Chances are that 99.999% of us won’t be interested and/or can’t afford to do this. However, I figured I’d post about it anyway, as someone who loves reality TV, as I’m fascinated by the inner workings of it.
The Forward Cabin posted about how he was contacted by a casting producer for Bravo’s show “Below Deck Mediterranean,” and they were looking for an interesting group to charter the yacht for a few days at a discount.
For those of you not familiar, “Below Deck” is a show that follows the dramatic lives of a crew that works on a mega-yacht. The show is partly about the ridiculous requests of the guests, though mostly just about the drama going on between the crew members. So the passengers as such aren’t the focal point of the show (as they have a new “charter” in every episode), but rather help support the storyline going on with the crew.
Here’s a trailer of the first season of the show, for those of you not familiar with it:
I’ve long wondered how they find the super high roller charter guests for the cruise, as many of them have also appeared on other Bravo TV shows. After all, if someone is paying full price, presumably they wouldn’t want to be filmed the whole time.
Here’s what the casting director sent Jamie:
its $55k for a group of 5 people, that includes everyone’s roundtrip airfare to Croatia, 2 nights at a 5 start hotel, 3 days on the 154ft yacht- that normally charters for $207,000 a week, all food and alcohol on yacht, all water sports, crew tip and ground transportation, the trip normally would cost over $100k so its a great deal
$55K is still a lot of money, but perhaps it could be negotiated down a bit if you take care of your own airfare from the US (and if they’re flying you over there to be charter guests on a 150+ foot yacht, you’d think it would be in business class). It’s certainly a huge discount over what they normally charge, but given that they’ll be filming the whole time, it might not prove to be an especially relaxing vacation.
Still, for the right person who’s looking to launch their reality TV career while getting a chartered yacht at someone of a discount, this might be for you. Just be sure you bring the drama and have a storyline, or else they probably won’t be interested. 😉
I write all this not because I actually expect one of you will be interested, but rather just because I’m so fascinated to learn how casting for the charter guests works.
Don't forget about the tip. The show expects you to tip $15 - $25K for your trip! They contacted me about this offer too.
@Adam
The boat they used in for this show was gaudy and out dated. Also keep in mind that when filming , in addition to cabin crew, there is also production crew around ..and the guests basically become second fiddle to the crew more focused on making their screen time for the show than focusing on the guests.
I had previously read, at least for the orginal series that films in the Carribean that...
@Adam
The boat they used in for this show was gaudy and out dated. Also keep in mind that when filming , in addition to cabin crew, there is also production crew around ..and the guests basically become second fiddle to the crew more focused on making their screen time for the show than focusing on the guests.
I had previously read, at least for the orginal series that films in the Carribean that the guests are 'cast' and they do not pay to be on the ship but are expected to cover the cost of the tips.
Ugh... The worst part is that many people watching shows like this actually believe this is reality.
While I've never been on a 155', I've been on plenty of 70'-140' yachts. Other than a few indiscretions after a bit of overindulgence of wine, I don't recall any of us being particularly unruly or unrealistically demanding. At one point I spent 4 weeks on one.
I love the show too! Surprised that it isn't cheaper though. That still seems to be very expensive for a three-day, two-night cruise.
I LOVE that show. It's my guilty pleasure.
@Paul;
I'd like to know more about these disasters and what is particularly bad about this boat - aside from the obvious nonsense of the crew's shenanigans. I have minimal knowledge of the yachting industry, so it'd be good to separate the wheat from the chaff.
You should team up with 4 of your fellow bloggers and do the episode. That's only about $11k each and you get a nice trip and tons of press coverage on the show I'd think.
I want to see what a "5 start hotel" looks like ;-)
Let's do it, Lucky!
Below decks is an embarrassment to the yacht charter industry. Nobody who charters yachts regularly would touch that boat at anything close to $207k a week and going by some of their previous disasterous "discount filming charters" that never made it on the show I'd suggest that even at $55k it's a massive risk. The show (and boat) has a very bad reputation in the industry.
I want to know if the tip portion is fake or is it included in the price and the charter guest hands over money they already paid for the show.
Can I use Delta sky pesos to pay for the yacht portion? ;-)