DeckTales Podcast

Nate used to work on my last ship many years ago as a receptionist, and only recently made a rather unconventional switch to the housekeeping department, where he now works as a cabin steward. He filled me in on how this turn of events transpired, and dished the dirt on some of his employers' antics over the years. In this episode you’ll hear first-hand how it is to be working in one of the toughest jobs on cruise ships, what happens when the ship leaves without you, and how to keep on the good side of the onboard mafia. Again, this episode contains some difficult subject matter, so viewer discretion is advised. Finally, that wraps it up for season 1 of DeckTales, so I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who’s been a guest on the show so far, and to everyone who’s been tuning in each week. I’ll be back with more soon and will keep you updated when I can, but for now, lets anchor up ⚓ and have a little listen.�� Enjoy! ��#behindthescenes #podcastclips #decktales #BelowDeck #guestrelationships #receptionist #housekeepingjob #cabinsteward #lifeatsea #shiplife #backtoworkafterquarantine

Krista used to work on a number of different vessels within the cruise industry over a six year period. At first working on the front desk, and progressed her way up to guest relations manager. She now works in Vancouver on the ferries responsible for similar albeit not as stressful duties, and the pair of us connected over Facebook page 'The Crew Bar', where she and a few others work to keep crew members from around the world connected, in a light hearted and meme friendly manner.In addition to this, Krista has been working hard to get another page (crewscritics) up and running, which provides anonymous posting so that crew can review their companies without fear of reprisals. This episode you can expect to hear some difficult subject matter, so viewer discretion is advised. Other than that, she had a nice collection of stories to balance out some of the darker parts of her past, and she is so amazing to have come on and shared her story, because she and I want others to hear about it, so if they have experienced something similar, then they will know they are not alone. Enjoy! #behindthescenes #podcastclips #decktales #BelowDeck #guestrelations #receptionist #assaultawarness #sensitivecontent⚠️ #cautionarytale #triggerwarning⚠️⚠️⚠️ #roofied #disgustingbehaviour #waterbottle

JD worked on a ship with me during my first contract back in 2006, but his decade long career is a 50/50 split, between working in photography/videography and shore excursions. In this episode you will learn how to lower your expectations when venturing out on a land booked trip, how to sleep through an onboard fire, and what happens after you hit an iceberg.You may also learn a thing or two about the positives covid had on the industry, as well as 'where da food at'.JD had his guard up during this episode, so it took a fair bit of inquisitive probing to get any decent stories out of him.In fairness to JD, he knows all to well the dangers of antagonizing the industry, and I'll give him some tiny degree of credit, because last year we went for beers before I began working on DeckTales, and he wouldn't shut up about ship life! So he could be considered an ember that sparked my creative ambitions.Enjoy!

Liam and I have been acquainted over the years with thanks to our many days spent working together as TV and film extras. We did reminisce briefly about some of the productions we have both worked on together, but the main focus of today's episode, was to get a bit more of an insight into the Royal Navy.Liam spent four years as an officer cadet, and recounted various tales from his time during training, being away at sea on deployment, remembrance day parades, nauseous voyages and tracking down the Russians. I wanted to keep the door open on DeckTales to not only look behind the scenes of the cruise ship industry, but other types of maritime career as well. Hopefully this will mean that mariners of many other backgrounds will feel the show has more to offer, and who knows, maybe one day they'll reach out to be a guest in the future.As my own background lies heavily in the cruise ship industry, a lot of my contacts do stem from there, but as the show grows, I hope it can grow roots and spread to other niches within the shipping sector. Enjoy!

Today's guest was referred to the show by his former colleague Bboy Smurf, (who I interviewed in episode 13).Mase Boogie spent a few years working on Carnival cruise ships, where he worked as a hip hop dancer putting on daily high energy shows for the punters.The things he got up to in his spare time are revealed within this episode, with one of his favourite extra curricular activities being coning!Not knowing who the guest is on a personal level adds a little something extra I feel, because I never know what to expect until we start speaking for the first time.Right out the gate Mase was laughing at my jokes so I liked him immediately, he wasn't coy with his anecdotes, embracing that it was a long time ago and made him the person he is today. When asked what he currently does for a living, Mase gave me cryptic clues relating to certain NBA associations, but was careful not to name drop any of them directly. So if you want to know which teams they are...you'll just have to listen to the episode.Enjoy!

Nelly and I worked together for Carnival back in the day, so we had a few mutual friends and stories between us.She worked as a kids and teens club host for about 4 years, and her experiences were in many ways wildly different from my own.In this episode you'll get to hear Nelly talk about witnessing a jumper from the ship, getting a rude wake up call from the coast guard, what it's like working on a nudist charter cruise and more!She was so quick to get back to me after I initially reached out to her about being on the podcast, and even quicker to commit to a scheduled time for a chat. Why can't everyone be more like Nelly ey?We had a lot of laughs on this one as Nelly was a great guest, and the first former kids host to come forward to be on the show.Enjoy!#BTS #podcast #decktales #kidshost #belowdeck #birthdaysuit #coastguard #cruisestory #cruisetalk #jumper #sharks # #matchbox

Ep13: BBOY Smurf- Introducing BBOY SmurfI worked with Smurf for about 3 and a half months back in 2010 right at the end of my cruise ship career, and found out during this chat, that Smurf also ended his shortly after, albeit for extremely different reasons.He's a good sport for coming on the podcast, and for being so brutally honest about everything he got up to during his time with Carnival. So thanks to you Smurf for not holding back and sharing your story.He worked as a member of the Fun Force team onboard, which back then was a hip-hop/breakdancing duo.Some of the things Smurf told me in this episode he's never really spoken about since they happened, and I was honestly a bit gobsmacked after hearing them, as I had literally no idea!Smurf continues to teach dance within his community to this day, and spends most of his time working as a tattoo artist.This was a amazing episode as it was a real eye opener into what you can get away with on a cruise ship...although I need to cover myself by saying I wouldn't encourage anyone to try doing some of the things Smurf did...Enjoy!

A musical comedian of over 20 years and a Britain's Got Talent semi finalist, Kev is one of those comedy acts that catches you off guard and leaves you speechless in the best kind of way. His show was something I always remembered when we met onboard the Thomson Destiny back in 2006, not just because of how unique it truly was, but also because his ability on the piano is like watching a master at work.These days Kev does a bit less work on the cruise ships, but he is by no means any less busy. Travelling all around the world performing, setting up a studio space for creative minds to collaborate, running the Jongleurs comedy brand, currently over in Armenia changing lives for families, and much much more!He's an incredibly positive person and his charisma is infectious, so getting Kev on DeckTales was extremely humbling, especially considering how busy he is. I know this episode will popular, given how popular Kev is with audiences around the world.He's a fantastic storyteller and had some brilliant anecdotes.Enjoy!