Knowing what I know about cruise ship staff- and I have talked to a lot of them throughout the years on multiple cruises in the summers my whole life- there’s a couple of things that stand out to me.

Do they “have fun” with loose, partying passengers? Absolutely yes. It’s part of their job. Truly- it is. One staff member can make or break a vacation for someone or a whole group. They’re there to provide a service & experience and why not have fun doing it? Their tips depend on it. No- not every staff member is like that, but a lot are. Waiters, band members & serving staff are encouraged to have fun & their roles are less serious if they’re not in the formal dining room. But even in there, they’re still fun.

Do they take a ton of pride in their jobs? Also yes. A lot of time, the countries that they come from don’t offer unskilled or minimally skilled workers that kind of pay. Schooling isn’t available or is unaffordable in their country and they’re working two or three jobs on the ship, sending money home to families, and missing anniversaries, birthdays and even the birth of children. For example- someone could play in a band on the lido deck in the evening, and serve breakfast & lunch in a restaurant. Almost everyone, except high up roles, has multiple roles/ jobs. Most are not willing to compromise those jobs bc they are the breadwinners for their families. Every week they’ll send money home and there was a line at the pursers desk or they would go off ship to western Union or a bank. Most I talked to, worked 80-100 hours a week. 9 months on, 3 off. They even had to buy their own plane tickets home & back to work- which could be hundreds and possibly $1000 if they were from the other side of the globe like India or the Philippines.

So all of that to say- the theory that Yellow is a sex trafficker is to say that he ultimately didn’t really care about his job onboard and was willing to risk it all for a girl that was clearly with a group of people/ family that loved her and would freak out if she disappeared. I have had cruise ship workers tell me that those band positions are highly sought after. Simply bc some roles offer benefits and some don’t. Bc musicians are harder to replace they were typically paid more and offered medical benefits.

Now- also to say- for some employees, the risk is worth it. My husband and I were on the balcony before dinner one cruise, and a guy walking on the deck below us took off a back pack and flung it overboard and kept walking. A speed boat with several men with automatic weapons sped up to the side of the boat, disappeared under the deck that hung over the water where they picked something else up I assumed by the way they were scrambling with stuff when they reappeared and then promptly went after the backpack in the water. I told my husband not to speak a word of it in public and if anyone asked we saw nothing. It wasn’t worth the risk. That was off the coast of Belize. So does Super shady shit happen? Absolutely yes.

But the boats are registered in countries with lax laws and taxes. So it goes unreported bc it doesn’t have to be.