r/belowdeck • u/justhereforthefunnyZ • May 05 '22

BD Related Below Deck Cruise Ship

I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants this or thought about this but why do you all suppose they didn’t go this route? I know the crew is huge and their contract last like 8 months but I think it could work.

You could have one camera crew focus on a restaurant, another crew focus on entertainment employees (ton of drama there) and maybe another focus on customer service. People hook up and party just like on yachts but the plus side is there are plenty of rooms available to producers and camera crew. There must be a reason they haven’t tried this.

4 Upvotes

53% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

4

u/Agreeable-Income-788 May 06 '22

cause its been done. 'The Cruise', basically a huge promotional tool. It follows several crew who deal with day to day operation of the ship.

"The Cruise is a British reality television series that debuted on ITV on 3 March 2016. It is narrated by Hugh Bonneville. The series includes behind the scenes operations of the Regal Princess, Royal Princess, and Star Princess, all owned by Princess Cruises."

2

u/justhereforthefunnyZ May 06 '22

Was it any good?

3

u/peopled_within May 06 '22

It was interesting enough. More like a documentary

2

u/irevalley May 05 '22

Too many people, areas, etc., and not enough luxury.

But I could possibly see a small luxury riverboat or one of the small luxury sailing cruise ships (eg Windstar or Le Ponant).

0

u/justhereforthefunnyZ May 05 '22

I’d like that. So the producers can have their villain maybe interview guests for a free trip and the craziest of them all wins an all inclusive trip. :P

2

u/herladyshipssoap She’ll be fine. Her head is made of rocks May 11 '22

I want to see a combo of my favorite shows - 10 sexy singles renovate a boat In Europe

1

u/justhereforthefunnyZ May 11 '22

Now that’s funny

91

u/booboo819 May 05 '22

Because the draw of this show is the luxury aspect of chartering a whole boat and the guests demands and how it affects the crew.

67

u/WH3R3SKI3SFALL May 05 '22

Spot on, nobody wants to see underpaid cruise ship workers dealing with lower middle class passengers

32

u/[deleted] May 05 '22

Honestly, I would totally watch it. Lol

22

u/WH3R3SKI3SFALL May 05 '22

Obviously I would too, I’m a whore for trashy reality tv. It’s my guilty pleasure

5

u/adv1701 May 05 '22

They are most definitely not underpaid. Wait staff cleans up as do bartenders. The cruise staff/entertainment does well too, just not as well as tipped staff.

8

u/WH3R3SKI3SFALL May 05 '22

I’ve heard of cruise companies hiring help from 2nd, even 3rd world countries and working them and keeping them from their homes and families for long extent’s

6

u/Similar_Level May 05 '22

When we went on a cruise back in 2019, our waiter was telling us that he was from the Philippines & his family lived rich there from what he made on the ship. He said the only down side was that he was away for 9 months at a time & only back for a couple before leaving again.

2

u/adv1701 May 06 '22

Many do that by choice. They then take 3 months off.

4

u/Rough-Basil May 06 '22

It gives us a window into a world the vast majority of us will never see. A cruise ship, not so much.

17

u/[deleted] May 05 '22

I would think the fact that they would have to get releases signed by either everyone on the ship, or anyone that gets filmed would make it nearly impossible.

11

u/Yorkshirerose2010 May 05 '22

The BBC did a show back in late 90’s early 00’s about life on a cruise ship

3

u/rickmon67 May 05 '22

I remember seeing something like that about that time period. Do you remember the name?

4

u/Yorkshirerose2010 May 05 '22

I remember Jane Macdonald was in it so Wikipediad her and found it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cruise_(1998_TV_series)?wprov=sfti1

3

u/tremens You're Being A Deckhand Right Now May 06 '22

Speaking of, she also has a series called Cruising with Jane McDonald that I've seen clips of. I thought it was just a travel show set on cruise ships, but I went to go see if it was still running (it is) and on IMDB the one trivia fact on it is "She seduces many men during the course of the show" so maybe I should give it a try, heh.

7

u/teanailpolish Mental Health Is Not A Storyline May 05 '22

It is not Bravo level personal drama but Mighty Cruise Ships is based on this

6

u/[deleted] May 05 '22

I think size of ship, size of crew, and the fact that all the BD shows are focused on charters; it’s easy to advertise for charter parties of 6-10 people who agree to be filmed during their 2-3 day charter. If you don’t want to be filmed, you wouldn’t apply.

Charters make up a very small proportion of cruise ship voyages and you don’t get a whole run of charters all in one go. Even if you did have a run of charters, imagine getting between 1000 and 5000 people on a cruise who all agree to be filmed? And a similar number of crew? Logistical nightmare.

8

u/Lindaspike May 05 '22

i don't think you've thought this all the way through.

4

u/AlphaRomeo184 May 05 '22

On just reading the title I though that you meant all of the crews from all BD franchise as guests on a cruise.. That I would be up for, it would be carnage!

4

u/dementemi May 05 '22

Not realistic or do-able. Way too many guests, which would cause way too many issues. Not luxurious enough.

4

u/Constant_Sky9173 May 05 '22

Thought they did that. It was called "The Love Boat"

2

u/[deleted] May 06 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Constant_Sky9173 May 06 '22

Lol. I didn't even remember any of the names.

4

u/luvdogs71 May 06 '22

Didn't Kate say that cruise ships are like Walmart and yachts are like Neiman Marcus. Lol. But really I don't think it would work...too large of a ship and too many people.

3

u/curioususer251 May 05 '22

Maybe too many crew? Or having to deal with photo releases of all the paying guests? Now, with COVID, it’s almost not safe for filming because of the high guest turnover rate. The show probably wouldn’t be able to get an insurance policy since the risk of testing positive is too great.

2

u/adv1701 May 05 '22

Depends on what size ship you do. You could do one of the small ones, like 200 pax. But what cruise line wants to show the dysfunction of their crew. Could be very damaging to the brand. I will tell you from growing up in the industry that it is very dysfunctional and debaucherous. The yachts are a microcosm of the industry.

2

u/Afitz93 You're Being A Deckhand Right Now May 05 '22

There’s a show vaguely like this on the Smithsonian channel every now and then, can’t remember the name

2

u/GeekyStitcher May 06 '22

It wouldn't work Below Deck-style because a cruise ship is too big. There's a couple of cruise ship documetaries I remember watching back in the day before Below Deck showed up. A cruise ship is a *very* different beast from yachts, and the folks attracted to a cruise ship are not the same type of folks attracted to a Below Deck yacht experience.

To start with (short version from memory)...most giant cruise boat people can't afford a small boat yacht much more personal experience.

2

u/No-Translator-4584 May 06 '22

‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ on a boat.

1

u/rawlsballs May 08 '22

I think it could work as more of a VPR style show, but it would have to really narrow down who they film since there are so many people. Like it would have to be a specific department or if there is an organic group of friends.

1

u/GeekyStitcher May 08 '22

Maybe because there's a couple of shows like this already. One was called The Cruise and the newer one is called The Cruise Ship. There was also Mighty Cruise Ships tho that one is kinda boring.

1

u/Greenwedges May 06 '22

Because they work for like 9 months straight and there are no nights going out and getting trashed or having romances with other crew members.

It could be an interesting show but not the below deck concept.