Undercover Boss - Sunday at 9 p.m.

[RuthlessBoss]

Just in case you miss the story link on the home page of CC, on Sunday at 9 p.m. the CEO of NCL will be on Undercover Boss.

Set your DVR!

 

I was reading about it in the newspaper today, in an article on different ways the cruise lines are marketing themselves. For example, Royal Caribbean being touted by Oprah and the Today Show.

 

The program on Sunday will show the NCL CEO working in a number of areas on two different ships. It promises to be very entertaining and give some behind-the-scenes views of what crew members do.

 

Here is the CC story: www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4298

Wow! So sorry you got these responses! Either chit chat or pick the show apart at the end. I thought it was a nice gesture on your part to post this notice. I was amazed at the responses and kept reading thinking things would turn around, but they didn't.

[terigo]

What the heck is wrong with so many of the people on this forum?

This was most definitely a "general interest" post, and would appeal to anyone who is interested in cruising, no matter what the line.

 

People devote a lot of time here to knocking everything that is not HAL and cheerleading everything that is.... whether they know what they are talking about or not....

 

Personally, I found the show (which I do not normally watch) quite interesting.

 

It's a big world out there.... try viewing it without tunnel vision.

[jhannah]

Sanitized is the word that keeps coming to mind with this particular episode.

Most definitely!

[510picker]

I am a fan of both cruise and Undercover Boss, but thought this episode wasn't very good.

[Willsot]

We watch the show pretty regularly and thought that the episode last night was not one of the better ones. I just did not think he appeared to be a very good CEO. DW said it confirmed her lower opinion of NCL, but according to the statistics he quoted at the beginning, it appears that some improvement has been made (ie. staff turnover). If the price and itinerary were right I would give them a try.

[Randyk47]

We watched the show and it was interesting. Was it as good as some in terms of the "boss" discovering some really broken process or procedure? No, not really and maybe that made it seem like it was more of a PR job than a real undercover effort. This particular episode seemed to be heavier on human interest (i.e., new baby, mother's memory, pending wedding) than the business end of a company but so be it. Maybe if this was a HAL boss and it turned out the same we'd be saying "HAL is really good and they just couldn't find anything bad to show!". :)

[babygirl722]

This episode was plain dumb! My DH spent 7 years on board ship working for RCCL, and there is no way his cabin looked anything like the one Sheehan slept in last night. Most crew share cabins and the cabin portrayed on the episode was a passenger cabin.

[m steve]

There is enough reality in my life.

[DRWhit]

I don't watch reality TV. There is enough reality in my life.

I don't think that episode had much reality in it. But I will say the CEO didn't come off looking too good. The recreation lady told him to tuck in his shirt tail, then he left it out again when he put on the cruise director staff uniform. He also seemed to whine a lot.

[innlady1]

Fun to watch because we enjoy cruising, but I, too, felt it was a bit "sanitized." For starters, for sure they selected the participants on recommendations of senior staff...those weren't just "any employee."

[OVgirl]

I watched the show and found that it was not very 'real' compared to the only other one I saw (the woman CEO working in theme parks). I guess the storyline wasn't planned well. He didn't really have to work hard and he didn't experience the 'real' life of an employee or their working/living conditions. Overall, I think last nights show lacked depth.

[Riversedge]

I appreciated the "heads up" post about this show. I would have missed it otherwise. I agree with the previous posters. It didn't make the CEO look too great. He didn't appear to know much about cruising or what actually happens onboard. It did seem more like advertising. I would like to have known more about what the actually life of a crew member is like. Their long hours, living conditions, etc. But all-in-all it was an interesting show.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

This episode was plain dumb! My DH spent 7 years on board ship working for RCCL, and there is no way his cabin looked anything like the one Sheehan slept in last night. Most crew share cabins and the cabin portrayed on the episode was a passenger cabin.

Many keep focusing on the fact it was not a crew cabin, I do not think it was meant to be a crew cabin. They never said it was. They said in the begining that he would be trying out for a job and that they would be filming it and he was competing against another person. They had him in and regular Inside cabin for both ships except I think the one on the Epic may have been one of the new Single Studio Inside cabins. If someone is on the ship for just a short period ot time I am sure the crew do not think anything different of someone being in a passenger Inside cabin. It may have even been one of the entertainers cabins.

I have never watched the show before so cannot speak if it was a good one or not. I will say of my two NCL cruises November 2009 and this past year in April on the Pearl the crew on both ships were probably the best of all the cruises I have been on and truly the most friendly and happy. That was part of what made our cruises with NCL so great was the crew. I do believe that NCL takes good care of their crew. When NCL crew talk to you they are genuine and not a fake speech and fake hello like we felt on RCCL a few weeks ago. They were so programmed on what to say it felt like a recording and everyone said it exactly the same way.

