The last time my family & I went to see a movie in the cinema was in February 2020 when our daughter Gabbie celebrated her 10th birthday with her classmates. Going to the cinema has been a part of our weekend family dates but with the pandemic it was one of the things we had to put on hold. Though we had some reservations about it, after almost two years of living in time of a pandemic and we finally got to visit the cinema again.
Our first cinema experience here in Dubai was at Novo Cinemas.
The first thing I did was to check how many bought tickets to our chosen time slot. Even though we go out regularly on weekends, I still prefer going to places & doing activities that are not so crowded. Thankfully, Shang-Chi has been showing for weeks already so there were only a handful of people who watched with us.
I also like that there’s still social distancing which made me feel safe.
My boys ready to watch.
Gabbie who loves eating popcorn while watching a movie was so cute. She’s so not used to it anymore that every time she took a bite, she’d put her mask back on ?.
A few weeks after our first cinema experience we went to check out Reels Cinema that offers Dine-In experience.
All smiles because we’re excited to experience Dine-In cinema.
What got us confident to go to the cinema the second time around was that Reel dine-in cinema has less than 30 seats and with social distancing protocol too.
Waiting for my seat mate because he’s taking forever! ?
Reel Dine-In cinema lets you choose your preferred food package. From snack to a full course meal. Since it was our first time, we opted for the three-course meal of appetizer, main & dessert.
Since it was just us plus two other families, we were told by the staff that we can all sit together. So Leonardo DiCaprio was immediately replaced by my VIP. ☺️
Reel Dine-In is an elevated encounter to our usual movie time. The seats can be pushed forward and back to accommodate dining. Bar dim lights are also turned on so you can see your food. Though the lights can be bothersome at first, it doesn’t affect the overall experience. I just wished there’s an option to turn it off once you’re done eating.
Even though we’re regularly going out on weekends to enjoy family activities, this doesn’t mean we’re not being cautious. We still follow safety protocols, wear our masks, do social distancing, sanitize and even bring our personal air sanitizer just to keep the virus away.
Also posted a quick reel on my Instagram about our dine-in cinema experience. And if you’re here in the UAE, click the links to know more about Novo Cinemas and Reel Cinemas.
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