Before officially closing his logbook, Captain Kerry Titheradge assembled his crew for the final tip meeting of Below Deck Season 12 with the good news that their proverbial ship had come in.
“I’ve got a really fat envelope here,” he announced from the sky lounge on the Season 12 finale. “I’m impressed with this.”
After revealing the final charter’s tip amount, Captain Kerry also broke down how much money each of his St. David crew members — including Rainbeau de Roos, Solène Favreau, Anthony Iracane, Bárbara Kulaif, Fraser Olender, Hugo Ortega, Kyle Stillie, Jess Theron, and Damo Yorg — had added to their paychecks, throughout the season.
“I’ve never had so much money, never in my life,” Bárbara declared, as she and her castmates celebrated with a toast. “It’s a new beginning for me because I finally, after eight years, I start to save money for my future.”
Below, find out exactly how much each of the eight charter groups tipped, as well as the total gratuity amount at the end of Below Deck Season 12.
Below Deck Season 12’s first charter tip amount
The charter season got off to a memorable start with a primary guest named Sam and his family, who were very concerned about germs on the megayacht. Sam even inspected the cabins with a blacklight that he’d brought aboard, while his daughter came prepared with cleaning wipes in her luggage — which later-fired bosun Caio Poltronieri’s deck team accidentally forgot on the dock.
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Despite also taking issue with some of the food chef Lawrence Snowden prepared for them prior to his Season 12 departure, Sam ultimately left the season’s largest tip: $30,000, which worked out to be $2,300 each.
The thrilled cast lost their minds while toasting with champagne on Episode 2, as lead deckhand Jess quipped in a confessional, “I don’t know what to do with this money… Do I keep it? Do I sleep with it under my pillow?”
Below Deck Season 12’s second charter tip amount
The cast’s good fortune didn’t last into the second charter, though. At the end of a wild, five-day excursion with a group of eight male porn stars on Episodes 3 and 4, Captain Kerry didn’t feel their “pathetic” gratuity matched his crew’s impressive performance in putting on multiple themed dinners and once-in-a-lifetime excursions.
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Further noting that he “would expect a lot more” from a charter of that length, Kerry revealed the men’s tip to be $19,990, or $1,500 for each of them.
Naturally, the crew was disappointed:Â “We got shafted,” Kyle declared, while Damo added, “They gave us the whiskey d–k equivalent of a tip.”
Below Deck Season 12’s third charter tip amount
The St. David crew got back on course during Episode 5 with the “lovely” and drama-free Finn family who had enjoyed such activities as a beach volleyball match. The matriarch, Darlene, even shed a few tears while saying goodbye to the team, thanking them for “taking care” of her amid an arm injury.
That’s when the primary, Jack, handed Captain Kerry an envelope containing “a token of [their] appreciation” in the amount of $28,000, or $2,150 each.
Below Deck Season 12’s fourth charter tip amount
For Season 12’s fourth charter, the yachties hosted a group of “rude” strip club moguls, for whom chief stew Fraser organized a full-blown “Yacht-Chella” dock party across Episodes 6 and 7. As the guests became increasingly “rowdy” and demanding, Captain Kerry even had to issue a warning that he had “no worries getting a water taxi and deporting some people” if they made his crew feel uncomfortable.
Later, during the tip meeting, however, Kerry announced their patience had paid off, and they had raked in the “absolutely incredible” amount of $27,500, which equaled out to $2,100 per person.
Meanwhile, Rainbeau, who had been hounded by one guest in particular, joked with a producer, “It’s a good, average, solid tip. Average sized. Who doesn’t love average sized? Doesn’t need to be ginormous.”
Below Deck Season 12’s fifth charter tip amount
Perhaps the most “out of control” charter of Season 12, though, featured co-primaries Helen and Richard whose friend, Kelly, became “extremely drunk” and was ultimately escorted off of St. David by police. Afterward, speculation about Helen and deckhand Kyle’s interactions made waves on the yacht, leading several crew members to question how their flirtations might affect their gratuity.
The couple eventually left them all stunned with a low tip of $22,000, equating to $1,692 for each crew member, on Episode 10.
“I would’ve expected more, for what we had to go through,” Kerry admitted.
Damo, meanwhile, had a blunter reaction: “I thought they were better than that,” he vented. “We f—king busted our asses for these guys. I mean, [Kyle] Stillie was used as a buoyancy device. Like we’re going above and beyond. Not great.”
Below Deck Season 12’s sixth charter tip amount
St. David‘s mechanical issues plagued the sixth charter of Season 12. Despite the team’s best efforts to make the best of the situation, after three days of being stuck at the dock, primary guest Ron and his friends made them pay with another low tip.
“Unfortunately, the guests, in their mind, they have punished us for the boat not moving,” Kerry explained during the Episode 12 tip meeting. “Which I don’t think is fair. $19,000. Which I think is well short. So that’s $1,461 each.”
Bárbara, for one, declared “the tip was s—t,” while Rainbeau called the charter guests “cheapos.”
Kyle, on the other hand, confessed that he didn’t blame the primary, adding, “The boat didn’t do what it was meant to do. So, $19K for nothing? Thank you very much, guys, I appreciate it wholeheartedly.”
Below Deck Season 12’s seventh charter tip amount
Season 12’s emotional charter No. 7 featured a group that was celebrating their friend Emily, a breast cancer survivor who had recently completed chemotherapy treatments. Their onboard activities included a special eight-course dinner from chef Anthony.
“What a lovely group of people, eh?” Captain Kerry remarked during his post-trip debrief on Episode 14. “Today’s tip is $21,000, so that works out to be $1,615.38 each.”
The pleased crew celebrated with a champagne toast, per usual, and some even took selfies with cash in their mouths.
Below Deck Season 12’s eighth charter tip amount
A group of eight “spicy” women, including three singles, made up the roster for Season 12’s eighth and final charter. Though Damo predicted they might be “trouble” for him and Kyle, the deckhands only engaged in some playful flirting. Even Kerry said he was “loving” the guest’s “flirty” and “fun” energies.
“I’ve got a very heavy envelope that I need to lighten now,” the captain teased the cast via radio, soon after the ladies disembarked St. David on Below Deck‘s Sept. 15 finale.
In the end, the women left an impressive $28,000 tip, equaling out to $2,153 per crew member.
What was the total tip amount on Below Deck Season 12?
“This year, we brought in $195,490,” Captain Kerry announced at their final meeting. “Not too shabby, eh?”
By his math, that amounted to each Below Deck cast member taking home a grand total of $15,037 in tip money.
As far as he was concerned, they earned it, too: “A good crew can make a bad captain look good, and a bad crew can make a good captain look bad,” Kerry concluded in an Episode 16 confessional. “I need a crew that work very well together, and this crew did that. I am really proud of them.”
Now that Below Deck‘s latest charter season has sailed off into the sunset, find out what happened when Captain Kerry reunited with guest Kelly after filming wrapped.
