Christmas at Sea - S02E04 - Joy to the World

[00:00:03] This is a Bramble Jam Podcast. Hi, I'm Bran. I love Hallmark Cruise Shows. I'm Dan and I'm an artist. And this is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast. Deck The Hallmark, it's this podcast. We hope you like this jolly podcast. Hello everybody. Hey, the time has come. We got a little carried away.

[00:00:41] And we already took them to Christmas decorations. We did. Yes. And we're this is what day? This is Wednesday. Oh, man, that was a mistake. So we are still in the festive spirit as much as we can be when it's 100 degrees outside. This is it. Yes. This is it. Correct. Christmas at Sea. People love it. People love it. Is that the official take? People love it. People love it. Okay. Dan, do you remember how the episode ended? Episode three? Do you remember?

[00:01:11] That was a long time ago, Brandon. I got to be honest with you. The mom was springing the retirement news. That was like, oh, no, no. Tyler Hines is on stage. Yes. Talking about Jessica. Jessica, are you out there? Yes. Those two remember earlier, we thought that he was going to ask her to prom. That's right. He didn't. Yes. Well, he has something to ask her. Yes. What's going to happen is I'm going to explain this episode to Dan. He did not watch it. Dan is going to listen in and listen in on this.

[00:01:39] Take it all in and allow his artistic abilities to kind of take over, push out his emotions, how he's feeling about this episode, and then he'll show it to us at the end. We've got three great pictures so far and hoping for a fourth. I'll be honest. Thank you. I don't have a lot of confidence in myself, but it's okay. We're going to wrap the whole thing up in 20 minutes. That's exactly right. Are you ready? All right. Do you remember Helena and Jessica? Do you remember them?

[00:02:09] I do. Here it is for the people at home. There they are. Best friends of 16 years. They work in health care. You know them. Tyler Hines is on stage and asks for Jessica to come and join him on stage for one prom-like dance. Just the two of them. One last dance. That's right. And he says, come to me. And she walks down the aisle onto the stage.

[00:02:39] In slow motion. Helena, her best friend is there hooting and hollering, taking pics, having a great time. Then Tyler Hines gives her a key. And on the key, it is engraved love on it.

[00:02:55] And he says, as mothers, we give up our time. As if he's a mom. We give up our time. I appreciate the sentiment here because it's nice. As mothers, we give up our time, our energy, and even our bodies. It's not easy having children. But here you are, now entering the prime of your life.

[00:03:21] Can you imagine Tyler Hines saying this to you? Wow. No. Entering the prime of your life. Enjoy it. Helena is down there just bawling. She's loving every second of it. Jessica says that she feels like the specialist girl in the world. She said specialist, Tom. She did. And I like that. Was she a specialist at grammar?

[00:03:40] No. Helena says that she has a boutonniere for Tyler that matches Jessica's corsage that she got her. She ordered one for both for the cruise, not even knowing that the boutonniere would go to Tyler Hines. Can you believe that? That's unbelievable. Just in case she met someone special, she bought one. Helena takes prom pictures of the two of them together. It's great fun.

[00:04:07] Cheryl, you know her. You love her. She's our retiree, and she's there with her daughters, Katie and Kendall, who love pranks. Katie and Kendall are beginning to prep for the surprise retirement party. A lot of this episode, Dan, is going to involve this retirement party prepping for the retirement party, everybody getting involved in the retirement party.

[00:04:35] Cheryl is busy FaceTiming her son, Beau, who I did not take a picture of, but Beau is on FaceTime, and he does not seem interested in his FaceTime call at all. She tells Beau that she's retiring, and that's when Beau finally smiles. He finally gives in to the news and smiles. Steve and Julie, Dan, you remember Steve and Julie. Of course I am. They are our wedding. My man took his wife to a bat cave.

[00:05:04] That's right. To renew her vows, their vows, even though she hates bats. Hates bats. But they are back on board safely, and they are pumped about the retirement party later tonight. It's going to be so much fun to celebrate this. The person that we just met is retiring. They know that Cheryl loves Jonathan better. And who doesn't? Who doesn't? That guy?

[00:05:31] And so they want to try to get Jonathan to record a video for Cheryl. So they're waiting in line for a photo op. Also in this photo op is Brendan Penny, who, if you recall, Dan, helped Steve prepare for his vow renewals. He was helping him write stuff and encouraging him and whatnot. So Steve sees his boy Brendan. Brendan sees his boy Steve. They're both pumped to see each other.

