below deck sailing yacht guest reactions

Erica on 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht' is the worst guest ever, say fans

Fans react to returning charter guest Erica on 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht' season 3

A familiar face boarded the Parsifal III, much to the crew's dismay and social media's delight: Erica on Below Deck Sailing Yacht has proven to be one of the most notoriously awful charter guests in the franchise's history.

Viewers first got a peek at Erica Rose, an incredibly high-maintenance "attorney and a mother of two," during Sailing Yacht 's second season. Rose is best-known by Below Deck fans for making the stews unpack her numerous suitcases and yelling "Ta-tas for Trump!" while members of her entourage paraded around in Trump 2020 bikinis.

In the March 7 episode of Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3 , Captain Glenn Shephard diplomatically says Erica, her mother Cindi, and the rest of their group were "very interesting," but chief stew Daisy Kelliher had a very different reaction to learning that the memorable primary would be returning to Parsifal. 

"This is the worst news ever," Daisy exclaimed. "These people are disrespectful, they’re exhausting, they’re emotionally draining. And the biggest thing for me is they’re unpredictable — that’s what’s scary. I just don’t want it."

But surely Erica had to learn the error of her bonkers ways last season? Seemingly no! The drama started before Erica & Co. even stepped foot on deck: their party was removed from a connecting flight at London's Heathrow due to an argument with the flight crew over an omelet. (Yes, you read that correctly.) "Three cops, fully armed" removed them from the plane, explained Erica's husband, Charles "Chuck" Sanders. "I told you they were crazy!" Daisy yells to Captain Glenn. 

The shenanigans don't stop there. Within only a few hours of boarding, the vocal-fry vixen is already sporting a Joe Biden bikini (a real political 180 there) while her husband has a freak-out over watermelon gazpacho. Erica immediately makes her way into the boat's kitchen to ixnay more high-minded menu items like broccoli mousse. "Just because you wear fancy clothes...doesn't mean you have fancy taste buds. They don't know sh*t about food," chef Carlos Marcos Spaziano complains in a confessional. 

The episode ends with Chuck whining that he doesn't have breakfast yet — even though Erica herself chose a beach brunch at 11 am — and, once said breakfast arrives, freaking out further about the presence of tomatoes in his omelet. Who knew an egg dish could cause so much drama?! 

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Fans will have to wait until the next episode to see how Erica's time on Parsifal culminates, but we already know one thing: Erica and Chuck are a match made in heaven. 

Who is Erica on 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht'?

A post shared by Erica Rose 🌹 Sanders (@ericatherose) A photo posted by on

This is not Erica Rose's first foray into reality television. The Houston-based lawyer was previously on season nine of The Bachelor , as well as multiple seasons of Bachelor Pad . She's also appeared on Married to Medicine Houston and You're Cut Off!

Off-camera, Rose and her husband Charles Sanders are partners in law as well as life at Rose Sanders Law Firm PLC, where Erica practices entertainment and media law.

Reactions to Erica on 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht'

Obviously, Bravo fans had plenty to say about Erica, Chuck and the rest of this episode's charter guests. Here are just a few examples of what viewers are sounding off about on social media:

Hi @BravoTV. Erica and her friends and family aren’t fun to watch. Please don’t bring them back for a third season. They are absolutely horrible and don’t make good tv. Sincerely, A Disgruntled Fan #belowdecksailing #BelowDeckSailingYacht #belowdeck March 8, 2022

Erika and her husband are definitely top 5 worst guests on any #BelowDeck franchise... actually just Charlie! Daisy nailed her description of him! My description is simply Douchebag! #belowdecksailing March 8, 2022

How I feel about these guests #BelowDeck #BelowDeckSailingYacht #belowdecksailing pic.twitter.com/tO5j1J7acU March 8, 2022

Having absolutely awful #EricaRose show up on Below Deck Sailing Yacht 🤮🤢🤮🤢🤮🤢🤮 March 8, 2022

This guest on below deck sailing wore a trump swimsuit before the election last season and she’s on again this season wearing a Biden swimsuit 😂 I laughed out loud, social media must have dogged her big 😂😂😂 March 8, 2022

The primaries husband isn’t a Libra ascending Gemini.. he’s an a**hole ascending douchebag. #belowdecksailing #belowdeck pic.twitter.com/21mqf5mbmr March 8, 2022

Ball park food? Throw this guy overboard #belowdecksailing #BelowDeck #BelowDeckSailingYacht pic.twitter.com/olUG3MANbd March 8, 2022

I like Ashley as much as I do the primary and her husband; which is not at all. #BelowDeckSailingYacht #BelowDeckSailing #BelowDeck pic.twitter.com/wZSazr2MSS March 8, 2022

New episodes of Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3 air on Bravo on Mondays at 8 pm ET, and are available to stream the next day on Peacock (US) and Hayu/Sky TV (UK). 

Christina Izzo is the Deputy Editor of My Imperfect Life. More generally, she is a writer-editor covering food and drink, travel, lifestyle and culture in New York City. She was previously the Features Editor at Rachael Ray In Season and Reveal, as well as the Food & Drink Editor and chief restaurant critic at Time Out New York. 

When she’s not doing all that, she can probably be found eating cheese somewhere. 

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Inside Below Deck Sailing Yacht ’s Crash, and the Dramatic Aftermath

By Julie Miller

Below Deck viewers have survived kitchen fires, nightmare charter guests , dramatic dismissals, drug scandals , and soured romantic relationships. But Monday’s episode of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, “Total Ship Show,” is unprecedented in franchise history, in terms of its sheer disaster quotient. Within the first five minutes of the episode, the Parsifal yacht crashes into a stone dock in high winds, destroying the end of the vessel and totaling Captain Glenn Shephard ’s already-dented ego. (Last week, Parsifal suffered a less serious collision. We hope the sailing yacht is not cursed.) The rest of the episode unravels like a high-paced thriller set aboard an out-of-control luxury yacht.

The villains: the shrill, gluten-free charter guests, who are too self-involved to notice the Parsifal ’s jacked transom door. The dramatic B-plot: the chef screwing up a five-course meal by serving steak after dessert. As if this were not enough action for a single episode, there is also an STD scare that forces an otherwise respectable woman to reckon with an indiscretion.

