Cruise Ship Killers (2020– ) User Reviews

Some Cases Are Identifiable

[sclapteppv · 6/10 · 6 May 2020]

I agree with other reviewers that it's hard to find the true story of the crimes shown in this show. But I've found a few.

The episode listed as ASHLEY is really about Karen Waltz Roston, who was killed on the ship "Stardancer" in 1988 by her new husband, Scott Ralston, while they were on their honeymoon.

GEORGE was about George Smith IV, who disappeared from the cruise ship, "Brilliance of the Seas," in 2005 while on his honeymoon with his new wife, Jennifer, in mysterious circumstances. Blood was found on a canopy below their cabin, & Jennifer was found in a far away hallway, where she had apparently been sleeping all night. Case was never solved. Amazed they used his real 1st name.

AMY was about Amy Lynn Bradley who went on cruise with her parents & brother on the "Rhapsody of the Seas" in 1998 & vanished without a trace. Again correct name was used.

MERRIAN was about Merrian Carver, who disappeared off a Celebrity cruise ship in 2004.

MURIEL is about Muriel Collins Barnett. killed by her assistant with a wine bottle on the "Royal Viking Star" in 1989. Same name again.

SADIE is about Lynne Kauffman murdered on the SS Utrecht in 1959 allegedly by her lover, Willem van Rie. He confessed then retracted. Found not guilty at trial.

BETSY is about Jessie Harper Mozee, who was robbed, killed & dumped overboard on the "SS C & B" in 1940. Never solved but her maid was suspected of at least the robbery.

SHELLY is about Yang Wenjuan, a PhD teacher, who was murdered on the "MV Macau Success" by her husband, Wang Weilie, when he threw her overboard & was witnessed by a passenger on the deck below. Although contemplating divorce, they stayed together for the sake of their 9-yr-old child. Her body was found & revealed she had been battered.

Those are the only ones I can find. If anyone has more, please post on this board.

Compulsively bad

[gallusNumpty · 4/10 · 16 August 2020]

My wife and I love this show because it's so terrible.

As others have said, it's questionable whether many of the stories are actually true, though a couple of them did turn up internet hits. But that's the least bad thing about it.

From the actors pretending to be real friends or relatives (with no indication that they're being portrayed by actors other than the terrible acting), to the fact that *everything* except the talking heads is shown in slow motion, to the experts talking in such generic terms that it's clear they're not even talking about the case of the week, to the voiceover scripts that sounds like they've been written by someone who's never spoken English before**... it's all just weird. (And that's disregarding the fact that half the cases don't even seem to involve a killer at all... they're just disappearances that may or may not have involved foul play.)

We can't take our eyes off it!

** Most recent example: today a passenger was found "drowned to death". In an earlier episode, there was a piece of crucial evidence that "cracked the case wide open". Which was it, did it crack the case or blow it wide open?!

Interesting cases but horrible storytelling

[OneAnjel · 4/10 · 18 February 2022]

I thought it would be intriguing to hear about such stories but the droning narration with zero emotion and the ridiculous plausibility attributed to the suspects is a test in patience. Along with the slow pace and redundancy of description, I can't say this is a well-done series. However, it's very eye-opening. It makes me realize that cruise ships are ripe with people who are criminals and con artists looking for their next prey, almost protected by the fact that Maritime law &/or being in another country can make any crime hard to bring to justice.

60 minute shows with 20 minutes of real content

[ZR RIFLE · 1 May 2020]

This is a low-budge crime show where they find an old story and revive it using bad actors, slow motion and replaying scenes almost to the point you see it in your sleep. With a few exceptions, names, places and even the time period are changed to the point it's almost completely unrelated to the actual account. Maybe to avoid paying royalty or legal fees? Who really knows. Even much of the so-called friends and family interviewed are just actors (I've recognized some of these faces from other shows). As mentioned, the few exceptions (and the best episodes) are the ones that document the real people involved with their true names, times, locations, etc. (such as the Amy Lynn Bradley episode). A lot of these stories can be found on sites such as the Cruise Ship Deaths website.

Poor writing and very misleading.....

[gracielynn-56532 · 1/10 · 7 May 2020]

These shows are totally twisted from truth some I think are completely made up. I can only find less than 10 that are partly true:

Example:

Sadie is the story of Lynn Kaufman who was murdered in 1959 by her lover who worked on the ship. He was a radio operator and the show says he was a chef. He was eventually acquitted even though he had confessed. I like how they interview her friend on the show and she seems to be a woman in her 20s. This woman would not have even been born at the time this murder occurred.

