Cruising with Jane McDonald on the Silver Noname

[Stumblefoot]

On 12/21/2019 at 5:49 PM, Silver Spectre said:

Perhaps someone from SS marketing could let us have an answer.

Mr. Silver,

 

You’ve probably already heard the news, but according to the Chief Marketing Officer, SS was just as surprised as all the viewers of the program were relative to how the Jane production treated the Silversea brand in the episode.  SS plans to discuss it with them to understand the reasons after the holidays.

[Mayflower1]

Perhaps The Chief Marketing Officer should have been more thorough in checking exactly what was to be broadcast prior to the event ? - This was not a ' Secret ' visit to the ship and surely any sensible Company would have exercised some Editorial control ?

[Randyk47]

When I read this thread I couldn’t help but wonder if Silversea said no to paying for their name to be used.  Here in the US you’ll see shows where brands are clearly visible or others where they’ve removed brand names or have somehow obscured the brand.   Car and trucks on TV shows are the example.   One show recently the auto was clearly an Audi but the distinctive five-ring emblem on the front grill had be painted black.   Still makes me wonder as Silversea would have had to agree and cooperate at some level to let them film.

[Mayflower1]

Interesting thought Randyk47 but surely Silversea were cooperating all along the line as they clearly gave Jane McDonald a substantial Suite and they were promoting the Broadcast to Venetians well ahead of the date. It smacks of poor Management at some level not to ensure that The Line got some benefit, even if it was only to the UK Potential Guests.

Jane McDonald has subsequently aired a Christmas Cruise Edition on the Norwegian Hurtigruten and they received substantially more coverage.

[Silver Spectre]

17 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Mr. Silver,

 

You’ve probably already heard the news, but according to the Chief Marketing Officer, SS was just as surprised as all the viewers of the program were relative to how the Jane production treated the Silversea brand in the episode.  SS plans to discuss it with them to understand the reasons after the holidays.

Actually that is news to me. I tried to get an answer from the U.K. office, but they are keeping quiet.

[kool kruiser]

21 hours ago, Observer said:

 

Spirit is a much different ship from Shadow.  It has been "Musified," i.e., modernized with more dining venues than Shadow, larger lounges, etc.  It's an altogether different ship.  

 

In fact, as of a few months ago, Shadow is quite different from what you may have seen in video .  It underwent a long dry dock where Deck 5 public areas were modernized and radically reconfigured, suites got new furnishing, etc., etc.

 

Could it be that the filming was done on the "old" Shadow and that Silversea asked that its identity be concealed since the Shadow being filmed did not represent the redone Shadow or the modern Muse-class or Musified ships?

Thanks so much. Very reassuring !

[Observer]

25 minutes ago, kool kruiser said:

Thanks so much. Very reassuring !

 

You are most welcome.  If you really need reassurance, you might enjoy the following video on YouTube:

 

https://youtu.be/HT3j9hX6au4

 

There was a longer walk-through of Spirit on YouTube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u_iaMCvc8&t=1271s

 

It is apparently blocked in US for copyright reasons, but it may be available in UK.

 

Rest easy, and happy sailing!

 

[les37b]

2 hours ago, Observer said:

There was a longer walk-through of Spirit on YouTube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u_iaMCvc8&t=1271s

 

It is apparently blocked in US for copyright reasons, but it may be available in UK.

 

How odd. A dispute was physically raised for that today on youtube. A counter dispute has been raised so thanks for bringing that to my intention. Will be back online shortly - with no annoying woman in sight..

 

 

 

[Observer]

2 minutes ago, les37b said:

 

How odd. A dispute was physically raised for that today on youtube. A counter dispute has been raised so thanks for bringing that to my intention. Will be back online shortly - with no annoying woman in sight..

 

 

 

 

Was this your video, les37b?  If so, thanks.  It was wonderful.  Every so often I watch at least parts of it to remind myself of the ship.