“It was almost like an embarrassment of riches,” said Below Deck executive producer Courtland Cox, of the chart-topping chaos in Croatia. “It’s amazing that this was all happening, but it’s also difficult to tell all of these stories in an interesting way within a limited amount of time per episode.” Some viewers complained that the season was starting off too smoothly, but Cox trusted the process and knew that such interesting cast members would yield climactic story lines. “With any great narrative structure, you want to have peaks and valleys that eventually crescendo into something interesting…. The yacht crashing, guests being crazy, and Jean-Luc [Cerza Lanaux] being worried about getting an STD, all that stuff is the seasoning.”

Ahead, Cox and Parsifal chief stew Daisy Kelliher take us behind the scenes of Monday’s bombshell episode to answer all of our burning questions—about everything from the crash to the onboard romances, including Dani’s pregnancy announcement.

Executive producer Cox was tucked away in a tiny control room on the Parsifal during both accidents, where he was able to watch what was happening from three different camera vantage points, and hear what was happening from the walkie-talkie dialogue on deck. Cox said that he knew that the Parsifal was going to hit the dock about five seconds before it happened—when first mate Gary King began calling out the shrinking measurements between the yacht and the dock, but the boat, because of the intense wind and swell, kept hurtling toward the dock at full speed. Because of a mechanical error that short-circuited the thrusters, Captain Glenn was not able to propel the vessel in the reverse direction.

As the ship sped toward the dock, the Below Deck producer juggled a contradictory range of concerns: the fear of a captive passenger aboard an out-of-control vessel; worry for his fellow shipmates; heartbreak for Captain Glenn, who was about to bite it in front of multiple cameras; and, conversely, the shark-like instincts of a reality-TV producer keen to capture the chaotic melee in all of its gruesome glory.

“The human part of me, my heart aches for Glenn,” Cox told Vanity Fair. Still, he continued, “My job is to capture what’s actually happening—so we told our camera operators, ‘Stay on Glenn.’ We don’t push right up in his face or get in his way, but the story in the moment was that Glenn hit the dock. How was he going to rectify the situation?”

In addition to seeing the crash, viewers also witness Captain Glenn’s spirit breaking close up—as the sweet Parsifal pilot realizes, in devastatingly real time, that he has not only incurred thousands of dollars in yacht damages, but has done so with a camera trained on him.

“I probably watched this episode 15 times in various incarnations, and every time I see Glenn’s face in the immediate aftermath of hitting that dock, I still get very emotional,” said Cox. “It’s a catastrophic moment for any yacht captain when you do damage to a boat. It’s the worst possible thing. And I also know that that’s compounded by a factor of a million because there are TV cameras on you.”

Cox has produced 16 seasons’ worth of Below Deck, and called the crash “the second-most intense moment ever on the series.” (The first-most intense was a near-death accident in 2018 during which deckhand Ashton Pienaar was pulled overboard after his ankle was caught in ropes.) “As a producer, it’s amazingly compelling. But as a person onboard, it’s terrifying…. But Glenn is a consummate professional. He didn’t try to deflect or make excuses or try to tap dance his way out of it. He went quickly into crisis mode, damage mode.”

Parsifal chief stew Daisy Kelliher said that watching the crash in the episode was worse than living it, “because I was downstairs when it happened. I have never seen a boat that crashed the dock or been in a boat that crashed the dock.”

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Speaking about Glenn, Kelliher said, “He was pretty upset at the time, but you quickly calm down. It was an accident, and the main thing is nobody got hurt. It’s like banging your car. You get the insurance sorted. You learn from it. And you move on.”

How quickly did the episode’s events happen in real life?

The unfolded over the course of about 72 hours, according to Cox. “The boat hits the dock, it looks terrible, and Glenn’s like, ‘Well, the guests are getting here in four hours.’… The crew did a great job at kind of compartmentalizing, and putting the dock behind us as these charter guests come on. And the story becomes about J.L.’ s anxiety about the STD, and [chef] Natasha’s anxiety about these guests having crazy demands that are emotionally taxing on the heels of a traumatic event…. It’s exhausting for them.”

What did producers make of another unprecedented plot twist: J.L.’s on-camera concerns about a potential sexually transmitted disease?

This twist surprised even Cox. “I’m a fossil who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s,” said Cox. “What was going through my head was, ‘There’s a very easy way he could have prevented this—by using some kind of protection. If you roll the dice, you kinda gotta accept what happens to you. I’m not a heartless monster TV producer. I don’t want anyone to ever suffer or go through something they have an existential crisis over. In that moment, you’re hoping that it’s at least one of the lesser STDs that is easily treated.”

When did producers discover that Dani was pregnant? (The cast member revealed her pregnancy on Instagram last month.)

“Dani brought it to our attention when we were pretty far into the postproduction process,” said Cox. “Even once Dani found out, I think she kind of wanted to sit with [the news] herself. Then she let us know and said, ‘Hey, just so you know, I’m pregnant.’ We said, ‘Okay, great.’ I left that up to her and how much information she wanted to give us. My first reaction was, ‘That’s fantastic. Congratulations.’ Because she made it clear throughout the season that she wanted a family. The rest of that is for Dani to figure out.”

“I really don’t ask Dani much about it,” added Kelliher in a separate phone call. “I’m very aware that that she probably feels like she’s explaining herself to a lot of people. So I try and respect her privacy. We’ve spoken a little about it, but I figure the less I know the better.”

Do Daisy and Natasha eventually get to a place of mutual understanding and respect?

“I didn’t mind her,” said Kelliher. “On the show it looks like we hated each other. We were very civil with each other, and would laugh and sit with each other. It wasn’t constant arguing—that only came when it was time to serve meals…. At that stage, I had kind of given up, because I had tried everything. She didn’t want my help. She didn’t want to communicate with me…. I’m asking you if you’re serving five courses, you’re telling me no. I could stand here and keep arguing, but I wasn’t going to win in this.… We have a good relationship now. I have respect for her. But that [tension] never changes.”

What is Daisy’s read on the love triangle tensions between Gary, Sydney, and Alli?

“I wish I had been there for some of the conversations [between the three of them], because I don’t think they would have escalated as much,” said Kelliher. “I do think Sydney was pretty intense. I knew she was upset and understood why she was upset. If you’re a girl, it’s embarrassing if somebody chooses someone over you…. But some of the things she said were quite mean to Ali, and I didn’t really like that. If I had been there, that wouldn’t have happened because I wouldn’t have allowed it.”

