The show has to sell 'personality-conflict'.. and it has to have 'reality-style' drama. As such you really know all your watching is a huge dose of soap-opera style goings on. Where the production deserves credit, is that they do pick a very reasonable selection of 'unrecognized-performers' to play the parts of the Valor crew. It has to be a most interesting show to produce and film, and on the whole they pull it off to the point that after three seasons, it still has allure. Don't actually know why that is, but the atmosphere & locations have a lot to do with it. The guests are truly secondary performers, as they switch-out after one or the most two shows. Maybe it would be interesting to see what would happen with a longer-term charter, encompassing several episodes. Anyway, it's all make believe, with an ever changing cast of characters. Life doesn't permit that to happen... reality-fantasy, but it's pretty much what our world has morphed into. It can't and won't last, but for another season or two.. it's maybe just like what we've got going in the 'real world.'

I won't explain the plot or setting of this series. Just read the previous reviews. It doesn't seem like it would be possible to make this interesting, but somehow the people involved in the production have made it "must watch" TV. You could call it a guilty pleasure, but the show is very engaging; mainly the interaction between crew and customers (personality conflicts on display regularly). Below Deck demonstrates how challenging it is to run a private cruise ship and how difficult it is to obtain employees with the proper work ethic and temperament to get the job done. The production values of Below Deck are impressive with the editing being top-notch. Some of it might be contrived because it's hard to believe this concept could be this absorbing, but I recommend it highly for those with time to kill.

The premise is not at first enticing. A luxury yacht is for rent to wealthy charter primary bookers staffed by a so called professional crew for fiction totally untrained in any the social graces normally expected of such formal service and likely to be written by the fiction writers to clash with each other as males and females for days at a time must sleep and eat in each other's presence in very tight crew quarters. The yacht t ravels to different ports each season with a slightly differerent crew each time writing in perfectly delightful fictitious wealthy charter primaries and perfectly delightful new yachties for often interesting stories of why their ports of call have been for centuries premiere world tourist attractions. What makes this show enticing under these not always promising circumstances starts with the marvelous casting each and every on an absolute gem. ==Just take your pick because all are superbly written and superbly cast. Next is the delightful minute to minute interaction of the crew which is like any reality show what happens when not well meshed people work together under not well planned out management- certainly every episode delightful to watch for this fluff.

I've been watching a "Below Deck" marathon today, and I'm slightly addicted. :D lol..lol.. But I have two and a half Issues so far!! First of all, Daniel is a Totally NEEDY SPAZ...!! Please replace him as soon as possible (until He can "Grow Up" and "Mature" A lot... I'm well aware of ADHD medications available, and possibly buy yourself a Puppy for your constant Attention Needing Self... Good Luck, I'll have My Fingers Crossed For You!!Next 1 and 1/2 issues are directed towards Ben. I cannot express enough to You, to PLEASE..PLEASE..PLEASE... START WEARING GLOVES WHEN YOU'RE IN THE KITCHEN!!! Watching your Nasty Bare Hands preparing Food, almost made Me P~U~K~E :( .... I'm not saying that You are Dirty, But Wasn't "GLOVE WEARING" Rule #1 in Your Cooking Classes?? Maybe,it's a Foreign thing, But EWWWWWWWWW...!! YUCKY..... YUCKY.....!!! The Last Final thing only gets a 1/2, because it was obviously okay-ed by the Passengers for Dinner... PLEASE DON'T EVER SHOW OCTOPUS AGAIN...!! Who Eats that stuff???