Cinematic cruising: Reel imagination and real experience for pleasure on the high seas

Abstract

The experiences of cruise ship passengers are influenced by cinematic representations and intensified and (re)produced by cruise operators. This paper conceptualises cinematic cruising as a phenomenon of reel and real spaces between imagination and experience for pleasure on the high seas. To date, the influence of cinematic representations on the experience of cruise passengers has not yet been studied in detail. To address this, our argument builds on the comparability of cinemas and cruise ships. They share similar characteristics as modern and postmodern places, as heterotopias, and as places of dreams. Both are places of illusion, places of compensation, and places where one can escape from everyday life; they take moviegoers and passengers to their places of desire. The following analysis illustrates the impact that films, television series and docu-series have on passengers’ imaginations who physically experience film-like situations on cruise ships. When compared to cinemas, the perception there is not limited to just audiovisual factors. Building on this, cinematic cruising might fulfil the dreams, desires, and longings of passengers, at least on the level of imagination.