“I’ve definitely seen love triangles. I’ve been involved in love triangles. This was intense because it escalated so quickly. I didn’t really get it. I guess maybe we’re all intense people—maybe that’s why you do a TV show about yachting. But I did find the whole thing a bit weird from all sides. I was like, ‘We’ve known each other [for] like three weeks…and don’t even know each others’ last names.’ Settle down.”

Below Deck Sailing Yacht airs on Bravo at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

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‘Below Deck’ Charter Guests Speaks Out On Inappropriate Comments

Below Deck fans and crew members slammed charter guest McCordia Young for his inappropriate comments. In the premiere episode, he harassed stew Gabriela Barragan. Though he had a few drinks, his remarks were out of line. He kept asking her personal questions.

McCordia wanted to know if Gabriela liked anyone on the yacht. Then, he would tell her that he doesn’t believe her. Most of the questions were suggestive in nature. McCordia’s behavior sparked a social media backlash among Below Deck fans and crew members alike. It also brought an important conversation about workplace harassment on the high seas.

Now, McCordia is speaking out about the comments he made. Read on to see what he has to say and for more.

Below Deck Sailing Yacht charter guest makes Gabriela uncomfortable

Unfortunately, Gabriela had to deal with the drunken charter guest by herself. The rest of the interior team were in bed for the night. The Below Deck Sailing Yacht newbie took on the night shift to take care of the charter guests and their needs. McCordia kept asking Gabriela questions about her personal life. He asked her if she was interested in anyone on board the sailing yacht.

When she said no, he said he didn’t believe her. She told him that he should probably go to bed. McCordia said he wasn’t attracted to women, but continued to make inappropriate comments about her. He said that he found her beautiful and would willingly sleep with her.

In her Below Deck confessional, Gabriela said she knows how to shut down creep men like McCordia.

McCordia Young speaks out on inappropriate comments

The Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 3 charter guest has spoken. The first charter of the season went to a dark place for Gabriela. She tried to get the primary charter guest to go to bed after he made inappropriate comments about her.

In the next episode, McCordia addresses the comments he made to Gabriela. According to Bravo TV’s The Daily Dish , their interaction will take place on the Monday, February 28 episode. The following morning, he approaches her and apologizes for his behavior.

“I hope I didn’t offend you last night,” McCordia tells Gabriela.

“No, I mean, you did not offend me. You know, when I was like, ‘Hey, let’s keep it professional,’ you did. It’s all I asked. Thank you for bringing it up,” the Below Deck crew member responded.

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One Comment

why do the employees have to have relationships on the job, inappropriate behavior is all I’m saying i love watching this show but this is like watching loose ladies and men constantly going after each other. please stop it, shouldn’t be any kind of inappropriate behavior while working. they need to know this is so wrong. I’m getting where i don’t want to watch anymore..

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Barrie Drewitt-Barlow spills the tea on Below Deck Sailing Yacht stint, disses Captain Glenn Shephard

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow has spilled the tea on his family’s Below Deck Sailing Yacht stint, making it clear he is not a Captain Glenn Shephard fan at all.

Season 2 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht introduced viewers to Barrie and his family. The group featured Barrie, his ex-Tony Drewitt-Barlow, their five children, Barrie’s now-fiancé Scott, and Tony’s boyfriend, Brent.

The Drewitt-Barlow family was featured on three episodes of the hit Bravo show. There was a lot of drama that went down during their charter.

It turns out, though, there’s so much more to the story than Below Deck Sailing Yacht viewers saw.

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow spills the tea on Below Deck Yacht stint

Daisy Kelliher, Alli Dore, and Dani Soares recently launched Pita Party, the podcast. The three ladies continue to have their weekly IG series Pita Party that shares their thoughts on the most recent Below Deck episodes.

Barrie stopped by the Pita Party podcast to dish his experience on the Bravo show. He referred to the charter as one of the best vacations the family has ever had. Seriously, Barrie couldn’t stop gushing for the experience and the crew.

Since it was filmed during the pandemic, the family had to quarantine in a small villa in Croatia ahead of the charter. Barrie spilled the paparazzi discovered the villa and was all over them. When they boarded Parsifal III, Barrie shared it was wonderful because the paparazzi couldn’t find the family.

The UK native teased he was supposed to appear on the show again. Barrie didn’t give details. However, it seems like he was returning to Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 3, which has wrapped filming.

This time around, Barrie would have been a guest of one of his friends. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out for him to make another appearance.

Barrie would happily do another stint on Below Deck Sailing Yacht or even try Below Deck and Below Deck Mediterranean.

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow disses Below Deck Sailing Yacht’s Captain Glenn Shephard

Despite how it came across on TV, Barrie spilled the Parsifal III crew was outstanding. Yes, he even gushed over chef Natasha De Bourg. Although Barrie declared she still can’t make poached eggs properly.

Dani and Daisy asked which crew member surprised Barrie the most. The two ladies were shocked when he said, Captain Glenn.

Barrie declared the captain comes across as a nice guy. However, Barrie had an interaction with Captain Glenn that gave him a different impression of the captain.

“He made one comment because I was on my phone. I think he expected me to just put the phone down and have a conversation with him,” Barrie said. “And it’s like hang on a minute. You’re the captain of a fcking boat. Don’t tell me I’ve got to put my phone down when I’m running a multi-million dollar a year business. And I’m trying to send an important message out to somebody. And you walk off saying, ‘Hum rude!’ And I just didn’t like it. I thought he was a two-faced bastard, and there was just something about him I didn’t like.”

Daisy did defend Captain Glenn, but Barrie didn’t buy it. Barrie also alluded to deckhand Sydney Zaruba hooking up with the captain.

Below Deck Sailing Yacht charter guest Barrie Drewitt-Barlow didn’t hold back regarding his experience on the show. Barrie even shaded Captain Glenn Shephard, spilling the story that made him not a fan of the captain.

What did you think of Barrie dissing Captain Glenn?

Below Deck Sailing Yacht is currently on hiatus on Bravo.

Dolly Barrie has zero credibility

Please no more Miss Barrie.

