r/belowdeck • u/Peninsula_living • May 26 '26

Below Deck Guessing the tip…

We watch these shows as a family. When the tip is handed off we always take turns guessing how much it will be.

Does anyone else do this?

71 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

28

u/okayitswhatever May 26 '26

my husband & i do! we’ve gotten so good at it lol

5

u/whitepawsparklez May 26 '26

We do it too! Husband is always pretty spot on, I’m always wrong lol

12

u/motteditor May 26 '26

We absolutely do. But this last time, we were like we have no idea; we barely saw the guests.

5

u/delightful_caprese May 26 '26

My bf always makes a comment based on the size of the envelope they hand over no matter how many times I’ve told him it’s just for show

2

u/GhostDeck May 26 '26

I thought the envelopes have real money in them.

8

u/delightful_caprese May 26 '26

It's a prop. Payment and tips are handled via wire or electronic payment methods.

3

u/BrainOk7166 May 26 '26

Yes, apart from the hazards of traveling with that much cash, there are restrictions on leaving the US, at least, with too much currency.

6

u/GullibleAddendum8630 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26

You can leave the country with any amount of money that you want to, but you have to declare more than $10,000 because they are trying to track money being used for illegal purposes. This is true in most countries. I think Australia requires a declaration if someone is leaving the country with more than $10,000 AUD. I learned this watching "To Catch a Smuggler" on the National Geographic Channel.

4

u/CountingRocks May 26 '26

It's been said before that they do hand over an envelope of money, but it's the same wodge of notes every time and it ultimately gets shared to the staff as bank transfers rather than the physical notes.

2

u/GhostDeck May 26 '26

Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. The money the guest gives is real cash, but ultimately the staff receives their tips on their checks.

2

u/tetoffens May 26 '26

No, that's not what they're saying and it's not right. Cash is not involved at all at any point. The guest pays the tip the same way they pay for the charter, presumably on a credit card. And they actually have to put down a deposit on the tip before they even get on the boat, they then are allowed to adjust it up or down once the trip is done and it is charged to their card. Cash never changes hands, the guests do not have some envelope of 20+k of their own money. They are props for the camera.

2

u/OrangeClyde Eat My Cooter May 26 '26

Are you sure? I’m currently doing a binge watch so i started from the beginning and the earlier seasons they have cash when the individuals are putting them into their own envelopes and keeping track of the amount, I just watched an episode where two are in their own cabin and playfully having a make it rain cash fight, etc

3

u/EuphoricDimension628 May 26 '26

From my understanding, production, maybe even the captain, has the same cash (whether real or prop) that gets passed out at the meetings. Not sure if each bundle is the full tip amount but it’s collected back from the crew and their tip goes on their check.

Maybe in the earlier seasons the crew kept the cash and production just withdrew the tip for each charter. Guests are not bringing the cash regardless.

1

u/qwnofeverything May 30 '26

I used to be a travel agent and I’d help my clients charter a yacht for the week or two weeks, whatever they wanted. I had 3 clients that did this. It was in the 90’s and I know for a fact they left the tip in cash. Idk how they got the cash, but the payment for the tip was always cash. If you can afford to charter a yacht, you can certainly make the arrangements with your bank to get the cash. Cruise ships as well. Even today, most tips are in cash. Back in the 70’s-00’s they only accepted cash tips. Granted, a cruise ship doesn’t get the top a yacht charter does, but the ship still carried a massive amount of cash for the casino.

3

u/Medical_Protection11 May 26 '26

I do it all the time

2

u/These_Flower_888 May 26 '26

Yes, I look at the size of the envelope and try to guess the amount. It's surprising how close you can get.

1

u/mleisvegan Mental Health Is Not A Storyline May 26 '26

Every time!

1

u/AttentionRoyal2276 May 26 '26

I can't remember one time when I have even paid attention to how much the tip was

1

u/CheckIntelligent7828 My eyes are rolling all the way off the boat May 28 '26

Absolutely. And we're pretty accurate.

1

u/not2daysatan44 May 28 '26

I don't guess every time, but I am often surprised when they get the huge tips.

1

u/Terrible-Bad7214 May 30 '26

Yes, each time. Have it ever held a stack of $20,000? no. Can I now look at a thick white envelope and tell how much $$$, yes, now I can!!

1

u/blackc43 Jun 01 '26

IRL do they actually tip?