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

[Kabuki12]

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.

 

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by Kabuki12
spelling correction

[Mike45LC]

I too would be unhappy to be informed of this, let alone after “final payment date.”  I would go to the Roll Call and encourage everyone to email the production company and demand that they not appear as unpaid participants or bystanders.

[mom says]

Maybe it's just me, but I'd be inclined to find out what the show was actually about before getting this upset. Have you ever been on a cruise with a partial charter or convention on board? Now that can really disrupt your chill out time.

 

If you don't want to be involved, then just email as requested. If you prejudice the cruise to be a disaster, then it likely WILL be.

[Wishing on a star]

Would you be ready to change sailings?  

If so,  I would try to connect with as many others as you can, and email Jan.

I am thinking that moveover offers can sometimes be very good.

 

There is the new "Love Boat" series of shows that are to be based on Princess ships.

I know that one has been filmed.  There was some disruption.  But I don't think I remember hearing the person say that it was just SO BAD that it really ruined their cruise, and was worth escalating with Princess about.   But, I don't know details.

[Kabuki12]

1 minute ago, Mike45LC said:

I too would be unhappy to be informed of this, let alone after “final payment date.”  I would go to the Roll Call and encourage everyone to email the production company and demand that they not appear as unpaid participants or bystanders.

We don't know what reality show this is or who to contact.  A good idea.   This exploitation of the paying passengers is wrong on so many levels.   

 

I wonder if it is the New Love Boat reality series.

 

[Coral]

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 sea days but it was still a pain. Though, they got off the ship mid-way which did help.

[Coral]

1 minute ago, Kabuki12 said:

 

 

I wonder if it is the New Love Boat reality series.

 

This was filmed on the Regal this summer.

[Kabuki12]

1 minute ago, Wishing on a star said:

Would you be ready to change sailings?  

If so,  I would try to connect with as many others as you can, and email Jan.

I am thinking that moveover offers can sometimes be very good.

 

There is the new "Love Boat" series of shows that are to be based on Princess ships.

I know that one has been filmed.  There was some disruption.  But I don't think I remember hearing the person say that it was just SO BAD that it really ruined their cruise, and was worth escalating with Princess about.   But, I don't know details.

A good offer with changing sailings would be a possiblity for me.  I would have to rearrange my whole work schedule which would be a big deal not to mention cancel house and animal sitters and rebook.

 

It's a topic on our roll call right at the moment and nobody seems to be jumping for joy over the news.

[Sn0cruiser]

If it’s an ITV, it could be a new season of The Cruise which spends most of the time behind the scenes - it’s about the crew not the passengers.  You can view that show on YouTube - search for « The Cruise ».  I think, but not sure of this, that the New Love Boat is a US show not an ITV (UK) show.  

[sloopsailor]

4 minutes ago, Kabuki12 said:

We don't know what reality show this is or who to contact.  A good idea.   This exploitation of the paying passengers is wrong on so many levels.   

 

I wonder if it is the New Love Boat reality series.

 

 

The New Love Boat reality series was filmed on Regal Princess on a Med cruise. It is scheduled to begin showing in a week or two. 

[PacnGoNow]

22 minutes ago, 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’ve been on several cruises where there was filming and those crews were very respectful of the cruise guests. They would rope off an area when filming and film quickly and leave.

 

Their calls were very early or late to miss a lot of crowds.  So, we were not bothered.  The also filmed more on port days.  
 

I really hope they are that respectful for your trip.  If you sent a message to the filming company, express your wishes.

 

Good luck.

 

[Wishing on a star]

I would imagine that specialty restaurants will be closed at some times for filming, maybe late some evenings.  Same with some other venues.  I can see the young cast set up at areas like wake-view, vista lounge, sanctuary, in the Suites, etc.  I heard that they had set up in a section of the Sanctuary.  I believe that a lot of scenes will actually be filmed separately and at very late or early hours.   I can tell you that scenes of hoards of unsuspecting 'average' princess cruise guests are NOT what they will be wanting.   They will have set up carefully crafted and scripted dates and events in the different venues.  And would not do this during prime hours.  I know that the Batcherlor/Batchelorette sometimes film overnight.

 

How much this would impact the overall cruise, I don't think anyone knows.

[Mike45LC]

6 minutes ago, Kabuki12 said:

We don't know what reality show this is or who to contact.  

 

There was an “opt out” email address in the original notification from Princess.

[Kabuki12]

2 minutes ago, Coral said:

This was filmed on the Regal this summer.

So, we wont know what it is until we board the ship.     I hope it isn't a high drama series and they just close off the venues that they are going to use.   They could also do casting calls for passengers that want to be in the show.

 

If they show up anytime anywhere without warning and disrupt passengers, I am going to ask for compensation.  This is not what I signed up for.