Barrie is not worth comment!

Barrie is absolutely disgusting & is raising a very dysfunctional family.

Barrie was a s**t, shouldn’t Diss anyone when you are a “Karen” yourself.

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Below Deck Recap: Plating and Bowling

It would be exciting to think of this episode as the calm before the storm, but I fear the end of the season will more likely be a drizzle. Speaking of drizzles, the main drama again is Paris and Fraser micromanaging the chef with their plating suggestions. (More on that in a moment.) Before the charter even starts, Ben and Dylan are too excited about the primaries’ daughter and her friends who aren’t old enough to rent a car. Sunny briefly shuts down their ogling and comments with a curt “Enough.” Thank you, Sunny. Dylan gets the honor of being first to talk to the girls. He’s the closest to their age and proves it by seizing the opportunity to make an STD ( St. David ) joke while adjusting their umbrellas.

Fraser is happy to have a family onboard because that’s what he’s used to working for. He assigns Paris to run service for the beach picnic and specifically tells her to manage Nick. As Nick preps the lunch, Fraser suggests plating the sushi, but Nick declines since it’s more work. I’m confused about what the alternative is if they don’t serve it on plates, then realize I’m an idiot who doesn’t deserve to be a luxury-yacht guest; plating of course means individual servings, whereas Nick has prepared everything family-style. On the beach, Paris makes individual plates out of this, and they don’t look particularly nice, though her tablescape is actually pretty. Nick, annoyed, lets her do what she wants and leaves before the main course to get back to the boat. He gripes that he has three stripes to her one but doesn’t pull rank. Nick has a defeated,  smoking–Ben Affleck–meme  energy about him.

We see a few phone calls home in this episode, and two are sweet. Barbie tells her mom about Kyle, and he pops in to say hello. Barbie’s mom digs the accent. Xandi video-chats with her little brother, the most important person in her life. She says she took care of him growing up when their parents fought. The third phone call feels more like a producer wanted a check-in from Sunny. Sunny explains to a friend that Ben forced her to take a step back in their relationship, but it feels easy and fun now, not worrying whether they have feelings for each other. She’s done plucking metaphorical “He likes me, he likes me not” petals every day. This emotional breakthrough emboldens Sunny to make out with Ben on the clock. Ben thinks the space between them has worked in his favor and is starting to genuinely like Sunny. “Space” must mean realizing he doesn’t have any other options.

That afternoon, Nick tells Kerry how Paris changed the plating plan at the beach. Kerry later asks Fraser if there was some confusion over the presentation. Fraser says there wasn’t, but Kerry can tell he’s being coy about it. Fraser had no problem complaining to the captain before, so it’s unclear why he chooses to lie now.

Dylan serves the girls Sex on the Beaches, which raises my suspicions that these guests can’t legally drink in the U.S. He tells Sunny he has his eye on Sarah, the daughter of the primaries, though he doesn’t know her name. His flirting game continues to be unmatched. Alone in his room, Dylan psychs himself up by rapping about taking her to his cabin and his big dick. I never thought I’d miss the mantras.

Tonight’s dinner is casino themed. Paris thinks the octopus needs a green drizzle, and Nick says she can do it herself. I have to say, it does tie the plate together. For the brioche and bread-and-butter-pudding dessert, Paris tells Nick he needs more gas in the whipped-cream canister. He ignores her and the cream comes out a bit soupy. Nick goes into his cabin to scream. Nevertheless, the guests and Kerry love the food. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.

After dinner, the girls go to the hot tub and play truth-or-dare with Dylan. They dare him to take off his shirt and do his best dance for them. His dance moves are cringey, but dousing himself in water gets him cheers. Dylan tells us in an interview that he decided to play it safe and not hook up. To be clear, nothing seemed to suggest it was a legitimate opportunity. He does get Sarah’s Instagram, and they make vague plans to party in LA. It’s a nice little win for Dylan and much more realistic than hooking up when her whole family is right downstairs.

The next morning, Nick is cooking crêpes for breakfast when Paris has the gall to tell him which heat setting to cook on and says he needs more butter. I’m appalled. Until now, her suggestions have been seemingly in line with Fraser’s instructions and presentation focused, but telling a chef “low and slow” is outright insanity. Nick is 100 percent right in thinking she needs to back off.

Above deck, it’s windy, and Kerry is nervous about docking. The boat next to their slot has a dinghy out that makes it a tighter space. In typical  Below Deck  fashion, the music amps up like we’re in a heist movie and they pull it off. The crew makes out with $25,000, which seems like a super-generous tip for a one-night charter. Is it possible a night got edited out? Barbie says she’ll put the money toward clothes and isn’t worried about her dad cutting her off because she can resell her stuff and be fine for a couple of years. As a parting gift, co-primary Rob offers to host everyone on their yacht in Newport Beach and be their crew. Maybe he’s too generous for his own good.

Kerry calls Paris up to the bridge to discuss the beach picnic. He says it’s not her place to argue with the chef, and she points the finger toward Fraser: She assumed he and Nick had discussed plating before. Kerry agrees it’s between the chief stew and the chef, not the rest of the team. Kerry reminds Paris to stay professional and not be dragged into it. Dragging is questionable — I’d say Paris leaped into it willingly, but Fraser definitely encouraged the behavior. When Paris returns downstairs, Barbie asks if she got fired. This makes me wonder if there’s more going on that we haven’t seen. Next, Kerry brings in Fraser and Nick to address the communication breakdown. He lays down the law: The stews shouldn’t be telling Nick how to do his job, and Nick needs to be more assertive. There’s only one charter left, and Kerry won’t let it fall to shit. Fraser suggests they go through all the menus beforehand and he’ll run all services going forward. Nick agrees with this plan, which isn’t the strongest start to being more assertive but it seems promising.

We get a preview of next week’s guests at the preference-sheet meeting: The primary, Michele, is a recently separated pediatric dentist from Maryland bringing her girlfriends for a freedom tour to celebrate her 50th birthday “Beyoncé style.” I have a nightmare vision of Ben and Dylan doing the “Single Ladies” dance and hope it doesn’t come true.