[00:05:57] Of course Jonathan records the video like a pro that he is. It's crazy how much of this video they get. You know what I mean? I know. It's crazy. And then Brendan insists that he takes a one-on-one picture with his boy Steve. So congratulations to them. And then Catherine and Rachel, they are best friends. They've been best friends since elementary school. We've got Catherine's mom, Susan. And we've got Donna, who is Rachel's mom.

[00:06:24] And if you remember, Donna hurt her leg. You remember that? Yeah, I do. And Donna is now going to be in a wheelchair for like the rest of the cruise, which is a downer. Man, that's tough. Which means lots of quality time for her and her daughter, Rachel. And Rachel decides, this is when I'm going to open up because do you remember Rachel's big news? She's dating. She's dating. She's dating again.

[00:06:54] That's right. After the divorce, she's dating. She hasn't told her mom that yet. She does it. I will say a skosh awkwardly by saying, quote, I'm dating a specific man and he's very nice. A specific man? Yeah. She says, I'm dating again. I'm dating a specific man, which I love. Which is a weird thing to say. I love it. Her mom, though, is very supportive.

[00:07:21] And she says that she just wants her to have fun. Rachel, go out there and have some fun. Our last duo here, you know them, you love them. It is Charlie and Tony. Married 27 years. Our Santa and Mrs. Claus. If you recall, they meet up with Steve and Julie for some crafts as you do on a cruise.

[00:07:52] And Catherine and Susan. Nothing like going on a cruise to do crafts. You know what I mean? I know. I know. It's a Christmas cruise. It's a Christmas cruise. Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. And Catherine and Susan end up showing up as well. And look at all these friends. They met on the ship. They also all happened to be on this show. And they are now hanging out. Susan asks them to write down their addresses so that she can write them letters.

[00:08:22] Susan doesn't have social media. Loves writing old school letters to her friends. Wow. And I think that's fair. Snail mail. And I'll say this. If you're listening, Susan, I would love for you to send us letters. So email us. Email us. Or send us a card. What is their PO box? 6365, Greenville, South Carolina. 29606. That's right. So we'd love to hear from you and anybody out there, of course.

[00:08:52] Let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll get to the rest of this episode on our final journey. This drawing is an absolute mess. I can't wait for it. You're going to have like 10 more minutes here on Deck the Hallmark. We're back, everybody. Katie and Kendall and their mom, Cheryl, are waiting in line to meet Nikki Deloach. Nikki Deloach. That's what we call her.

[00:09:23] It's a nickname. Nikki Deloach is her twin. No, she only. She's dastardly. She only. Old Dicky Deloach. Only wears Dickies, the jeans. Oh, I got you. We call her Dicky Deloach. Nikki Deloach. Nikki Deloach is her favorite, so she's very excited to meet her. They start talking to some people in line, and Cheryl tells these people in line about retiring. And they ask if she wants a retirement party, to which Cheryl says, I don't want no stinking retirement party.

[00:09:52] Uh-oh. Oh, no, because her daughters are planning that. I know. We also hear, this is the first time we see Kevin McGarry on this show, and he looks sleepy. Oh, Kevin McGarry walking through it, huh? He seems like he had a night the night before here on this cruise ship. Jessica and Helena go for spa day. Spa day.

[00:10:15] Jessica says her friend Helena deserves a day of pampering because she's the best, best friend that anybody could have. Always caring about other people. Then she gives Helena a Christmas ornament, and on the ornament it says, quote, It's not what we have in life, but who we have in our lives that really matters. Thank you for being in mine. Helena loves it. She cries.

[00:10:41] And Jessica says, I hope that you put it on your Christmas tree and see it for, and every time you see it, you think of this cruise together. Uh-oh, Dan, you okay? I just, I've lost it. I got nothing, man. Well, you're doing great. You keep up the good work. I got nothing. I got nothing. It is time for the ugly Christmas sweater competition. Our guy Steve has been planning his sweater situation for months. Steve is a plumber, Dan. Okay.

[00:11:09] So Steve has on a custom ugly sweater with all of the actors' faces on it, and then he has a tiny little bathtub attached to his sweater with Santa Claus in it, and a little hose that's a part of the bathtub that actually squirts out water. Okay. He is pumped about this, and guess what? What? He wins. Hey! Our guy Steve won! What are the odds? I got to be honest.

