There’s one reason why the superyacht deck crews on Below Deck put up with the boatmance debacles, the cameras all up in their business, and rowdy guests onboard: the massive tips they usually end up receiving from the high-rolling clientele. In seasons past, they have been known to rack in upwards of $35,000 from high-dollar guests, split amongst them, for what would only be a two- to three-day charter. However, that was decidedly not the case recently for the cast on Season 3 of Below Deck: Sailing Yacht, and Captain Glenn was as put out as anyone over one couple doling out the lowest tip in the franchise’s history.
Despite the benchmark sum being in the five-figure range, a recent episode featured married couple Erica Rose (of Bachelor Nation fame) and Charles Sanders only leaving a $6,500 tip for the Below Deck: Sailing Yacht stars, which came out to $720 per person. Interestingly, the primaries’ own guests on the trip have since alleged on the Gangplank Report podcast that the couple “lied” about how much they were supposed to help add to the tip jar in conjunction with Rose and Sanders. Apparently, Captain Glenn is none too pleased about the concept of guests helping primaries with paying in kind. He replied to a fan on his Instagram (via TV Shows Ace), about it:
It is customary for primary guests to take care of the crew gratuity rather than insisting that their invited guests pitch in … they should consider chartering a smaller more affordable boat.
Shade!? From Captain Glenn!? I’m surprised, but not so much. The tip fiasco comes on the heels of the primary, Erica Rose, claiming that the drama on the reality series is in fact heavily scripted for ratings — and that her husband just leaned into it all. She also called out a few cast mates for doing so as well. In response, Daisy Kelliher got candid about how her beef with Rose et al. goes much deeper than what was shown on TV, and she won’t be tolerating on the show much longer.
For his part, Captain Glenn denied the allegations, saying this specifically about Mr. Charles Sanders:
The production people don’t tell them what to say or do, it’s against their principles, but I think he was trying to create drama on his own.
The Below Deck: Sailing Yacht team have already moved on to other things in Season 3, including another drunken crew night off and some hot tub romancing. And judging by the recent low-ball tip, at least it would seem they won’t have to deal with that particular couple ever again, as Captain Glenn remarked:
Our biggest best tip was seeing them walking down the passerelle.
Honestly, I love to see the shady side of Captain Glenn. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of Below Deck: Sailing Yacht airing on Bravo on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST, or streaming next day on Peacock’s subscription service!
