduled. Time is so precious on short cruises I don't get the time spent watching a movie. Am I missing something?

It's not something we'd do even on a 7 night unless it was a special premEAR. We saw Frozen in the Walt Disney theater when it premiered and last year saw Olaf's Frozen Adventure when it premiered. The big screen was fun for those.

 

[MickeyD74]

Plus it’s fun in the future, when the name of the movie comes up and the kids say, “Oh yeah, we saw that on our Dream Cruise” and it brings back more cruise memories to talk about.

So true - I remember my Alaska Cruise when we watch Zootopia!

 

[Amunet]

It's not something we'd do even on a 7 night unless it was a special premEAR. We saw Frozen in the Walt Disney theater when it premiered and last year saw Olaf's Frozen Adventure when it premiered. The big screen was fun for those.

Ooooooooohhhhhh That sounds amazing!!! We wanted to book for a sailing during the Frozen 2 release for next year but that's during a holiday ... so couldn't afford that. PremEARs at sea are just awesome.

 

[Lori74]

we all like different things. how we spend our time on the cruise shouldn't be argued, just shared. my 2 cents... movies are very expensive. if i go to the movies, i'm gonna want popcorn, if i get popcorn, i'm gonna want sweet to go with it, if i get all that, i'm gonna want something to wash it all down with... i'm getting into 'if you give a pig a pancake' theme. oh man. anyways, it's very expensive. so if there's a movie i want to see, it sounds wonderful i can have that choice on vacation for "free" although... i would have to buy the popcorn, and...oh man here we go again!

 

[mevelandry]

You say "logic" I say "extra stress" on a vacation that is already paid for. I've never needed a finance guru as I'm a frugal person.

It's not stressful at all as I already know we're not going to go to the movies because we can do it all the time at home (which makes it less appealing for us). I value my time on the ship/on vacation and I see value in certain activities more than others, rarity being my main criteria.

If I'm dying to see a premiere while I'm there I will most likely do it... but otherwise the only time I went to the movies on a DCL ship was because we got really bored and it was either that or napping. LOL

You say you are frugal then it means you already apply (as a natural reflex) certain "rules" which happen to be recommended by financial gurus... If you don't find those rules stressful, it's because you are used to them. It's the exact same thing for me. My calculus are a reflex and economics/home economics is a passion and we apply it everywhere, including in the planning of a vacation.

 

[mevelandry]

we all like different things. how we spend our time on the cruise shouldn't be argued, just shared. my 2 cents... movies are very expensive. if i go to the movies, i'm gonna want popcorn, if i get popcorn, i'm gonna want sweet to go with it, if i get all that, i'm gonna want something to wash it all down with... i'm getting into 'if you give a pig a pancake' theme. oh man. anyways, it's very expensive. so if there's a movie i want to see, it sounds wonderful i can have that choice on vacation for "free" although... i would have to buy the popcorn, and...oh man here we go again!

This made me laugh... This is sooo me. Let's be honest... If we could buy nachos and pop corn outside of the theater, I would probably just buy the food and skip the movies. LOL

 

[mevelandry]

The FB book for my cruise has a couple of threads talking about what movies will be playing. Is it weird that for a short cruise, I have no intention of spending 2 hours in a theatre? If I want to see a movie I can go while I'm home--even if Im cheap I can go on a Tuesday for $5.
Now for a longer cruise, one with a sea day, maybe that would be a good idea. Or if it rains on CC day and drives us back on the ship. Or if we had kids with us. But we are spending our Nassau day onboard and have spa day passes and a mixology class scheduled. Time is so precious on short cruises I don't get the time spent watching a movie. Am I missing something?

So... Did you watch a movie during your cruise?

 

[hubbard53]

Since Solo and Avengers Infinity War, we stopped watching any new Disney Moves - like ant man - so we'll have at least one movie to watch on board. . .

My son still claims his favorite movie of all time is Pete's Dragon -- ask him why and he says "it's the first movie I remember watching on the disney cruise" (he's grown out of calling it the 'mickey boat')