[00:11:36] If I was on the ship and I lost the ugly Christmas sweater to the guy on the TV show, I'd be pretty bummed. I'd call shenanigans on that. I would say that much of this is cause for concern if you're on this cruise, right? I'm calling shenanigans. It's retirement party time, everybody. We got pink balloons because it's Cheryl's favorite. We got all of her cruise friends. Everyone is ready, but Cheryl is nowhere to be found. If you remember, she doesn't even like parties.

[00:12:06] Is she going to show up to this surprise party? She does, and she's actually very happy about it. They show her the video from Jonathan Bennett, and then Santa and Mrs. Claus, our favorite Santa and Mrs. Claus, they show up. He sits down and sings a song for her, an original called A Christmas Song About Christmas Songs, and this song makes her cry. Cheryl loves it. It's very sweet, and Cheryl crying makes her daughters cry.

[00:12:36] No pranks here, Dan. No pranks here. All tears. That's right. Catherine and Rachel get dinner with their moms, and they discuss going to the Hallmark Christmas Experience in Kansas City. Tickets on sale now. Wow. That's crazy. They got that ad in there. And they decide, you know what? I think we're going to do it. I think we should do this. Why wait until next cruise when we can go to Kansas City in a month? So they decide that they're going to go.

[00:13:04] Susan then gives Catherine a gift to thank her for being such a good friend to her daughter, Rachel. It's very sweet. Making Donna look like a real jerk. Come on, Donna. Be dirty. You didn't give Rachel a gift? Back at the party, Mrs. Claus Tony gives Santa Charlie a card, and inside, he finds out that they are going to the St. Nicholas Memorial in Italy. What?

[00:13:31] Something he's always wanted to do. The retirement party is a big hit, but what would make it even better? You guessed it. Hallmark stars Nikki DeLoach, Aaron Cahill. I'm wrapping up. Aaron Cahill, Heather Hemmonds, and Rachel Boston show up to surprise Cheryl. They pop some champagne, and everyone talks about what an amazing cruise this was.

[00:14:00] And that was the final episode of Christmas at Sea. Dan, you've had your time to do your drawing. Yeah, man. Let everybody know about what you drew for them today. So when you said it was going to be big about retirement, you said that like three or four minutes in. I decided to make like Retirement City. Retirement City. And then I built, I put a road in the middle, and then I just went too big on the water.

[00:14:31] Okay. I was like, how am I going to make this Hallmark or Christmas at all? So there's just like a giant crown in the sky, and there's wreaths on every door. Let's see it. I don't, uh... For those that are watching on the YouTube. I don't know, man. It's a mess, dude. Now, I can't help but notice that it does look like the road is heading to the sky. Is that symbolism for death? That's forced perspective. Oh, okay. It's flat. This is not once you go to Retirement City, you're one step closer to... It's like these houses are not smaller than these.

[00:15:01] Okay. You see? Yeah. Yeah. Got it. They got a nice lake. Big lake. Huge lake. They live on the ocean? Huge lake. It's like half of the city is lake. That's Retirement City. That's a crown up there. That's a crown up there in the wrong color. Yeah. When you started and it was too late, there's no that I could do. Very good sign that, Dano. Thank you. Absolutely. I think the people at home are really going to like that. Love Retirement City. Retirement City. That's exactly right. Ro! Christmas at sea has come and gone. Oh, man. Already?

[00:15:30] Rest in peace, obviously. Maybe next year we'll get to do this again, Dan, if we're lucky. If we're lucky. If you are going on the cruise this year, we'd love to hear from you. Email me, brand.deckthehomeart.com. And I just want to hear about your experience. The thing that I'm most intrigued by with this cruise is does the making of a TV show hinder the experience at all? I'd love to hear from you. So reach out. We're not going to be there. We won't be there. But reach out.

[00:16:00] All right. Until next time, I'm going to first to wish you a Merry Christmas. Deck The Hallmark is a Bramble Jam podcast produced by Brandon Gray. And yeah, that Greenville, South Carolina for more information on the show. You can go to deckthehomeart.com. Follow some of the socials at deckthehomeart. You can leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Five stars, if you please. And while you're at it, if you want to financially support the show, head on over to Bramble Jam Plus. You're going to find the best corner of the internet with the best people. And ad-free podcasting, live video watch-alongs, movie chats, and so much more. That's bramblejamplus.com.

[00:16:33] You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio. Thanks for listening. Or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point. It's at the end of the show. I mean, you're listening to me. Hi. But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are. Happy day.