Cruise in 7 days and just informed a reality show is to be filmed on board.

[Hlitner]

I agree with the OP's outrage.  For decades, I have been critical (here on CC and elsewhere) about cruise lines booking large groups onto cruises and not allowing other passengers (non-group) to be informed of this fact, the nature of the group, and giving folks the option to cancel or reschedule their cruise.  Like large groups, filming a TV show is going to be somewhat disruptive.  While many may find it interesting, there are others who simply want a normal cruise experience.   

 

What happens when you have a large group (and possibly the filming of a TV show) is that public parts of the ship can sometimes become "private" to meet the needs of the group (or TV crew).   When this happens, it can be a real bummer.

 

Hank

[vjmatty]

Just now, Hlitner said:

I agree with the OP's outrage.  For decades, I have been critical (here on CC and elsewhere) about cruise lines booking large groups onto cruises and not allowing other passengers (non-group) to be informed of this fact, the nature of the group, and giving folks the option to cancel or reschedule their cruise.  Like large groups, filming a TV show is going to be somewhat disruptive.  While many may find it interesting, there are others who simply want a normal cruise experience.   

 

What happens when you have a large group (and possibly the filming of a TV show) is that public parts of the ship can sometimes become "private" to meet the needs of the group (or TV crew).   When this happens, it can be a real bummer.

 

Hank

 

I remember when I first started cruising about 20 years ago, reading on here that you should always google your sailing to see if there are any large groups or events on board.  I haven't done it in years though.

[ldubs]

I can't think of too many things I would rather not do than be on a cruise with any of the "real housewives".😬

[voljeep]

13 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 

I remember when I first started cruising about 20 years ago, reading on here that you should always google your sailing to see if there are any large groups or events on board.  I haven't done it in years though.

what does "Google" show for groups, if any, on the Discovery, 10/29/22 cruise?

[Coral]

On 9/20/2022 at 12:25 PM, Coral said:

I was on the Sapphire Princess when the Biggest Loser was filmed. Yes, venues were closed on the ship. They did quite a bit on PORT days but it was still a pain. Though, they got off the ship mid-way which did help.

I meant to say most filming was on port days. They had blocked off one of the pool areas for filming and they used the buffet side that was closed during the day for filming. They left half way through the cruise when filming was done. I think this was a Vancouver to LA cruise or vice versa.

[jwattle]

When we renewed our vows on Celebrity quite a few years ago, it included the photographer. As she had to rush, she included a location shoot at Labadee. The next year, on a different Celebrity ship, we found five different shots of us around the ship from the Labadee shoot and the shots she took around the ship with us. It was "interesting". We took pictures of us with the pictures, feeling like celebrities on Celebrity.😂😁

[4x4bob]

2 hours ago, voljeep said:

what does "Google" show for groups, if any, on the Discovery, 10/29/22 cruise?

On our May 2022 cruise on Discovery to Alaska there were about 250 Bears on board which of course was not announced a head of the cruise. 

 

Mainly they kept to them selves, just folks having fun on a cruise.  The interesting part for me was.....They were middle age to older men wearing beards.  Guess what?   That profile fit me which made my wife laugh a lot at some of the looks I received from time to time.

Bob

[Kabuki12]

A good friend invited me to accompany her to hear the keynote speaker tonight in a "Women in Conversation" series.  She said she thought that it would be interesting for me as this was a captain of a yacht who had fought off pirates and handled a major fire aboard her ship.

 

This speaker just happens to be the star of a reality series called Below Deck.   Gotta laugh at the irony.

 

WOMEN IN CONVERSATION - Green Music Center (sonoma.edu)

 

[jwattle]

1 hour ago, Kabuki12 said:

A good friend invited me to accompany her to hear the keynote speaker tonight in a "Women in Conversation" series.  She said she thought that it would be interesting for me as this was a captain of a yacht who had fought off pirates and handled a major fire aboard her ship.

 

This speaker just happens to be the star of a reality series called Below Deck.   Gotta laugh at the irony.

 

WOMEN IN CONVERSATION - Green Music Center (sonoma.edu)

 

She's actually got a very impressive C.V. for any Captain, much less a woman in a traditionally male industry. She makes a point to raise women up in the industry when she sees the opportunity. 

[Lido deck main]

On 9/20/2022 at 10:01 AM, Kabuki12 said:

Yep, just received this email this morning:

 

Important update regarding your Booking

Dear Donna, our valued guest, During your 12-day Mexican Riviera voyage on Royal Princess, a UK-based reality TV show is being filmed onboard for UK channel ITV. Filming will take place across the first 7 days of the voyage and the production company would like to film the cast interacting with guests while on board. If you do not want to be filmed, please email nicola.warren@monkeykingdom.com by Sunday September 25th. Otherwise you just might appear in the program!   Kind regards, Princess Cruises

I think that this is utter B.S. to be informed 7 days before a fully paid cruise that I am to be subjected to this chaos.   I paid a lot of money for a relaxing cruise to forget about the mayhem in my life.   Reality shows are scripted and have to show drama to keep the viewers and ratings up.   The lower the ratings the worse that they get.  I have visions of bright lights and cameras hoovering around loudly arguing actors throwing drinks, pushing each other into the pool and slapping each other.    Crew members running after the actors and pushing guests out of the way. 