Brain dead

[Sandalls_51 · 2/10 · 28 May 2020]

Horribly produced shows with very little real content. After commercials, they follow with long recaps and feed you another tiny teaspoon. Probably about 5 minutes of real information provided in a 60 minute slot. Also it seems you cannot tie at least most of the plots to real Cases or people, so not 'reality' but essentially poorly contrived fiction, perhaps to protect the cruise lines. 99% formulaic filler for advertising. At the end, only frustration knowing you've been had.

Episode 1 Ashley and Charlie

[stockwellrd · 7/10 · 7 December 2020]

1.How did the husband, Charlie, know there were two male, Ukrainian passengers on the cruise? 2.The Ukrainian government is notoriously corrupt, it had a major role in the impeachment of President Trump. 3. What's the hubby's book titled and has anyone looked over it to discern if it warranted retaliation? 4. Why hasn't cruise ship updated for video security at the guard rails or added the sensors Congress ordered cruise ships put into place to help detour cruise ship deaths?

I don't recall program addressing these questions.

An hour long crime show but there was no crime

[skepticbb93 · 2/10 · 22 July 2020]

I watched the episode about the disappearance of Sarah Roberts. The show went on for an hour. In the last 10 minutes they decide to review the security footage. You would think this is something that would be done early in the show. The footage was inclusive. The investigators never charged anyone. No crime occurred. How the hell did they stretch this out for one hour?

People are too spoiled

[lisalisalisa-97475 · 8/10 · 18 June 2021]

Don't let all the whining fool you this is a very addictive, enjoyable series. The worst thing about it is that the producers were so scared of being sued that they changed a lot of details on all the stories so you can't look them up easily after viewing but it's a fascinating if campy series and there is some beautiful cinematography.

Karen Waltz Roston,

[kimwagen · 6/10 · 5 May 2020]

Classification: Murderer Characteristics: On the last night of her honeymoon aboard the cruise ship Stardancer, Karen Roston went overboard and died Number of victims: 1 Date of murder: February 13, 1988 Date of birth: 1951 Victim profile: Karen Roston, 26 (his wife of nine days) Method of murder: Drowning Location: In the sea, California, USA Status: Sentenced to 33 years and 9 months in prison in November 1994

Repetive, awful acting

[billgreenwell · 2/10 · 23 September 2021]

Strange acting and narration that is irritating in its repetitiveness.

Love this show

[DamienRaven · 10/10 · 9 October 2021]

I Find it's Fascinating...suspenseful...Interesting.. I feel that you can learn a lot about what goes down, behind the scenes, after a tragedy occurs.. And how poorly the Cruise Ship lines handles those type of situations... Scaryyyyyy.

Okay, but wrong title, repetitive, half-fictional with subpar editing

[persian-belle · 6/10 · 15 January 2024]

I'm a frequent listener/watcher of true crime shows.

The good: This show has interesting cases.

Acting seems good.

Narration and voice are good.

Background images are good enough.

Background music is good.

The not-so-good:

• It's obvious while listening to the interviews that there's a lot that's said and so there seems to be a lot of information available about these cases. It seems like editing has been done in a hurry without knowing the full story or knowing which parts are key. So sometimes an event is referred to in the show that the viewer is supposed to know about, but it was never mentioned. The story doesn't have a good flow at all. This happens more in season 1, but season 2 has its fair share too.

• Rather than focusing on key events, too much of it is repeated. I do understand that many of these shows are made for tv and after every break there's a short re-cap, but this show goes on for so long that it makes me wonder if I've rewinded by mistake.

• Names, and even places have been altered. Some of these events have indeed transpired, but not necessarily with the given details and maybe not even on a cruise.

• Not sure if all the experts interviewed in the series are real or merely actors.

• Title is definitely wrong: Many of the presented cases are unsolved with no proof that there was even foul play. So this title is implying that the main person of interest is a killer and just not charged. It doesn't seem professional and looks like an attention-grabbing title.

So, if there's no better true crime show out there and you want to watch something, sure, give it a chance, but don't expect a lot and take the info with a grain of salt.

Who are the real victims?

[chipnginny · 2/10 · 28 April 2020]

Frustrating that you can't find any info on these people. Why change the names, if so then this is not a real documentary, just another fictional crime show.

Not recommend for real "True Crime Junkies "

[brandisalleyl · 2/10 · 8 March 2021]

Out of all the episodes, I've only seen one on this show that can be confirmed. The acting is bad, there isn't much content (just lots of commercials), and the material seems to be fictional. I don't think this show she be shown on the same channel as the true crime stories.

