Celebrity Beyond to be Featured on Bravo's Below Deck Series

Celebrity Beyond to be Featured on Bravo's Below Deck Series

Celebrity Cruises and NBCUniversal have partnered on an upcoming episode of Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” onboard Celebrity Beyond, according to a press release.

This episode features host Andy Cohen and all five captains from Bravo's successful "Below Deck" franchise, including Lee Rosbach, Captain Sandy Yawn, Captain Glenn Shepard, Captain Jason Chambers, and Captain Kerry Titheradge. The feature will air on Bravo on Tuesday, November 1, and will be available to stream the following day on Peacock, according to NBCUniversal.

“The partnership opportunity with NBCUniversal and Bravo was meant to be from the start. We both wanted to do something that hadn’t been done on a cruise ship before, so using our newest ship, Celebrity Beyond, as the backdrop, filming Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on our ship was the perfect opportunity,” commented Michael Scheiner, chief marketing officer, Celebrity Cruises.

Through this partnership, NBCU will provide Celebrity Cruises with advertising elements such as custom content promotion produced by NBCU's partners, as well as additional content on Twitter following the episode's airing. In addition, during the broadcast, Celebrity's captain Kate McCue will also play a nautical-themed game with fellow "Below Deck" captains.

“I cannot think of a more iconic way to celebrate and bring to life the spirit of our very own, Bravo’s Below Deck – than by channelling my inner Captain at sea,” said Andy Cohen, host and executive producer, Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

This collaboration between NBCUniversal and Celebrity Cruises demonstrates the media company's commitment to partnership in action, as One Platform senior vice president, of creative & development, advertising & partnerships Jamie Cutburth noted. “At NBCUniversal, we are constantly looking around every corner to find new, unexpected ways to share genuine stories with our audiences in collaboration with powerful, world-leading brands.”

Carnival TV Series Renewed for a Second Season

The Voyager with Josh Garcia (photo courtesy of Carnival Corporation)

Three of Carnival Corp.’s travel television series have been extended for a second season ABC and NBC stations.

The company made the announcement at the ASTA Global Convention at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina.

Season two of “The Voyager with Josh Garcia” will premiere on NBC stations beginning Saturday, September 30.  “Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin” and “Vacation Creation with Tommy Davidson and Andrea Feczko” will debut on ABC affiliates the following week on Saturday, October 7.

The renewals come a year after Carnival’s first original travel programming and is part of Carnival Corp.’s focus on producing and distributing compelling experiential content.

All three shows were ranked as number one or number two in their time slot during the inaugural season.

“Based on the exceptionally positive viewing results and the overall increased interest in cruise vacations following our shows’ inaugural year, we are extending our programming and growing our content library for the 2017 to 2018 season,” said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation

The company’s brands include Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Cunard, P&O Cruises (Australia) and P&O Cruises (UK), as well as Fathom, its immersive, enrichment experience brand.

“Championing the extraordinary experiences that our guests enjoy while on a cruise vacation via original programming is key to expanding the market’s awareness and generating demand for cruising,” Padgett added.

According to Carnival Corp., cruise vacations are growing 20 percent faster than land-based trips. That stat is evidence that Americans’ interest in cruise vacations is becoming more and more popular, it said.

It also cited an Adobe Digital Insights study, released earlier this year, that showed the number of visits to cruise websites had increased 32 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2017.

Three of Carnival Corp.’s original series—which debuted in fall 2016 and are distributed by Litton Entertainment—were honored recently with 10 Telly Awards for the best in TV and cable, digital and streaming and non-broadcast productions.

“Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin” broadcasts nationally as part of the daytime Emmy-winning block “Weekend Adventure,” a three-hour programming block airing Saturday mornings on 98 percent of the country’s ABC affiliate channels.

In season two, Corwin takes audiences to Iceland, Belize and Peru while also sharing his family with viewers as they visit Japan. There, Corwin connects with the one creature that’s alluded him for more than 20 years—the giant Japanese salamander.

The new season of the “Vacation Creation with Tommy Davidson and Andrea Feczko” will also be featured on ABC’s “Weekend Adventure.” It takes viewers beyond the typical travel show by personalizing vacations of a lifetime for couples, individuals and families facing hardship, in need of hope or seeking much-needed time together. 

From revealing the wondrous glaciers of Alaska to encounters with the mystical Moko Jumbie of the Virgin Islands, the show celebrates the importance of spending time with family and friends, along with discovering how the world can help people learn more about each other and their family history.  Along the way, viewers share their stories of overcoming adversity, while taking part in extraordinary experiences.

“The Voyager with Josh Garcia” returns for a second year as part of the network’s nationally broadcasted “The More You Know” programming block.

