Nieuw Statendam / Pinnacle Class - Movies

[PMGS247]

TLDR; Tell me about the Movies experience around the pool on Nieuw Statendam and if you're familiar, how it compares to Princess's Movies Under the Stars experience.

 

A couple weeks back my wife and I broke away from our streak of only cruising with Princess cruises by going on our first cruise with Royal Caribbean.  One very noticeable aspect that we missed from our time with Princess was sitting up on the top deck around the pool watching movies that they played on their high quality screens and sound systems. The Oasis class royal ship had some second rate alternatives but fell significantly short of the Princess Movies Under the Stars experience in basically every way it could.

 

We're looking at cruise options for the end of this year and of particular interest are a couple sailings on the Nieuw Statendam out of FLL, in large part due to the fact that they appear to have a more familiar Pool/Lounger/Movies setup.  Curious what the movie schedule is like, i.e. is it only a few per week or is there something playing at pretty much any time?  If anyone has links to prior sailing activity lists or other documentation from the cruise that shows the movie schedule that would be great.  Also very curious to hear anyone who is familiar with both Princess and HAL how the two "Movies under the stars" experiences compare & contrast.

[Mary229]

I have experienced both.   The Princess ship is very loud but you can hear. The Holland speakers are muffled and you do better to watch the movie in your stateroom.  All of the movies are rebroadcast on demand in the stateroom.  The best experience on the N Statendam is the occasional afternoon/ evening movie in the theatre - then you have a great experience 

[Cruising-along]

I have not sailed Princess but have sailed the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam.  Other than one time, the experience was a good one.  That one time was on the Koningsdam and the sound wasn't turned up enough to cover the splashing in the pool going on right behind us.  We mentioned it and never had a problem again.

 

We like to pick up snacks or pizza and a beer, lay back on the loungers and watch a movie outdoors.  One memorable time was on Halloween, the movie was Hocus Pocus and there was a terrific thunderstorm that night in the Med. 🙂  As I recall, there were movies nearly every night.  I don't know about day-time, as we weren't interested then.

[CruiserBruce]

Agree with @Mary229. We tried the movie system on Koningsdam, the sound was difficult,  at minimum. We are on Statendam right now...haven't tried the movie options at the pool for theexact reasons stated.  There were 4 of us in the Koningsdam situations....none were happy with the sound.

 

Right now the Statendam is in Greenland,  where it's light until after 11pm. But the screen is pretty bright...not sure that is a problem or not.

[PMGS247]

Interesting comments on the sound.  My wife and I had a similar complaint on Royal. The outdoor movies all had closed captions to compensate for it but it definitely detracted from the experience. 

[Cruising-along]

22 minutes ago, PMGS247 said:

Interesting comments on the sound.  My wife and I had a similar complaint on Royal. The outdoor movies all had closed captions to compensate for it but it definitely detracted from the experience. 

We will be on the NS this fall Oct. 8-Nov. 5.  Our last experience on that ship (and the Koningsdam) was 3 years ago and at that time, we had no problem with the sound after mentioning the problem once.  I agree that the close captioning helps -- also it helps if there aren't loud splashers in the pool. I hope the sound quality hasn't gotten worse for recent sailings.

[vicd1969]

One advantage on the HAL Pinnacle ships is that the lido deck can be covered - so if it's too cold, windy or rainy you can still watch the movie. Helps for Alaska and Northern Europe sailings. 

[luvn2cruzzz]

I have watched movies at night on all three Pinnacle class ships and I have enjoyed the experience.  During the day, watching and hearing is challenging but at night it is very enjoyable (especially when the roof is open) and often there are only a few people.  No one has mentioned the freshly made popcorn available for all movie goers and then for some who are passing by and just can't resist!

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, vicd1969 said:

One advantage on the HAL Pinnacle ships is that the lido deck can be covered - so if it's too cold, windy or rainy you can still watch the movie. Helps for Alaska and Northern Europe sailings. 

All HAL ships have roofs over the Lido pool that open/close. This has been true since the early 1990s.

[vicd1969]

24 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

All HAL ships have roofs over the Lido pool that open/close. This has been true since the early 1990s.

I was comparing with Princess ships and OP's referencing the Nieuw Statendam.