Reality Show “Shipmates” Anchors in South Beach 

By Naomi Lowit
Contributing Writer 

Betsy Alvarez, a South Beach native, cruised the seas recently as a featured participant on Shipmates, the new nationally syndicated series created by Emmy winners John Tomlin and Bob Young.  

Shipmates, which airs locally on WBFS, is a reality dating show hosted by Chris Hardwick that books young, attractive singles onto one of Carnival Cruise Lines “Fun Ships” for a cruise/date and films the action as it unfolds.

As in a blind date, the two meet for the first time. Unlike a typical blind date, the couple are constantly surrounded by cameras over the entire cruise – and if sparks are not flying after the initial introduction, the two are stuck aboard the ship with each other for a three day and two night cruise to the Bahamas.

Thirty, single and definitely attractive, Alvarez describes her experience on Shipmates as “awesome, a really great opportunity.” When she’s not serving drinks at South Beach’s trendy Purdy Lounge, Alvarez is working on obtaining her real estate license.

You can tune in to see what transpired on Alvarez’s date with James Matsis of Tamarac when the Shipmates episode devoted to their date first airs on Tuesday, October 1 at 1:30 a.m.