Earlier, Kyle and Barbie were sneaking stairwell kisses, and all seemed well until the crew’s night out. Kyle wears a kilt, which Barbie thinks is not hot at all and wants him to change. She gets that it’s a “heritage thing” but is nervous that he’s not wearing anything under it and likes to show his “situation.” It’s not the worst look of the night by far; Dylan wears a bow tie with a short-sleeved button-down, and Nick wears a tie that looks lonely without a jacket. It would be one thing if they were going to a fancy dinner, but they’re going … bowling.

Kyle loves that he’s winding Barbie up over the kilt. He decides that if he wins bowling, he’s flashing. He does indeed win and delivers on the promise. Barbie’s embarrassed. As usual, she fears her family’s reaction. She thinks they’ll have a heart attack and gets Kyle to stop flashing the cameras. He doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable and knows he’s in damage-control mode now. Barbie says, “I still love you,” to which Kyle replies, “Same.” Earlier, she used the L-word more jokingly, but now I question whether we’ve missed a big relationship moment if they’re throwing it around already.

Back on the boat, Xandi is proud to be going to sleep sober. Go, Xandi! The couples opt for their usual sleeping arrangements. Cuddling, Kyle says he’s wrapped around Barbie’s finger. She hopes the end of the season won’t be the end of them, but she’s still scared that they’re so different. Barbie says she’s starting to fall in love, which is total  Bachelor -speak but does reassure me that we didn’t miss the first proper “I love you”s. She has changed a lot in her time on the yacht, but it’s TBD if she can love — let alone date — “somebody who doesn’t wear pants.”

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Below Deck Sailing Yacht

Editors' picks.

Daisy and Colin Reveal the Truth

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Here's What Daisy Kelliher Has Been Up to Since Season 4 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht

The chief stew is sharing some major life updates, including recent traveling adventures. 

Captain Glenn Shephard Shares a Surprising Throwback Photo (Hint: He "Had More Hair Back Then")

Our jaws dropped at this photo of the Below Deck Sailing Yacht captain from his "Bosun days." 

We Weren't Ready for Daisy Kelliher and Malia White's Jaw-Dropping Swimsuits (PICS)

We weren't ready for daisy and malia's jaw-dropping swimsuits.

The Below Deck Sailing Yacht and Below Deck Mediterranean ladies gave us serious swimwear envy with these looks. 

Daisy Kelliher Is in Her “Element” in a Teeny Lilac Bikini (PHOTO)

Daisy is in her "element" in a teeny lilac bikini (pic).

The Below Deck Sailing Yacht chief stew soaked up the sun while vacationing in Los Angeles, California. 

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Daisy Kelliher

Colin MacRae

Ileisha Dell

Lucy Edmunds

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Alex Propson

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About below deck sailing yacht.

Capt. Glenn and his comeback team Daisy Kelliher, Gary King and Colin MacRae resume their responsibilities aboard Parsifal III, along with new, dynamic crew members, as they set sail in Sardinia, Italy.  

Capt. Glenn realizes that his laid-back leadership style has allowed his crew to become too comfortable and starts taking charge of quality control in the interior department, much to Daisy's dismay. In the galley, Chef Ilesha's cooking impresses the guests, but her indecisiveness and co-dependency lead to time-management issues between courses, which causes her to self-destruct. On deck, strong personalities collide, and a power struggle results in a near mutiny, as Gary clashes with his new overconfident deckhand, Chase. 

Two overlapping love triangles further complicate the dynamics on-board, and a shocking hookup puts Colin, Daisy and Gary’s friendship in jeopardy. 

With a near collision, fire, crew rebellion, gruesome guest injury and two different potentially season-ending engine failures, this is the most captivating and unpredictable season yet of Below Deck Sailing Yacht. 

The Below Deck Crew Drama Got Even Worse This Week, And Fans Are Annoyed For Two Big Reasons

The yacht is sinking and even Captain Kerry is concerned.

With a new chef and charter guests who were both polite and appreciative (unlike RHONY alumni Jill Zarin who fans couldn't stand ) this week’s episode of Below Deck should have been a breeze for the St. David crew members. Unfortunately, that was not the case and fans of the reality series were forced to watch them continue to bicker over irrelevant things instead of focusing on the job at hand. 

While drama is usually a great thing for reality TV,  fans of the yachting franchise are growing tired of the same contrite drama happening over and over again. One would think that the producers would have learned something when so many fans took to social media to express their hatred in Season 8 of Below Deck Med . However , it seems like they haven’t since the original series that's currently airing on the 2024 TV schedule is making the same mistakes. If there’s one thing that Bravo fans are good at, it’s making their annoyances known on social media and this time is no different.

The Fraser Vs. The Food Drama Continues With A New Chef 

Despite being tasked as the Cheif Steward responsible for keeping the interior team running smoothly, Fraser continues to cause drama. From the very start of Season 11, he’s been a problem with many fans calling him the villain of the St. David . 

Two weeks ago, Fraser had a hand in getting the beloved Chef Anthony fired , and fans were not pleased about it. Now, Fraser is stuck dealing with the consequences of his actions as he clashes with Chef Nick. Fans might be more sympathetic to Fraser’s feelings had he not been so unhelpful to the former chef. However, that's not the case, and fans are reacting like this:

Well Fraser maybe you shouldn’t have helped get Anthony fired #belowdeck pic.twitter.com/w3sXR5CfgH May 7, 2024

Instead of being happy that Chef Nick hasn’t made the same mistakes that Anthony made in regard to guests’ preference plates, Fraser spent the entire episode nitpicking the lack of garnish on the plates. This would have been a valid criticism had the guests brought it up, but they were more than pleased with their food. 

To make matters worse, instead of confronting Nick himself, he had his interior team do his dirty work for him which isn’t something someone in a leadership role should ever do. 

All this is to say, fans, like this one below, are not happy with him:

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Fraser is poisoning his team against the chef. He’s a cancer on this boat. #BelowDeck pic.twitter.com/HN8n64hCe6 May 7, 2024

Of course, Fraser didn’t stop there. Just like he did with Chef Anthony and his personal issues with Barbie , he ran straight to Captain Kerry in the hopes of getting him fired. Thankfully, the Captain is on to Fraser’s game and put him in his place, once again, which fans appreciated:

It feels to me that you don’t want to work with him like you did with Anthony. I just feel a different energy with you since he got here. Thank you, Captain. Like chef just got here and Fraser’s already finding a reason to complain about him? #BelowDeck pic.twitter.com/jHLIFFRYKx May 7, 2024

Captain Kerry is a true leader. Maybe Fraser can learn a thing or two from him. 