The real victims are the viewers

[zappboot · 3/10 · 29 January 2023]

Very vague glossing over of real murders at sea with fake names, last names aren't even mentioned and neither are the ships. One episode "Shelley" tells the story of a woman named Shelley that was supposedly murdered by her ex-husband Will off the coast of Vancouver but with some detective work, it turns out the real case is about a Chinese woman named Yang Wenjuan and the location was off the Coast of Hong Kong on a gambling boat, not even a cruise ship.

Why the producers couldn't tell the true stories of these crimes is the real mystery.

This is not a documentary in a true sense, it's more like a story told like a rumor spreads after its been passed along by 20 people where all the real info got butchered.

Hard To Prove

[etothej · 1/10 · 21 October 2020]

Because I truly cannot confirm none of these episodes like other true crime shows, this seems fictional. Maybe that is why it is so lowly rated and no major networks will touch it, low budget fiction.

Love Show but Why the names and places changed?

[resume-37868 · 10/10 · 28 April 2020]

I saw that the trivia stated that if you look up these shows, you won't find the story. I must admit, this is true for all but one so far. I was able to find the actual story about the old woman killed by her husband's ex lover I saw two weeks ago. My question, why has the information been changed for these stories? It makes it interesting to read the true story online. Adds to the show. I am watching the episode on "Nadia" right now. Show says she went to Woodhaven HS here in PA. I have been searching and there is no such hs. Now I know why I can't find it. For next season, please give thought to giving the true information so we seuths can research the crime. Thanks for a great show otherwise!

99% Fake

[matt_sole-372-208203 · 1/10 · 29 November 2023]

Saw this and decided to dive into an episode.

My suspicions were aroused when they talked about the cruise, a 7 night cruise up the British Columbia coast in November... not a cruise that happens.

A quick google took me to a website that explains the show.

It's basically a (poorly acted and written) drama, not a documentary.

In most cases there is a small item of fact that is extrapolated with the year, location, name and circumstance changed. Some episodes are based on cases from 100 years ago but are presented as modern-day events.

The episode I watched wasn't a Washington State couple cruising Alaska in November as depicted on screen, it was a Chinese couple cruising from Hong Kong on an overnight casino cruise.

The show interviews fake family, friends, cruise line employees and does not go out of its way to inform viewers it is a work of fiction.

This show is a hard pass.

Anna Doppler

[philrewa · 8/10 · 10 November 2021]

Yesterday, January 31, 2018, Kralendijk court of law sentenced the killer of the Royal Caribbean Crew Member, Adriana Morales.

If you find this story you will see all the details match up exactly.

Is this even real?

[edbreyer-11601 · 5/10 · 11 November 2020]

When Googling these episodes to find out more details, no information is available. Makes me think this is all just made up and question anything I see on the True Crime Network.

Impossible to research

[stacyallen-25512 · 2/10 · 14 February 2021]

So far, every episode I have watched has been intriguing and I wanted to research all the cases but so far no matter what search phrases I use, absolutely no information can be found. I get that they want to protect names but it should not be on TRUE CRIME NETWORK if they are going to obfuscate every last detail to the case. It might as well be a movie of the week. It feels very contrived since no information can be found.

Everything about it is FAKE

[tlm557 · 1/10 · 7 November 2020]

Horrible writing and horrible acting. If any of these stories are just a little bit real, I'd be surprised. The stories are so ridiculous; actually, they are just so stupid. And there are too many narrators, all of which are terrible. There is one off-screen narrator who says more than enough about each fake story but they have to make this pile of garbage even worse by adding terribly boring monotone narrators who are onscreen. J.H. Moncrieff is the worst one; she's been on every episode that I've seen and her dull, monotone voice is the most painful thing that I have ever experienced. Not only that, she says what people were doing when they were alone (how would she know such details? Oh, that's right, she wouldn't) or what people were thinking at a certain time even though they are now dead (she wouldn't know that either). I suspect that J. H. Moncrieff is the writer of these horrible things. I haven't read any of her books but now I'd be afraid to do so. They tease you with bits of their fake stories before it goes to a commercial and then they have to tell all of that nonsense again after the commercial break. They repeat the same bits of information again and again... It would be a 15 minute show if they didn't repeat so much stuff.

FAKE

[misaacson-86557 · 1/10 · 2 May 2020]

Lame and boring. I think they only have like 10-12 episodes. Been seeing they same ones when I click thru the channel, for over a year. Maybe 2 are legit. And Stockwellrd, Ukraine is no more corrupt then the US is. Do you know anything about their politics or even who is president without Google? I suspect not. Ukrainian politics have nothing to do with this weak show.

Extremely interesting!

[murcashley · 10/10 · 15 August 2021]

I find this series extremely interesting! I don't understand the complaints . But then again, there will always be people that will always find something to to complain about with anything.