Captain Jason Chambers has a plan for Season 2 of Below Deck Down Under. For the show’s sophomore season, he intends to be more assertive with his crew. He’ll make sure everything is ship-shape and service is up to the standards guests expect for the amount of cash they’re shelling out.
Working with Chief Stew Aesha [Scott], the goal is to achieve “a big change in service.”
“We had hurdles in front of us that,” Jason told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “But we got through them, and we grew … both the galley and the service [department].”
Stepping back a bit this season
In the past, Aesha called Jason her “fourth stew,” since he was so hands-on with the crew, offering help wherever he was needed. But the Captain plans to take more of a leadership role this season.
Season 2 features a new boat, the Northern Sun. “I am definitely stepping back a little bit more due to the structure of the boat,” he explained. “[Season 1’s] Thalassa was a big boat, and it was a big boat for the crew to try and get together. It was a lot of responsibility for me to hand over on day one.”
He admits he got “involved” in the day-to-day activities of the crew, but later “pulled back” a bit, once they were on top of everything.
“The weather wasn’t conducive to start,” he shared. “There wasn’t so much going on in the first charter or two. So they got to have that time to get to know the boat. And it was an easy boat to get to know in that regard. So I didn’t have to be hands-on. And when I did get hands-on, I probably got in the way a little bit.”
Watching Season 1 changed his perspective
“When I walked away last season, I was obviously concerned about how I was going to be depicted,” the Australian native said. “It was so easy to do your job walking up to a boat and not knowing it, not knowing the crew … It was just it was so easy to just put the blinkers on and go forward.”
After watching Season 1, “I trusted the process,” Jason admitted. “I had the same challenges on season 2 … It was back in the seat again of, ‘OK, this has to get going. So get into it.’”
He looked forward to working with Aesha again in Season 2. “We just work off each other,” he said about the New Zealand native. “I don’t need to ask for something, if I know that she wants to put in 100%. I can pick on her for something. And she understands that. She … won’t take it personally.”
Below Deck Down Under airs Mondays at 8/7c on Bravo beginning July 17 and on Peacock the following day.
TELL US – ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO SEASON 2 OF BELOW DECK DOWN UNDER? HOW DO YOU THINK THE CREW WILL RESPOND TO CAPTAIN JASON “TAKING A STEP BACK?”
