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Topic: Are there theaters on cruise ships?

Allison Parsons
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 630
From: East Peoria, IL
Registered: Oct 2004

posted 10-11-2008 10:52 AM

Yes, a totally random question. But a friend of mine is going on a cruise this week, and I was pondering to myself if they had movie theaters in them. If so, do they have projectors, or is that a big ball of film on the floor disaster waiting to happen? I've never been on a cruise ship, let alone seen one up close and personal. I've heard you don't notice the wave action since the boat is so big.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 10-11-2008 10:57 AM

Probably low-grade consumer projectors in a small room running DVD if anything.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 10-11-2008 11:18 AM

Back in the days of real ocean liners there were real film theaters on board. Several ocean liners were even 70mm equipped! Ahhh the good old days, those were REAL SHIPS with almost as many crew members as passengers all there to attend to you! I think todays cruise ships represent more of a floating cattle corral than anything else... who would want to get away for a vacation and go to sea with 6000 or more other people?? Cruise ships may have something along the lines of what Joes says but more likely being a TV in your room with pay per view.

Mark

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Justin Hamaker
Film God

Posts: 2253
From: Lakeport, CA USA
Registered: Jan 2004

posted 10-11-2008 12:40 PM

One of my employees just got back from a cruise and she watched two movie on the ship. I don't remember which ones they were, but this ship does in fact have a theatre.

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Mark Lensenmayer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1605
From: Upper Arlington, OH
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 10-11-2008 01:24 PM

To emphasize what Mark G. said, this comes from Thomas Hauerslev's in70mm site:

quote:
Two DP70 (1741+1744) with upward projection angle. Launched 19.01.1962. The S/S France was the longest ship in the world (316 m). 664 seats (185 on balcony). Projectors mounted on jacks and had to be adjusted before each performance. Passengers on maiden voyage to New York saw premiere of new French film "La Fayette" in 70mm on 10 m screen. Wessel renamed "Norway". Projectors taken out and installed in Todd-AO Studios #1, Hollywood, USA.

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-11-2008 02:06 PM

I think you'll find that the Walt Disney Cruise line ships have both stage and movie theatres in them...they sure have at least one largish auditorium. I would suspect that they have both film and digital on board but would definitely be switching to all digital.

Steve

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 10-11-2008 02:50 PM

Royal Caribbean ships have a screening room and movies are shown daily. Carnival shows movies in one of their lounges once or twice per cruise. Both lines rely on video projection and movies run continuously on cabin TVs.

Allison: Most cruise ships have stabilizers to offset the wave action. When I cruised to Alaska the ship had a noticeable list to starboard as we encountered heavy winds coming from the West the first night out. Other than that, the remainder of the cruise was very smooth. I have cruised the Caribbean several times and all were very smooth sailing.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

posted 10-11-2008 04:00 PM

Video, mostly run over the pool on something that looked a lot like a scoreboard. Louis

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John Walsh
Film God

Posts: 2490
From: Connecticut, USA, Earth, Milky Way
Registered: Oct 1999

posted 10-11-2008 06:50 PM

First cruise I took had 2 Kinton 16/35mm projectors.

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Joshua Waaland
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 800
From: Cleveland, Ohio
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-11-2008 10:22 PM

I've been on three cruises so far and all of them had movies. Royal Caribbean had a separate theater that ran video projectors all day long and the other two cruises I took were on Princess ships. Both of those also used video projectors but the movies only ran during the day because they shared the stage theaters.

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Dick Vaughan
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1032
From: Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 10-12-2008 02:57 PM

Back in the late 80's /early 90's we were visited by one of the cruise lines ,Cunard I think, as they were interested in putting an IMAX theatre on one of their new liners. sadly never materialised.

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Mark Hajducki
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 500
From: Edinburgh, UK
Registered: May 2003

posted 10-12-2008 05:15 PM

Many (medium to long) distance ferries have onboard cinemas (DVD or VHS source) either designed as a cinema, or converted from a random room. Sealink (British Railways) had an ambitious plan back in the late 1980s, for their cross channel routes.

quote:
The Platner team and Sealink had actually come up with the idea of installing a 360 degree cinema on board the new sister ships. With the design work completed and construction actually in hand, the project was scuppered. Special licenses had to be obtained from Disney who owned the copyright on the 360 concept. They were apparently happy to sell the licenses, but would not sell Sealink any of the films to show - so Sealink would have had to make their own films
especially for the Fantasia and Fiesta. The cost would have been exorbitant, so the project was pulled, the Rock Box being completed beneath the dome instead.

At no stage does consideration appear to have been given to the potentially doubly nauseating effects of watching a 360 degree movie during a rough crossing...

From This site (Index for ship)

quote:
Two DP70 (1741+1744) with upward projection angle. Launched 19.01.1962. The S/S France was the longest ship in the world (316 m). 664 seats (185 on balcony). Projectors mounted on jacks and had to be adjusted before each performance. Passengers on maiden voyage to New York saw premiere of new French film "La Fayette" in 70mm on 10 m screen. Wessel renamed "Norway". Projectors taken out and installed in Todd-AO Studios #1, Hollywood, USA.

Cinema onboard SS France (Later SS Norway) Picture Source

Unfortunately this ship met her death on the beach in Alang India, earlier this year.

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Joe Tommassello
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 547
From: Coatesville, PA, USA
Registered: Jan 2008

posted 10-13-2008 11:55 AM

quote: Steve Guttag
I think you'll find that the Walt Disney Cruise line ships have both stage and movie theatres in them

It's been a few years but Disney ships definitely had 35mm film. In fact they showed us "Finding Nemo" at midnight the night before the theatrical release. My daughter probably still has the "I saw it first..at sea!" pin they gave out. The ship I was on (the "Wonder" I think) had a designated movie theater that seated about 200-250 and a larger room equipped for stage shows that had to seat near 1000 if not more! 1000 people watching Finding Nemo at sea. Very cool.

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Gerard S. Cohen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 975
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 10-14-2008 10:32 PM

Gordon H. Bell served as projectionist on several Cunard/White Star ocean liners and posted photos of their projection booths and auditoriums on Film-tech along with running commentaries. I discovered his posts (there were only four, but they ewere extensive) serendipitously while searching "Brenkert." (That's how I first discovered Fi;m-tech.) I just searched again, but cannot find his posts.

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John Wilson
Film God

Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 10-14-2008 10:58 PM

A flat-mate of mine in the early 90's had a gig as a projectionist on the 'Achille Lauro' running 16mm twice a day. The rest of the time was his to do whatever. Food and drinks were free for him from memory.

He was amazed the gunshot holes had never been covered up from the hijacking 5 or so years earlier.

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