 

Yes, we can opt out of being filmed but can they come into any area of the ship at any time?  Will we be warned where filming is that day?   Can they come into the sanctuary and start a ruckus?    

 

We should have been notified of this from day one.   That way the people that enjoy reality shows could book the cruise and those of us who it would create a stressful experience could find another cruise to book.

 

Something like this is huge and should not be forced upon us at the last week of the cruise.   There is no way to opt out of the cruise without losing all my money so I'm going but if I could get a full refund I would do so in a New York minute.

 

 

I wouldn’t be happy either.  And I don’t like it where you have to opt out, they should have everybody is out and people have to opt in if they want to be on the show .  This is not cool.

[caribill]

6 hours ago, Hlitner said:

What happens when you have a large group (and possibly the filming of a TV show) is that public parts of the ship can sometimes become "private" to meet the needs of the group (or TV crew).   When this happens, it can be a real bummer.

 

 

There are really two types of large groups:

 

First is the group that Princess allows to reserve parts of the ship just for themselves for various periods of time. This could be the aft pool area, the Princess Theater, a dining room, or any other venue. These are the types of groups that to me are the most disruptive as they limit my access to areas of the ship at times I would like to use them.

 

Second is a group of people with similar interests, but who do their own thing individually all day/evening. Sure, a large number of the group may gravitate to the same place such as the aft pool area, but it is not reserved for them. You may or may not decide to go there because of the crowd, but you do not have access denied. Even without a specific group on board, the area you want to be in may be overcrowded just because many people want to be there at the same time.

[sloopsailor]

15 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

There are really two types of large groups:

 

First is the group that Princess allows to reserve parts of the ship just for themselves for various periods of time. This could be the aft pool area, the Princess Theater, a dining room, or any other venue. These are the types of groups that to me are the most disruptive as they limit my access to areas of the ship at times I would like to use them.

 

Second is a group of people with similar interests, but who do their own thing individually all day/evening. Sure, a large number of the group may gravitate to the same place such as the aft pool area, but it is not reserved for them. You may or may not decide to go there because of the crowd, but you do not have access denied. Even without a specific group on board, the area you want to be in may be overcrowded just because many people want to be there at the same time.

 

We were on a cruise with a very large wedding party about a decade ago on a Celebrity ship. Over half the evenings they had the most popular lounge on the ship reserved for their private activities. One day they took over one entire side of the pool area for their very boisterous activities, twice they reserved one of the specialty restaurants for the evening (one of which we wanted to enjoy on our anniversary, of course), and even the entire pool deck one evening after dinner. Over half the cruise they had a popular area reserved for their group. 

 

That got really old after a while. I didn't book that cruise to be locked out of areas I had expected to enjoy, areas that they breathlessly promoted in their marketing campaigns. 

Edited September 22, 2022 by sloopsailor

[AlibearNS]

8 hours ago, Kabuki12 said:

This is the email response that I received from the production company:

 

Thank you for your email. We acknowledge that you do not wish to be featured in the programme.  It would be helpful if you could forward a headshot photograph of yourself to me so that I can alert producers to try and avoid you in the back of shot. We will, at all times, display public notices in the areas we are filming in, there are no hidden cameras.  In the event that you are caught on camera in these public areas, we will ensure that you are not included in the final cut when we edit the programme.

 

Kind regards

 

Nicola Warren

Production Coordinator

 

 

Displaying notices where they are going to film for the day is helpful.  They won't be roaming around the ship catching people off guard.  The passengers that are into reality shows can attend and those of us that detest them be elsewhere during the filming. 

 

Imagine if they get hundreds of emails and then headshots...that's a lot of work for them. 
I'm glad they will be putting out notices. I shall avoid them as best I can. I don't want to give out my email or photo. I really wish this was an opt in thing instead. I hope it won't be disruptive. Anyone find out what the show is? My TA says he knows nothing about it.

[Wakepatrol]

Can we be in the show?

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by Wakepatrol

[G&Gcruisers]

We were on the Royal Princess in 2017 when the ITV crew were filming. We barely noticed. They filmed very discreetly with very few people. Not a big production at all. Off the ship, they stood far away when filming passengers getting on or off the ship.  I saw about a second of my husband on the open air bus in St. Thomas on the episode.

[DallasGuy75219]

On 9/20/2022 at 7:32 PM, Mike45LC said:

I've been on cruises with large private groups that took over public areas simply by moving in and occupying them.  Chumley's Bear group was one of these, taking over the pools and hot tubs.