 

And what's the deal with the "annoying woman"?  🙂 

[spinnaker2]

Les your videos are great!!

[Silver Spectre]

7 hours ago, spinnaker2 said:

Les your videos are great!!

+1

[tiggertom]

If I hadn’t received a card from Silversea telling me to watch out for this programme which was filmed on Silver Spirit/Shadow (can’t remember which) I would never have known it was a Silversea Ship she was on. Very disappointing as our first Silversea cruise is next year and we were looking forward to getting an idea of what to look forward to. I can only imagine that Silversea didn’t get any free advertising because Jane McDonald and the crew had to pay for the trip?

[kool kruiser]

On 12/27/2019 at 6:49 PM, Observer said:

 

You are most welcome.  If you really need reassurance, you might enjoy the following video on YouTube:

 

https://youtu.be/HT3j9hX6au4

 

There was a longer walk-through of Spirit on YouTube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9u_iaMCvc8&t=1271s

 

It is apparently blocked in US for copyright reasons, but it may be available in UK.

 

Rest easy, and happy sailing!

 

Have just watched the utubes that you very kindly pointed in my direction. As you say, so very very different from the JM programme. We are now very enthused and really looking forward to a wonderful cruise in a couple of month's time.

Thanks again.

[Clodia]

Greatly enjoyed these 2 youtube vids; I booked another Silversea cruise on my recent, first cruise on the Whisper, and it's on the Spirit so I found it really useful to know what to look forward to! Thanks.

[les37b]

Glad you both enjoyed and found them useful... Got so many that never got past the production stage (translates to laziness!)  - but have some "biggies" planned in the new year including an attempt to live broadcast sailing up the Thames on the Wind and also footage from the first Moon transit through Panama and a walkthrough.

[brimary]

48 minutes ago, les37b said:

Glad you both enjoyed and found them useful... Got so many that never got past the production stage (translates to laziness!)  - but have some "biggies" planned in the new year including an attempt to live broadcast sailing up the Thames on the Wind and also footage from the first Moon transit through Panama and a walkthrough.

Await your sailing up the Thames on the Wind  video which will bring back so many memories of our 20+ sailings up and down the Thames on the Wind ,our favourite Silversea ship.

[les37b]

1 hour ago, brimary said:

Await your sailing up the Thames on the Wind  video which will bring back so many memories of our 20+ sailings up and down the Thames on the Wind ,our favourite Silversea ship.

 

It's a way off yet! 12 August 2020 to be precise. Will probably start at about 6.45am as she approaches Dartford Crossing all the way up to arrival at Tower Bridge expected at 8.45am. On top of the live coverage, I will also have cameras strategically placed for timelapse coverage to be assembled at a later date.

 

The last upstream sailing before dry dock and cloudification.....  Just hope they don't start doing so during the cruise or have out of bounds locations.

[Master Echo]

Dear All,

 

First a very Happy Healthy & Prosperous 2020 to you all with lots of cruises on our favourite cruise line.

 

I was very interested to read all the comments above, initiated by Silver Spectre and was so disgusted after watching the programme I burst into print.  I found Jane McDonald's behaviour, jumping on the bed the first time she entered the suite, quite childish, and not something expected of a grown up.  It was obvious she was extremely well looked after, not only with regards to her accommodation but seemingly, being given a ship's tender all to herself when going ashore.  Apart from a handful of passengers who were on deck, the Lady Shadow appeared to be a ghost ship. and there was very little footage of the ship's interior, other than her suite and the stairs!

 

Having a long history in television and marketing I was dismayed, as others have said, how SS could have apparently missed such a golden opportunity.  However the reply I received from a suitably informed and authorised person in Silversea (not Silverseas, a mistake even Fernando makes), came across as very defensive.  The comment made was that this series concentrated on destinations rather than ships, and  "at the same time broadcasters are more alert and rule-bound to ensuring these sort of programmes are not seen as too commercial and therefore again in this series there has been little if any mention of the actual brand or ship". This is why SS informed all Venetian members of the date that the programme would be aired, knowing there was nothing obvious that this was the Silver Shadow, nor indeed what shipping line!  Very surprisingly, SS claims they have seen a significant increase in enquiries since the programme went out because travel agents were also given advance notice of the broadcast. 

