Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!
Captain Lee Rosbach Recalls One of the Worst Tips He's Ever Received from a Charter Guest
The Below Deckboss reveals everything you've ever wanted to know about the tipping process.
Much like life and a box of chocolates, when it comes to charter guest tips, the Below Deck crew never knows what they're going to get. For every tip that has the yachties clinking their champagne glasses in celebration of a successful charter, there's also a tip that just doesn't reflect the level of service given to ensure the charter guests had an absolutely amazing experience.
Captain Lee Rosbach, who has been the fearless leader of Below Deck since the very beginning, knows this all too well. So when fans started asking him for all the details on the charter guest tipping process on Twitter recently, he was more than happy to oblige.
One fan in particular asked Captain Lee if anyone has ever not tipped. "Came close once, but they did, and it made me think they needed it more than we did," Captain Lee responded, adding that it happened during Season 1 of Below Deck, although he did not specify which charter.
Captain Lee added in another tweet that "the tip was def [pathetic], but glad it doesn’t happen often."
The Below Deck crew was consistently disappointed with the tips from the charter guests in Season 1, with many of the tips coming in well below 10 percent. In fact, the crew didn't receive a tip at all after the very first charter of the season when the guests were asked to leave the boat early after the crew found what they suspected to be drugs on board.
Captain Lee demystified the tipping process further on Twitter, sharing that every member of the crew gets an equal cut of the tip, including the captain, as well as the couple of Below Deck crew members who have typically not appeared on camera, such as the first officer and engineer. "We all split equal on my boat," Captain Lee tweeted. "That's not always the case, but every Capt I know that's worth a damn does it that way."
He also explained what happens if a charter guest decides to give a crew member an individual tip. "I have had that happen, and I put it all in the same tip pool. And if they slip it to a crew member on the side I expect them to come forward and declare it," Captain Lee said on Twitter. "We're a team. We win and lose as a team."