Did they actively or physically/forcefully exclude you?  If so, report them to Security.  If not, they're paid passengers and have the same right to be in public areas as you. 

 

The fact that a public venue is crowded or may be occupied by people you don't want be around doesn't mean you were excluded; you just chose not to join the crowd and be around them.

[Mike45LC]

57 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Did they actively or physically/forcefully exclude you?  If so, report them to Security.  If not, they're paid passengers and have the same right to be in public areas as you. 

 

The fact that a public venue is crowded or may be occupied by people you don't want be around doesn't mean you were excluded; you just chose not to join the crowd and be around them.

You are absolutely correct, except insofar as you suggest that I felt they were not entitled to use the ship’s facilities.  
 

I just wish the cruise line had to disclose large groups who booked.  

[DallasGuy75219]

55 minutes ago, Mike45LC said:

You are absolutely correct, except insofar as you suggest that I felt they were not entitled to use the ship’s facilities. 

Then how do people "take over" (your words) facilities they are entitled to use?

[latserrof]

I have worked on quite a few "reality" shows and very little of this stuff is spontaneous. Most of the shots are  "blocked" (arranged) in advance, often for rehearsal and camera position/lighting purposes.  The shots are usually pretty tight (i.e., close-ups). If there is anyone in the background, we usually use only cooperating people.  On something like a cruise ship, there may be some super-wide shots, but the individuals would likely be recognizable only to themselves, if that. We usually go out of our way to avoid "bogeys," i.e., people not associated with the production. And we prefer to have the "set" to ourselves as much as possible, which may mean shooting in off-hours.

 

My biggest concern would be the possible closing or commandeering of venues by the production.

 

And for those speculating about what show this is: A show's production company can change from season to season, sometimes in name only.

 

 

[Kabuki12]

10 minutes ago, latserrof said:

I have worked on quite a few "reality" shows and very little of this stuff is spontaneous. Most of the shots are  "blocked" (arranged) in advance, often for rehearsal and camera position/lighting purposes.  The shots are usually pretty tight (i.e., close-ups). If there is anyone in the background, we usually use only cooperating people.  On something like a cruise ship, there may be some super-wide shots, but the individuals would likely be recognizable only to themselves, if that. We usually go out of our way to avoid "bogeys," i.e., people not associated with the production. And we prefer to have the "set" to ourselves as much as possible, which may mean shooting in off-hours.

 

My biggest concern would be the possible closing or commandeering of venues by the production.

 

And for those speculating about what show this is: A show's production company can change from season to season, sometimes in name only.

 

 

Thank you for your insight.  This makes me feel better.  I did hear that they are very scripted and that would curtail not having spontaneous cruise guests ruining shots.  Hopefully, everything is shot off hours and it's not a big distraction.

 

I don't get the part about wanting to interact with guests.  That does not seem to jive with the typical scripted reality show.    An attention seeking loud obnoxious couple could ruin the whole shoot.

[sloopsailor]

46 minutes ago, Kabuki12 said:

Thank you for your insight.  This makes me feel better.  I did hear that they are very scripted and that would curtail not having spontaneous cruise guests ruining shots.  Hopefully, everything is shot off hours and it's not a big distraction.

 

I don't get the part about wanting to interact with guests.  That does not seem to jive with the typical scripted reality show.    An attention seeking loud obnoxious couple could ruin the whole shoot.

 

That sounds more like the contestants, not the regular passengers. 😁

[CineGraphic]

As someone who has appeared in countless bad tv shows and films for the past ten years, I would not want to be on the ship during this. Your vacation should be just that, a vacation. I would ask them to change you to a cruise with no film crew or to compensate you for any inconveniences.

 

Odds are they knew about this for a long time. 

[Smokeyham]

Carefully watching the "New Love Boat" which is filmed aboard the Regal Princess.  Most scenes seem to be filmed in the Sanctuary or other locations which would seem to have limited impact on other guests, but one scene, where the women decide which men will be sent ashore, is filmed right in the center of the ship which affects two decks (in the area where the big screen is).  I am seeing ~25 other passengers in the shot.  The ship appears to be at sea, apparently in the late afternoon.

My point is that if this is indeed a regular cruise that you would expect a lot of other passengers to be on those decks/pools/hot tubs on a nice afternoon in the Mediterranean.   This must have had quite an impact for those on board.   

[Smokeyham]

On 9/20/2022 at 10:01 AM, Kabuki12 said:

YSomething like this is huge and should not be forced upon us at the last week of the cruise.   There is no way to opt out of the cruise without losing all my money so I'm going but if I could get a full refund I would do so in a New York minute.

@Kabuki12

If I have done the math correctly, you cruise has ended.  Can you report back on what the impact was?

[Esprit]

Having been on cruises where filming for the UK TV program and "The Real Love Boat" reality show occurred, I can categorically say that the factual UK show was far less intrusive on guests compared with the reality show.

 

I would have no qualms being on Royal Princess whilst filming is in progress.