The Boat Romances Have Somehow Gotten Worse Since Last Week 

Last week’s disastrous episode should have proven why boat romances are not a good idea , and yet the St. David crew hasn’t learned a thing. These relationships are usually fun to watch, but that has not been the case this season as fans are sick of the immature games and choices the crew members are making. 

Ben and Sunny’s will-they, won’t-they relationship seemed like it came to an end last week after he tried to get back with his ex Camille. Sunny was heartbroken, relying on the interior team to support her as she made it clear that she was done with him for good. Unfortunately, their break didn’t last long and Sunny found herself falling for Ben’s game again to the horror of many fans, like the one below, who see him for the player he is. 

Everything about Ben gives me the Ick… Sunny have some respect for yourself. #BelowDeck pic.twitter.com/F7n3H0HAsA May 7, 2024

Sunny needs the interior ladies to give her tough love and remind her that Ben is a giant jerk who doesn’t deserve her. A boat romance, especially with a guy who only wants you because he can’t have someone else, is not worth the stress or your reputation. 

Sunny and Ben aren’t the only crew members who have developed feelings for each other. A few episodes ago Barbie and Kyle finally took their flirtatious friendship to the next level. Things should be smooth sailing for the two who are very clearly into each other, but Barbie’s been too busy worrying about what her father is going to say about it. 

Perhaps fans would be more sympathetic to Barbie’s conflicting feelings if Kyle was a bad guy, but he’s not. He’s actually the most respectable of the bunch. There is no reason for her to be this conflicted about a consensual adult relationship, and yet she continues to cry about what her father is going to think about it. X User @Dustin_Cone said it best, tweeting:

Barbie went on a reality tv show, that’s known for the cast hooking up, even though her parents are modest and she didn’t want them seeing anything bad? #BelowDeck pic.twitter.com/fP7qzVPPTV May 7, 2024

Thankfully, by the end of the episode Barbie had come to her senses and realized that she’s an adult who can make her own decisions. Hopefully, she holds firm with her decision and doesn’t backslide like Sunny did. 

There are two more episodes of Below Deck Season 11 and for the franchise’s sake, I really hope the St. David crew gets their act together. Part of what makes the yachting show so much fun is getting to watch the crew have fun with each other while also judging the ridiculous charter guests behind their backs. The sooner the series gets back to that, the better. 

If you’re interested in seeing how this season plays out, don’t forget to tune in to Bravo next Monday at 9 p.m. ET or stream the episode the next day with a Peacock subscription. 

Danielle Bruncati is a writer and pop culture enthusiast from Southern California. She recently earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Television Writing and Producing from a top film school. While she works tirelessly on her portfolio of original scripts, she is also a Freelance Writer for CinemaBlend. Danielle watches just about everything, but her favorite shows and movies often land in the YA and romantic comedy spaces. When she's not writing, she can be found wandering around Disneyland or hanging out with her laughter-hating corgi. 

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This New Yacht Is Sailing to Gorgeous, Lesser-known Ports in the Caribbean Sea — and I Was on Board With 'Below Deck's' Chef Ben

E merald Cruises' new Emerald Sakara ship brings guests to smaller ports in the Caribbean and Mediterranean, with an onboard marina and the occasional Bravo-lebrity.

With a couple dozen guests looking on, chef Ben Robinson was showing how to slice and dice a fresh red snapper. “You kind of feel him — but you don’t fondle him,” said Robinson, the fan favorite from the Bravo reality show Below Deck, who’s always ready with a quip. As he pulled a perfect filet off the bone, he explained how to salt the fish and that there’s no more important relationship than the one you have with your fishmonger. “My advice is to always be friendly,” he noted. “I like to support my mom-and-pop [businesses]. If you become familiar with them, they’ll say, ‘Hey, I got this in this morning.’”

The cooking demo, which also featured a ceviche how-to and tips on knife sharpening, was one of many “Chef Ben” moments on my trip aboard Emerald Sakara . It’s the newest 100-passenger vessel from Emerald Cruises, which launched in the fall of 2023, a sibling vessel to the Emerald Azzurra .

During an eight-day voyage in March from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, the reality personality was definitely one of the star attractions. Robinson spent several evenings in the galley, creating special dishes such as a panko-crusted veal striploin stuffed with pesto.

He also hosted a well-attended Q&A about his life in the kitchen — and spent plenty of time connecting with fans, many of whom booked the trip specifically to chop it up with Below Deck alum.

“We definitely booked because of Ben,” said Shannon Welnel , a Montana-based travel advisor who had lots of praise for his cuisine — and the yacht-like atmosphere on board the 100-passenger ship. Other guests I spoke with admitted they hadn’t seen much Below Deck, but were intrigued by the chance to chill with a Bravo-lebrity.

Emerald Sakara

• With a max of just 100 passengers, Emerald Sakara feels at times like a private yacht, with no lines and no crowds, and outstanding service from a highly experienced crew.
• Minimalist rooms recall the stripped down aesthetic of Miami Beach or Mykonos, Greece, with pops of color from Missoni Home accents and a sleek-yet-functional bathroom with plenty of storage space.
• While this small ship has but one restaurant and one poolside cafe, there’s plenty of choice when it comes to meals, whether you’re hitting the breakfast or lunch buffet or choosing from the dinner menu.
• The onboard marina, which is open in favorable weather conditions, offers watersports and swimming off the stern of the ship.
• Easy to understand and mostly inclusive pricing covers meals, beverages at mealtime, many tours, and surprisingly speedy Wi-Fi.

The intimate-ship vibe was also one reason the chef wanted to hop aboard. “This definitely has more of a yacht vibe than any other [ship] I've been on,” Robinson told me one afternoon. “A hundred passengers is not a lot,” he said. “I've been on boats with 2,500 passengers, and you really do feel like you're anonymous. But here, the service is great, and you really are treated as an individual and someone important. And you kind of lose that on the big boats.”

While Robinson doesn’t have immediate plans to join another Emerald cruise, he told me that there were plenty of parallels between his life on megayachts and what the Sakara offers its guests. “It’s been incredible,” he said.