This season, viewers will travel with Garcia to Alaska’s majestic Mendenhall glacier, sample traditional Thai food in Bangkok and venture into the mountains of Taiwan to learn how traditional tea is farmed and prepared.

New Royal Caribbean ads focus on ‘next gen’ cruisers

Royal Caribbean says its “Come Seek” campaign reflects the brand’s adventurous spirit.

Royal Caribbean International is launching a major marketing campaign on Oct. 19 that will focus on Caribbean destinations and subvert stereotypes about a cruise.

Stylistically, it is designed to break through advertising clutter and indifference, with a specific emphasis on reaching “next gen” cruisers with twitchy images and jangly music.

The Royal’s first since chief marketing officer Jim Berra moved to Royal from a similar position at Carnival Cruise Line, will be nothing if not different, Berra said.

“It really is about attracting that next generation of cruisers,” Berra said. “We’re not simply trying to speak to our current core passengers.”

The key message in ads that will begin airing on shows such as NBC’s “The Voice” is about what a cruise is “not.”

Click the image for their latest Video

Viewers will see a rapid sequence of images that include statements such as “This is not a cruise,” or “You are not a tourist,” or “This is not the Caribbean.”

Berra said the theme was designed to resonate with about 35 million people who are not “cruise rejecters” but who need more convincing.

“Some of the things we’re going to do when showing our shipboard experience is to bring it to light in ways that are a little bit unexpected,” he said.

The “not” theme will carry over into a trade campaign that will include the theme “You are not a travel agent.”  Instead, Royal suggests in one ad that, “You are an all-knowing giggle-moment maker.”

Vicki Freed, Royal’s senior vice president of sales trade support and service, said field sales calls are being rebranded as “seeker sessions.”

“We’re going to help give [agents] the tools and the resources to help get those people who are “seekers” to think about coming on a Royal Caribbean cruise,” Freed said.

“Come Seek” will have several novel delivery vehicles, including 5-second video adsthat will serve as “teasers” on national television and as “snackable” messages for social media posting.

Video for the campaign has been shot and edited so it stands out on small screens, Berra said.

Starting in November, Royal will also come alive on 320 electronic billboards in high traffic spots in New York City that will carry live Periscope video from ships or Caribbean locales.

The idea leverages Royal’s Voom broadband connection to stream the video.

As part of the effort, Royal will select crew members to show off their insider knowledge in social media postings.

Berra said Royal ‘s fourth-quarter ad spending will be up 35% from last year, with an expected increase in next year’s first quarter, too.

Royal Caribbean's Quantum leap: No main dining rooms

By Rebecca Tobin

Royal Caribbean International is eliminating the main dining rooms on its two upcoming ships, the Quantum and Anthem of the Seas, in favor of five smaller restaurants that will offer specific culinary styles.

The five restaurants, to be included in the cruise price, will be among a total of 18 eateries onboard, in a concept Royal Caribbean calls "Dynamic Dining."

Royal Caribbean also introduced four new specialty restaurants.  Patrons will pay a cover to dine at these restaurants.

The specialty restaurants include Jamie's Italian, which was developed in concert with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Michael's Genuine Pub will be a gastropub built on a relationship with chef Michael Schwartz. Devinly Decadence, designed by bestselling author and chef of NBC's "The Biggest Loser" Devin Alexander, will feature a low-calorie menu.

Also carrying an extra charge will be Wonderland, where chefs will "twist their culinary kaleidoscopes to invent a dreamscape of never-before-seen fare," Royal Caribbean said.

In addition, the ships will carry Royal Caribbean stalwarts Chops Grille, Izumi Japanese Cuisine and Chef's Table, plus casual eateries such as the Windjammer lido cafe, Sorrento's and Johnny Rockets.

Also on the casual side, the SeaPlex Dog House will be the first food truck at sea, Royal Caribbean said.

The line will use a new reservations system for the restaurants. 

In eliminating the main dining room, Royal Caribbean appears to be taking the next step in the evolution of cruise ship dining.

Norwegian Cruise Line's most recent ships, the Breakaway and the Getaway, each have three main dining rooms, but they are smaller and quieter than the traditional two-deck dining rooms on cruise ships. One of main dining rooms on the Breakaway and Getaway has a different menu than the other two.

Princess also has experimented with smaller main dining rooms and cuisine-specific restaurants that are included in the cruise fare. 
Still others have been working on new concepts within their traditional dining rooms, such as Carnival Cruise Lines with its American Table and American Feast.

The 4,180-passenger Quantum of the Seas, scheduled to enter service this November, will sail from Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J. The Anthem is due to enter service the following spring.