Bravo has landed themselves a ratings success with the new reality series Below Deck. Via the show’s official site they describe the happenings on board this way:
The series follows a group of crewmembers living and working aboard “Honor,” a 164’ mega-yacht. The upstairs and downstairs worlds collide when this young and single crew, known as “yachties,” live, love, and work together on-board the luxurious, privately-owned yacht while tending to the ever-changing needs of their wealthy, demanding charter guests. While each crew member brings a different level of experience, they all share a love for this lifestyle that enables them to travel to some of the most beautiful and exotic locales in the world. Each episode features a different set of charter guests moving onto the boat from millionaires, to entertainers to hard-partying groups of well-heeled friends.
Well…. We all now you can’t believe everything you see on reality TV so here’s the real scoop on how Below Deck came to be.
The show is the creation of Rebecca Taylor, credited as a co-executive producer, who spent three summers working on yacht crews in New England while she attended college. She got her degree in film and TV and carried around the concept of a reality show based on some of her experiences doing that line of work. She pitched the idea to Bravo and they liked what they heard and signed on for Below Deck.
Captain Lee Rosbach from Below Deck
She did the legwork along with other producers to find a yacht and charter guests who would agree to be filmed for the show. She then booked the M/Y Cuor di Leone for 5 weeks, renamed it M/Y Honor, gave the real crew (except for Captain Lee Rosbach, his mate and an engineer) a paid vacation and replaced them with the cast of the show. The full entire crew returned after the charter and worked out the rest of the tourist season off camera.
So in essence what you’re seeing on Below Deck, according to The Triton, is a 5-week reality show charter of the Cuor di Leone that charters other charters for the show with a brand new crew of 8 in which only 3 are believed to have experience. This is how TV magic is made as they say!
Having discovered the ship’s real name and having experienced my fair share of jealousy for the folks who enjoy the luxurious confines of the yacht, I did a little checking on what it costs to charter the boat and here’s what I found.
According to boatbookings.com you can experience the “above deck” life of the Cuor di Leone at the rate of $213,000 to $245,000 per week. The amenities include:
Entertainment:
– Flatscreen TVs and DVDs in all cabins,
– Sky TV,
– 2 x Wii games consoles,
– Karaoke,
– Wifi throughout.
Health & Fitness:
– Treadmill,
– Powerplate machine,
– Cross trainer.
Watersports & Toys:
– 6m Novurania Equator RIB with a Volvo Penta KDE 42 200hp engine,
– 4.5m Novurania RIB with a 60hp Yamaha outboard,
– 3 seat Yamaha waverunner x 1,
– 2 seat Yamaha waverunner x 1,
– 8 x sets of scuba dive gear (rendezvous diving only),
– Water skis,
– Wakeboards,
– Childrens kneeboards and wakeboards,
– Towable toys (banana & donuts),
– Fishing gear.
Amenities and Toys: Events and Meetings, Internet, Satellite Phone, Entertainment System, Jetski, Scuba Gear, Jacuzzi.
OceanIndependence has the specs and history of the yacht as well as an actual sale price just in case you don’t like sharing and want it all for yourself!
CUOR DI LEONE (ex M/Y LIONHEART) is a 50m (164ft) Benetti – the 4th in their Golden Bay series. She is another fine example of this companys Italian flair and elegance in design. CUOR DI LEONE’s interior styling is by Stefano Natucci and features the use of exceptional materials and highly original details. Sanded and vibrant honey coloured oak burl has been used for the yachts furniture and panelling and the bathing areas display the lovely and exclusive marble, honey onyx.
The going rate to purchase the Below Deck yacht outright? That would cost you $15,995,000.