I had to agree. The Sakara certainly has much to offer, both in spite of its smaller size and because of it. While it’s available to book by the cabin, like any cruise ship, it still manages to feel at times like a private yacht, particularly when it sails to less-commonly visited ports such as Culebra, on Puerto Rico, or St. Bart’s. In the latter, we dropped anchor near Eric Schmidt’s yacht, Whisper , and had the whole day to explore the glitzy island and its capital, Gustavia. (After a drive around in the morning, I managed to catch the beautiful sunset from the lovely little Shell Beach, right in town.)

“The benefit of being on a small cruise ship like this one is that we can enter small ports and areas where others can’t,” said Robert Kuznin, the captain of Sakara , who previously worked with several cruise lines, including Paul Gauguin, Seabourn, and Virgin Voyages. “For example, when we dropped anchor in Esperanza Bay,” he explained about our stop at the island of Vieques, “there were only two meters under the keel — and that was the shallowest I’ve ever been!”

The ability to go places that larger ships can’t was also on display one morning on St. Kitts, one of the final stops of my trip. It was still early in the morning, but already four mega-ships were docked in Basseterre, the island’s capital. Instead of tying up next to them on the busy cruise pier, we dropped anchor just off the beach in South Friar’s Bay, a long sweep of sand in the island’s southern reaches. There were no crowds to contend with, no paperwork hassles, no touts offering dodgy cab rides. A five-minute tender ride to the beach was all it took to meet our local guide. Time from leaving the breakfast buffet to our first stop? About 25 minutes. Even the most efficient mega-ship would struggle to make that happen — and they can’t drop anchor right off the one of the best beaches on the island. 

Other moments aboard Sakara felt like something out of Below Deck . One afternoon, I made my way to the yacht’s marina, a platform at the stern stocked with lounge chairs, refreshments, and water toys such as a floating trampoline and inflatable sea kayaks. I jumped off the stern into the Caribbean and then tried out the ship’s Seabob, a floating gadget that’s like a cross between a Jet Ski and an electric scooter.

As I continued my joy ride, I could see another vessel anchored just north of us. Turns out, it was David Geffen’s private yacht , Rising Sun . Of course, we were there first.

Here’s a closer look at all the amenities of the Emerald Sakara , which sails seasonally in coastal waters in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Staterooms

Welcome to your starship: the stripped down, white-and-gray cabins on Sakara feel sci-fi chic, particularly when the accent lighting is switched on. They’re also, thankfully, spacious and super functional, with ample storage space (including a safe), a small minibar, a coffee station, and a clever headboard built-in that’s a great spot for your charging devices and water bottle. Most of the 50 rooms and suites have verandas; ocean-view staterooms are the exception. Bathrooms are just big enough, with plenty of storage, and are stocked with Espa products and a hair dryer. My cabin, 421, was a 300-square-foot balcony suite toward the aft of the ship on deck four: I never once heard noise from the surrounding cabins or in the hallway, though I did occasionally notice sounds and vibrations from the vessel, something that is common on even the largest of ships. A note on power plugs: my stateroom had U.S.-style outlets throughout as well as USB-A charging ports on either side of the bed, a nice touch.

Bars and Restaurants

Because Sakara is smaller than most cruise ships, it can’t compete on sheer volume of bars and restaurants. Still, the food on board is solid. La Cucina is the only true dining room, with both indoor and outdoor seating; it has somewhat limited hours compared to the round-the-clock dining options on bigger vessels. That being said, I certainly didn’t go hungry: a breakfast buffet is complemented by traditional à la minute options such as omelets and pancakes; lunch is also buffet style with a carving station. Dinner is more restaurant style, with options from an ever-changing daily menu plus always available classics such as Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, grilled salmon, and spaghetti bolognese on offer. (Many dietary restrictions and preferences can be accommodated.)

On my voyage, chef Robinson put together several special plates, including what might’ve been the best dish of the week: a sesame-crusted seared yellowfin tuna with celeriac puree. The Below Deck star also put together a panko veal striploin roulade one night and, another evening, offered a citrus-cured hamachi with, in a touch of molecular gastronomy, “mango spheres.” Elsewhere on board, a poolside cafe, Aqua Café, has quick bites like burgers and flatbreads, as well as sweets and coffee pulled from a Cimbali espresso machine. The cocktails served in the Amici Lounge and the Sky Bar were consistently excellent, mixed by a talented team of pros who’ve previously worked on Seabourn ships and in some of Dubai’s top hotels. One weaker spot was the selection of wine on board: pours at mealtimes are included, but they didn’t rock my boat. A short list of “chairman’s wines,” available at extra cost, included a couple by-the-bottle finds such as 2013 vintage Cristal ($650) and some mid-tier Bordeaux and Burgundy options.

Where Emerald Sakara Sails

Though small, this ship isn’t an expedition yacht. Rather, it’s specifically designed for warm-weather coastal cruising, meaning it spends the lion’s share of its time in places such as the Caribbean and, in the Northern Hemisphere’s summer months, the Mediterranean. My trip aboard was spent entirely in the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, where passages between ports were short and the seas were often calm. (We did occasionally encounter some swells of up to two meters, or 6.6 feet. I saw many guests wearing medicated patches to prevent motion sickness throughout the trip.) Sakara typically spends a season of several months in a given region, with a variety of cruise lengths offered, ranging from six to 24 days. In 2024, the ship will spend April through November in the Mediterranean. Sakara will return to the Caribbean at the end of the year, through April 2025.

Shore Excursions

Tours off the ship were a strong suit for Emerald, at least on my voyage. Most stops offered a variety of activities, ranging from a simple transfer to a nearby beach to a full-on, multi-hour tour. Usually, I found myself ashore with a very small group of folks — fewer than a dozen — and all the guides Emerald arranged were true pros. Passengers raved about a kayak paddle through the bioluminescent bay on Vieques, something I sadly didn’t try myself. I did, however, enjoy a short guided hike on the island of St. John, to the pristine beach along Salomon Bay, which was all but deserted. The organization of excursions felt flawless to me, thanks no doubt to the crew and shore excursion manager, Pilar Atencio. Worth a mention, too, were Atencio’s detailed briefings on what to expect each day. While these sorts of “port talks'' are common on ships of all sizes, they felt particularly useful on Sakara because of how intimate our groups were; many passengers made a point of attending the pre-dinner talks every night, for info on what to expect about our anchorage, historical background on each island, and detailed info about what each tour offering would entail.