 

[Wishing on a star]

This was probably the first Love Boat season, and as it airs, usually filming begins on the next season.  Again, there is absolutely no intention to 'exploit' anybody.

YOU are definitely not what they are wanting to get on camera.

 

How you feel about how all of this might go down is, of course, up to you!

But I would not want to make any assumptions that this was going to be just one huge deal-breaker.

A lot of this show might be filmed as the young cast goes off on private shore adventures and dates.

 

 

[Wishing on a star]

Yes, I remember, I think, a live from, or ongoing review, here on CC from somebody who was on that sailing.  Maybe you can search and find that?  (Hate that the search function is now basically useless!!!)

[FormerPrincessCrew]

It’s The Cruise. 80% of filming will be in crew areas, but they do follow the crew into public areas so you could be in the background. As they said above, the focus is on the crew. Unless there happens to be a passenger who has something dramatic happen when embarking (luggage falls into water, passport stolen, etc), they won’t care if you’re there. 

[Wishing on a star]

Ohhh!  So it is about the crew and behind the scenes.  Not one of the dating reality shows.

[Princessfan20]

18 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I’ve been on several cruises where there was filming and those crews were very respectful of the cruise guests. They would rope off an area when filming and film quickly and leave.

 

Their calls were very early or late to miss a lot of crowds.  So, we were not bothered.  The also filmed more on port days.  
 

I really hope they are that respectful for your trip.  If you sent a message to the filming company, express your wishes.

 

Good luck.

 

 

We were on a Princess ship when a show was being filmed.  The Princess staff photographers were more of an annoyance on many days and nights than the film crew and actors.  

 

Plus,  do you think they are really going to want a lot of us Princess passengers in a reality show knowing the demographic that will probably be on the ship.  I think not.

[AlibearNS]

I'm unhappy too. They must have known this was due to happen and we should have been informed. As it is the UK channel ITV I think it will be The Cruise, so they will be filming all over, following the crew as they do their work and interact with passengers.

I see we can opt out. I wonder if that would mean they would blur our faces.

[Kabuki12]

23 minutes ago, PacnGoNow said:

I’ve been on several cruises where there was filming and those crews were very respectful of the cruise guests. They would rope off an area when filming and film quickly and leave.

 

Their calls were very early or late to miss a lot of crowds.  So, we were not bothered.  The also filmed more on port days.  
 

I really hope they are that respectful for your trip.  If you sent a message to the filming company, express your wishes.

 

Good luck.

 

I could live with that.

[Kabuki12]

26 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

I would imagine that specialty restaurants will be closed at some times for filming, maybe late some evenings.  Same with some other venues.  I can see the young cast set up at areas like wake-view, vista lounge, sanctuary, in the Suites, etc.  I heard that they had set up in a section of the Sanctuary.  I believe that a lot of scenes will actually be filmed separately and at very late or early hours.   I can tell you that scenes of hoards of unsuspecting 'average' princess cruise guests are NOT what they will be wanting.   They will have set up carefully crafted and scripted dates and events in the different venues.  And would not do this during prime hours.  I know that the Batcherlor/Batchelorette sometimes film overnight.

 

How much this would impact the overall cruise, I don't think anyone knows.

That's the thing.  They left us in the dark about how much this will be impacting customers.  They should have told us exactly what to expect and how much or little it would disrupt passengers.  

[cruzin4us]

When we were on the Majestic last October, they were filming and taking pictures of people gambling (not passengers).   The models (I guess that's what you would call them) were at a blackjack table dressed to the 9's with drinks in hand.   It was kind of fun to watch for about 5 minutes and then I wanted them out of there because all the tables were closed while they filmed and took pics.    A lot of camera people with staged lights & cords.  The models had drinks, fake smiles, fake looks of excitement.     

A few hours of inconvenience is much different than having a reality show being filmed for a week.   I'd be dodging cameras, and that wouldn't make for a fun relaxing vacation for me. 

[Kabuki12]

25 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

This was probably the first Love Boat season, and as it airs, usually filming begins on the next season.  Again, there is absolutely no intention to 'exploit' anybody.

YOU are definitely not what they are wanting to get on camera.

If this is about the crew than they have every intention of exploiting every passenger that they interact with or film.   Again, this was not announced until final payment was made one week before the cruise.    Not knowing the show, how do you know who they want to get on camera and who they dont.   And how do you know what I look like?

25 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

 

How you feel about how all of this might go down is, of course, up to you!

It appears Princess has that same attitude.  

25 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

But I would not want to make any assumptions that this was going to be just one huge deal-breaker.

A lot of this show might be filmed as the young cast goes off on private shore adventures and dates

 

Again, we have no information in that email what to expect.  If most of the show is a "young cast going off to private show excursions" that would probably be ok.   But I'm not going to make that assumption.

[Princessfan20]

1 hour ago, Kabuki12 said:

 

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.

 

Are you saying you did not buy Princess Vacation Protection Insurance?