Below Deck is a captivating Bravo series that follows a captain and his crew aboard megyachts as they charter stunning locations across the globe while also taking care of very high-demanding charter guests.

What makes the show so interesting is not only the dynamic crew, but the wide range of charter guests, many of whom have made these yachties question their career choices. Throughout Below Deck history, there have been several demanding, unruly, and downright difficult guests who’ve turned luxury charters into high-stress nightmares.

Season 12 of Below Deck, which premiered on June 2nd, kept up with that tradition. In the first episode, the primary brought along a surprising item to ensure that these crew members were meeting their standards aboard a megayacht.

Below Deck Season 12 premiered its first episode on June 2nd, and it kicked things off with a rather interesting first charter guest. The crew aboard the St. David made the mistake of forgetting the guests’ luggage, but once that was quickly fixed, the primary wasted no time opening up his bag and taking out a very fascinating item: a blacklight.

A blacklight can be used for various purposes, but this particular guest brought one to inspect his room and bathroom for germs. While a blacklight doesn’t reveal germs directly, it can highlight bodily fluids and other substances that may indicate areas where bacteria could be present.

The primary was seen inspecting every nook and cranny of his sleeping quarters. While he admitted that “everything [was] kinda clean,” one spot near his bed stood out—and not in a good way. Calling it “dis-gus-ting,” he summoned chief stew Fraser to report that the light switches beside his bed were crawling with bacteria, according to his trusty blacklight.

“I did blacklight. I found the switches by the bedside were disgustingly dirty, so they were not wiped down,” he tells him. Fraser and his stew Barbara Kulaif kept things extremely professional, with Barbara even offering to “clean [her] hand first” before cleaning his nightstand. In a confessional, she shared, “If I had the blacklight, I wouldn’t even know. Like, ‘Oh, is this germs or is it just dust?’ It’s crazy. But it’s really funny.”

And that was only day one of the charter. It’s safe to assume Fraser gave his stews a firm reminder to properly wipe down every inch of the cabins moving forward.

The Below Deck Franchise Has Seen Plenty Of Terrible Charter Guests

Below Deck and its many spinoffs have a long history of dealing with unruly, and at times downright terrible, charter guests. From those who act superior to the crew to those who constantly complain or send food back, the show has seen it all. In fact, even a few guests’ behavior got so bad, that captains had to step in to let them know that their actions wouldn’t be tolerated.

Captain Lee Finds Drugs On Board

The very first season of Below Deck started off with a bang. Captain Lee was informed by stew Kat Held that while cleaning the guest’s bathroom, she discovered a white substance that appeared to be cocaine. Captain Lee decided to end the charter early and kicked the guests off his yacht.

Speaking about that moment in his book, Running Against the Tide, Captain Lee shared (via Bravo), “It was a tough situation to be in. On the one hand, we want clients to be happy. On the other hand, I don’t want my boat to get boarded by the Coast Guard, and I don’t want to go to jail for 25 years. I made the decision to kick them off the boat.”

In fact, Captain Lee shared that cameras didn’t capture him telling his crew to “take the boat apart” after the guests were removed to make sure they didn’t have “hidden stashes left on my boat.”

A Charter Guest Jumps Overboard

Captain Lee has dealt with plenty of difficult charter guests over the years, but Season 8 brought one of the most unforgettable. Delores Flora, heavily intoxicated after dinner, insisted on continuing the party well into the night—which included an unauthorized swim. Not only is it dangerously unsafe for a guest to swim in the dark, but as Captain Lee put it, you never know what might be lurking beneath the surface.

But, Delores did not abide by Lee and jumped in any way. When she went to bed, multiple crew members had to take turns and stay near her room so that she would not do anything stupid. The next morning, Captain Lee decided only to reprimand Delores and send her home. Of course, she couldn’t go home without making a statement. She jumped off the tender boat that was bringing her back to shore.

A Charter Guest Removes $5K From The Tip

In Season 2, viewers watched as a charter guest named Timothy Sykes annoyed the heck out of everyone on board. He was extremely demanding, sent most of his food back with the addition of his girlfriend, complaining that she couldn’t eat most of the chef’s high-quality food (he got her chicken fingers), and complained about the Wi-Fi not working in the middle of the ocean.

However, what made him one of the worst guests in Below Deck history was his actions after the charter ended. He began waving an envelope full of cash in Captain Lee’s face and shared that he had planned to give Lee and his crew a $22,000 tip, and then proceeded to cut $5,000 out of the tip, leaving the crew with $17,000.

A Broken Jaw Had The Chef Blending Each And Every Meal

During Season 9, Chef Rachel Hargrove learned that one of the charter guests had their jaw wired shut and needed everything she cooked to be blended. The charter guest was a co-primary, which meant that the chef had to do everything in her power to make the most of her stay.

“Now that I find out that she really actually wants every single course that all the guests have blended and liquidized form,” the chef learns.

While all of her food was blended, even her lobster and chicken, she had a difficult time watching her friends being offered regular food in front of her and had to send back her food for not being strained enough. The primary made sure that, during dinner, her food needed to come out first before anyone else’s.

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