Amenities and Entertainment

Call it small but mighty: Sakara has all the essentials, which is a bit of feat for a ship this size. A cozy spa has wellness and beauty treatments, as well as a small hairstyling and facial studio; morning yoga and stretching are available on deck. The fitness center, with a few cardio machines, a Peloton bike, and a variety of weights and other gear gets the job done. The smallish pool and a top-deck whirlpool were lovely — though I spent most of my time in the ocean: the Sakara ’s marina deck is a key feature, and it was open several afternoons during my trip. It’s like the greatest pool party you’ve ever been to, complete with piña coladas, sea kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, and a trampoline, right off the stern of the ship. It is, truly, as much fun as it sounds like, though it is subject to the whims of weather and ocean currents. Also available in some destinations are e-bikes from Gocycle, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis; during my trip, several guests gave them a spin on the island of Vieques. Sakara also carries a ton of snorkeling gear and beach towels, which passengers can borrow whenever they like. In terms of performances, this isn’t the vessel for Broadway-style shows, but guitarist Jamie Ferguson and voyage director Nathalie Millet added plenty of live music to the trip.

Family-friendly Offerings

The youngest passengers I spoke with on my cruise were in their 20s — and they were traveling with their parents. Sakara is perhaps the perfect ship for families traveling with adult children, since it offers such a diverse array of activities to suit different tastes and activity levels, while visiting intriguing destinations. The ship is also intimate enough that everybody can gather easily for meals — or a swim off the stern — without fighting the crowds common on larger vessels. On the other hand, Sakara is probably not the best choice for families with younger children: there’s no kid-specific programming, and you’re likely to be the only ones aboard with little ones. “Emerald Cruises yachts are recommended for people aged 12 and up, and they must be accompanied by and share a cabin with an adult aged 18 or [older],” a spokesperson shared with T+L.

Accessibility

Sakara is probably best described as somewhat accessible: the ship has elevators to all decks and the crew was, on my trip, very accommodating to those with mobility challenges. There are handrails throughout, and bathrooms feature shower grab bars. That being said, several areas of the ship — the outdoor dining terrace, for example — require navigating at least one step even once you’ve reached the deck in question by elevator. “Due to the nature and size of the ships, wheelchairs and scooters are not allowed to be used on board,” a spokesperson told T+L. When the ship is at anchor, it’s only possible to go ashore by tender or Zodiac, both of which could be challenging for those with limited mobility. As Emerald’s FAQ explains: “Guests with limited mobility will require help from a companion, since the crew is limited.” Also of note: many announcements are made only by loudspeaker with no hearing-impaired alternative.

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Below deck: rules charter guests must follow on the yacht.

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Below Deck’s Barbie Pascual Reveals Current Relationship Status With Kyle Stillie (Spoilers)

Below deck season 12 crew spotted filming again as fan photo causes massive confusion (spoilers), why barbie pascual isn't right for below deck (her personality is getting old).

The   Below Deck  crew members aren't the only ones on board who have a certain set of rules to follow, as the charter guests do too, and we're going to talk about those rules today. On most yachts, the guests are allowed to do whatever they want, within reason. However, when a guest decides to charter a boat while being filmed for Below Deck , they need to follow rules similar to on-set rules for shows filmed on land.

The Bravo series follows the professional and personal lives of people who work in the yachting industry. Throughout the years, viewers have seen the different schedules of yachties. They know where they sleep, how they prepare for guests, and so much more.

Related:  Below Deck Med: Everything To Know About Charter Guest Roy Orbison Jr.

After being on the ship for so many weeks, the crew members will tend to get aggravated with one another, and drama will ensue. Plus, if the guests are so inclined, they will cause some drama on the ship as well.

They Are Not Allowed To Speak To Production

Charter guest Terez Lauren, who appeared in the first few episodes of season 6, did an interview with  Another Below Deck Podcast  on Patreon (via  Showbiz Cheat Sheet ), where she spoke about some of the rules guests have to follow. One of them is that they aren't allowed to interact with production. After the charter guests arrive  at the ship, they are not allowed to speak with the production crew. They want to do their best to not break the fourth wall, and that includes no interaction between production and the guests.

They Can't Play Music

The former guest and her husband Lee Percenti also revealed that playing music wasn't allowed on board. " One of the things was the music. We had dance parties in our room ," Lee revealed. He then added that they even had to pay a licensing fee to use the song they wanted for their wedding. The guest had one song for the wedding that they paid for and had a whole dance party in their room. " I thought they were gonna make us look weird because we’d go in our room and shut the door ," he explained. " We’d open it and be like, ‘Hey, we’d like eight espresso martinis. Thanks.’ Shut the door ." (via Reality Blurb ).

Can's Say "Bravo"

Terez of Below Deck fame  also said that no one on board is allowed to utter the word "Bravo." However, fans of  The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills  have already heard this rumor. During RHOBH season 10, former cast member Denise Richards attempted to use the word often, to get production to cut certain scenes. Her costar Kyle Richards allegedly told her to say it if she ever wanted a scene to be left out of the show.

No Shoes Outside The Cabin

While this may be obvious, the crew and the guest are not allowed to wear their outside shoes on board. Oftentimes viewers will see guests barefoot walking around the teak and the Below Deck yacht's interior rooms. High heels can cause dents on the teak floors, and shoe soles will sometimes leave scuff marks on the deck and the white carpets (via Showbiz Cheat Sheet ). At the start of every charter, the crew will even leave a basket at the entrance of the ship for guests, who are sometimes flirty, to place their shoes before coming on board.

Below Deck  is a show that caters to the guest, but when filming a TV show, even they need to follow a set of rules. Production wants to give the fans the best entertainment they can, even if that means censoring the guests. The crew may think the guests are the most important part of the charter, but in reality, it's the viewers.

Next:  Below Deck: Captain Glenn Disappointed in the Crew Bad-Mouthing Guests

Below Deck Mediterranean  airs Mondays at 9 pm EST on Bravo.

Sources:  Showbiz Cheat Sheet ,  Reality Blurb ,  Showbiz Cheat Sheet

• Below Deck (2016)