Tickets For Movies At New St. Croix Cinema To Cost No More Than $9.50

ST. CROIX — The new Caribbean Cinemas theater on St. Croix has caused much excitement among moviegoers, many of whom are planning to flood the facility — located in the Sunny Isle Annex across from WAPA — on Friday to be among the first to experience watching movies in the massive structure.

But one question remained: What would be the prices of tickets? Some had assumed that new prices would cost as much as $15 a pop. But the tickets are, in fact, almost in line with prices at the recently shuttered old theater.

According to Caribbean Cinemas U.S. Virgin Islands, the following are the ticket prices for the new cinema: Adults – regular $8.00 or $9.00 for 3D, children – regular $5.50 or $6.75 for 3D, and seniors pay $5.75 for regular showings and $7.25 for 3D. There’s a Tuesday special that includes regular tickets for $5.00 and 3D showings for $6.50, while the Caribbean Cinemas Extreme (CXC) Tuesday special will see moviegoers paying $7.00. CXC regular showings will cost 9:50 for 2D/3D tickets for adults, and $7.00 for children.

The Consortium a week ago was given a tour of the building, where construction is still ongoing, giving the publication a good idea of the experience St. Croix residents can expect come Friday.

The CXC room comes feature-packed with a 3-D experience that includes over 50 speakers encompassing the entire room and ceiling from Dolby Atmos immersive surround sound, as well as an ultra bright screen — all aimed at amplifying the experience of moviegoers. There’s also a game room, and a party room for children ages 12 and under, which comes with what the company is calling a birthday package that costs between $12-$15 per person, a minimum of 15 kids, and includes a soda, popcorn (the premium buy comes with a pizza or hot dog) and a movie ticket. The cinema also has a restaurant where a variety of eats will be offered.

The eight theater rooms are about the same size, according to one of the project manager, Jay Lee, with a combined total seating of 1,400. All current theater employees will be moved to the new location, and the company has been hiring more staff in preparation for the grand opening.

According to Caribbean Cinemas President Lorraine Carrady, construction of the new cinema would not have been possible without the large construction team from the territory headed by Jimmy Breunlin of Breunlin construction. Other V.I. subcontractors and suppliers included Eleven Construction and Spartan Concrete, PG Electric, Quality Electric, OTL Mechanical, General Plumbing, Alarmco, Rooftops, Glass 2000, and Energy Wise Solutions.

Ms. Carrady said that the vision for the new cinema was made by the company’s architect, Tracy Roberts and her team at Springline Architects in St. Thomas. Additionally, Ms. Carrady said that the Government of the Virgin Islands recognized the need for a new cinema for St. Croix, and without the G.V.I.’s help, or that of the Economic Development Authority, a project of this size would not have been possible.

Caribbean Cinemas, based in Puerto Rico, has a Caribbean-wide operation, with theaters in many of the islands, including Guadeloupe, Aruba, Guyana, Panama, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Martin, Trinidad, Antigua and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The company has 31 cinemas in Puerto Rico, and 16 in the Dominican Republic.

According to Noelia Alsina, sales and marketing coordinator for the Eastern Caribbean, Aruba and Guyana, the company’s USVI cinema business has been a profitable venture, which prompted investment. She said the facility on St. Thomas will soon be renovated, easing concerns of St. Thomians who felt neglected in light of the new St. Croix facility.

The biggest new development, however, is the ability to buy tickets online. Ms. Alsina said the service will be available “a few weeks” after the grand opening, as the system needs to be installed and programmed. “You purchase the ticket online, and you come here to our cinema express booth and put in a code, and your ticket will be produced,” she said.

And about opening on Friday, the task seemed impossible, and there was still a lot of work to be completed. But Ms. Alsina said there’s no doubt that the project will be finished before the grand opening.

“I have seen worse, believe me. I always come for the opening week, and you go to the theater and you’re like, ‘nah, there’s no way this is going to be ready.’ But believe me, there’s a 24-hour work rotation, and once the date approaches, magic.”