[jtl513]

Many keep focusing on the fact it was not a crew cabin, I do not think it was meant to be a crew cabin. They never said it was.

Yes they did. I don't remember the exact wording, but the first time he was seen opening the door there was a comment to effect that it was a "typical crew cabin", because my immediate thought was "that's no crew cabin". :cool:

[donh1]

I felt the show was very lame. For those of you who were watching Undercover Boss for the first time give it a second chance with a different CEO. Others have been much better quality. The CEO who lost custodial workers at the World Trade Center was simply amazing. One big problem I found with last nights show was his age. I know there are exceptions but someone his age generally does not seek out a cruiseship job and if they do they are a novelty. The whole episode just didn't flow.

[lettienets]

Yes they did. I don't remember the exact wording, but the first time he was seen opening the door there was a comment to effect that it was a "typical crew cabin", because my immediate thought was "that's no crew cabin". :cool:

Maybe he was being sarcastic with his flippant remark. Him in a crew cabin would have blown his cover esp with him having to narrate and comment and be filmed etc.

I liked the show. Interesting to see an NCL ship. Always like to know what else is out there.

[jtl513]

Him in a crew cabin would have blown his cover ...

I think it's the other way around. Putting him in such a nice cabin was a give-away that he wasn't just an ordinary entry-level job seeker.

[dakwriter]

For what it's worth, the CEO was not in a crew cabin. I replayed the episode from my DVR. What he said when entering the room was, "While undercover I will be staying in an average room, similar to where our employees stay on ships."

 

Nice room, regardless. :rolleyes:

[cpayne]

I had been excited for weeks to watch this show and only to be very disappointed. An earlier posted said it well in that it lacked "depth" compared to other episods of this show. Had hoped he'd get a much better feel for what it is really like to live and work on one of their ships.

[jtl513]

For what it's worth, the CEO was not in a crew cabin. I replayed the episode from my DVR. What he said when entering the room was, "While undercover I will be staying in an average room, similar to where our employees stay on ships."

 

Nice room, regardless. :rolleyes:

Okay, that "where our employees stay" registered in my mind as "crew", but I guess he meant something else. ;)

[MightyQuinn]

I thought the NCL episode was mildly entertaining & informative. I don't think I would have stayed with the whole program had it not been about cruising. But I've never watched the show before so have no frame of reference. I was happy that Silvia was appointed to the Ship Advisory Council - she's got the "right stuff" and no doubt her opinions will be valuable to corporate execs who rarely get aboard their ships. As for the CEO, I was struck at how old he looked for 57 years. Must be a tough life! LOL.

[terigo]

Okay, that "where our employees stay" registered in my mind as "crew", but I guess he meant something else. ;)

 

The thing is, there is a difference between "crew" and "cruise staff" in the hierarchy.

The crew, or the more drudge oriented workers, do not live as "luxuriously" as the higher echelon staff.

[Sailkeywest]

I did not enjoy the program, it reeked of feeling scripted. Also, anyone that worked with him talked to him as though he was their boss, not someone being trained by them. Like that girl that let him leave the ice rink early so he didn't have to help break it down? Not a realististic scenario, imo.

[Oceanwench]

I thought it was interesting.

I don't watch reality shows for the most part, but when I've caught one or two, they all seemed scripted.

 

I would not watch Undercover Boss again unless I were interested in the topic. In this case, cruising is something I am interested in!

 

When Sheehan said he was staying in a cabin that employees stay in, I was thinking he meant corporate staff when they visit the ships. I did not think "crew."

 

It may have felt scripted because the staffers knew they were on camera. They may not have known the truth about who the new employee was or where the film was going to be shown ... but people tend to act differently when they are being filmed.

 

All in all, I did enjoy seeing the various parts of the ship.

[CowPrincess]

I did not enjoy the program, it reeked of feeling scripted. Also, anyone that worked with him talked to him as though he was their boss, not someone being trained by them. Like that girl that let him leave the ice rink early so he didn't have to help break it down? Not a realististic scenario, imo.

 

We just saw a program that was filmed locally, supposedly "reality" TV. I can say without reservation that there was no reality involved in the local program that was aired .... it was all about a particular story the producers wanted to tell, in order to support the premise of the "reality" series.

 

As for leaving the "ice rink" early, I think it is quite possible that the woman decided to give the poor newbie a break.

 

For me, it was interesting because it was about cruising, but overall I agree with the poster who called it shallow.