 

Conspiracy theorists will no doubt continue to have a field day over this episode!

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo.  .

[Qld13]

11 hours ago, Master Echo said:

The comment made was that this series concentrated on destinations rather than ships, and  "at the same time broadcasters are more alert and rule-bound to ensuring these sort of programmes are not seen as too commercial and therefore again in this series there has been little if any mention of the actual brand or ship".

 

I have to disagree, I have all 5 episodes of this series and the Shadow is the only boat that does not get named. All other ships are mentioned as she is boarding, company and ship name.

 

The bed thing is something she does on nearly every episode unfortunately.

[kool kruiser]

6 hours ago, Qld13 said:

 

I have to disagree, I have all 5 episodes of this series and the Shadow is the only boat that does not get named. All other ships are mentioned as she is boarding, company and ship name.

 

The bed thing is something she does on nearly every episode unfortunately.

The above comments are entirely correct. Moreover, Jane always occupies very top end accommodation and the ''interactions'' are so often obviously staged. We watch all of her programmes due to our avid interest in all things cruising and to gather destination info. However, do bear in mind that this is, without doubt an entertainment offering. 

Still unclear as to why this episode was so....odd.

[brimary]

21 hours ago, les37b said:

 

It's a way off yet! 12 August 2020 to be precise. Will probably start at about 6.45am as she approaches Dartford Crossing all the way up to arrival at Tower Bridge expected at 8.45am. On top of the live coverage, I will also have cameras strategically placed for timelapse coverage to be assembled at a later date.

 

The last upstream sailing before dry dock and cloudification.....  Just hope they don't start doing so during the cruise or have out of bounds locations.

We look forward to seeing the wonderful results of your considerable technical efforts which provide such memorable footage which we really appreciate.Its in the diary for late 2020.Happy new year!

[Master Echo]

Dear Qld13,

 

You will note that some of my comments were in quotes - stating what SS had told me.  I totally agree with both you and Kool Cruiser that the reasons given are totally at odds with previous Jane McDonald cruises, and I am surprised that SS would think we would believe their explanations.

 

BTW Kool Cruiser, I note you live in the UK.  On Quest TV which is operated by Discovery Inc, there is a whole series called Mighty Cruise Ships which you may be interested to watch.  Unfortunately I am not sure when they are broadcast, but I have seen many repeats.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

[Daveywavey70]

Barbara Muckerman also said on the fb  group that they were all as surprised as we were and would be contacting the company. After the holidays to discuss it. That seems to be a bit at odds with what was said above. There isn’t one other episode where she doesn’t name the ship and give you some background. 

[Mayflower1]

I suspect that BM has 'Dropped the Ball ' yet again and now Silversea are trying to retrieve a very embarrassing situation.

One wonders what her latest ' Shopping ' Survey recently sent to Venetians is meant to achieve as the general consensus seems to be that the On Board Shops leave a lot to be desired ???

[kool kruiser]

20 hours ago, Master Echo said:

Dear Qld13,

 

You will note that some of my comments were in quotes - stating what SS had told me.  I totally agree with both you and Kool Cruiser that the reasons given are totally at odds with previous Jane McDonald cruises, and I am surprised that SS would think we would believe their explanations.

 

BTW Kool Cruiser, I note you live in the UK.  On Quest TV which is operated by Discovery Inc, there is a whole series called Mighty Cruise Ships which you may be interested to watch.  Unfortunately I am not sure when they are broadcast, but I have seen many repeats.

 

Kindest regards

 

Master Echo

Many thanks for the heads up, much appreciated. Now, if only I can find the time to watch my backlog of recorded programmes...😀😀