CRIMECRUISE 2026 SCHEDULE
The schedule is subject to change, please check this page for updates!
FULL SCHEDULE & SESSION DETAILS
Select a session below to view its full description, location and speaker information.
location key
WEDNESDAY, 11/18
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
ALL ABOARD BY 2:30PM | DEPARTURE AT 4:00PM
12:30p-4:00p ✶ CrimeCruise Badge Pick-Up
✶ Location: Cyprus Restaurant
✶ Deck: 4
Welcome aboard the Celebrity Beyond and welcome to CrimeCruise 2026! We’re excited to have you with us. Once you’ve found your cabin and settled in, pick up your badge between 12:30 and 4:00 p.m. in the Cyprus Restaurant. If you miss this window, badges will also be available at the Welcome Reception on the Pool Deck.
Badges must be worn and visible to access all CrimeCruise 2026 sessions.
VIP Badge Holders: During badge pickup, VIPs will have the opportunity to prerecord a question for Josh Ritter to play and answer during his Sunday Funday (on a Friday!) session. You bring the question, and we’ll take care of the rest.
7:00p-8:00p ✶ Welcome Aboard: CrimeCruise Reception
✶ Location: Pool Deck
✶ Deck: 14
Join fellow cruisers and our incredible lineup of speakers as we officially kick off CrimeCruise 2026! Enjoy complimentary cocktails and hors d’oeuvres while meeting your shipmates and getting ready for an unforgettable vacation at sea.
8:30p-10:00p ✶ Group Dining
✶ Location: TBA
✶ Deck: TBA
Join the group for dinner and get to know your fellow cruisers and new partners in crime.
Please note: Our dining location will be announced soon. “Smart Casual” attire is required for entry; comfortable but polished — dresses, skirts, pants or jeans with a nice top or button-down. Please skip shorts and flip-flops.
thursday, 11/19
FULL DAY AT SEA
8:30a-9:30a ✶ Nate Eaton: Crimes at Sea
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Nate Eaton
On the open water, jurisdiction gets murky—and so can the truth. From disappearances overboard and sexual assaults to human trafficking, robbery, and murder, crimes aboard cruise ships present investigators with uniquely complex challenges. Join Nate Eaton for a deep dive into some of the most notorious crimes at sea, the questions that remain, and why justice can be so difficult to find once a ship leaves port.
9:30a-10:45a ✶ Dr. Katherine Ramsland: Criminal Profiling: A Master Class
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Dr. Katherine Ramsland
Step into Dr. Ramsland’s “classroom” for an interactive master class exploring the methods and techniques used in criminal profiling, with a special focus on linkage analysis and how investigators connect seemingly unrelated crimes.
11:00a-12:00p ✶ Meet & Greet with Nate Eaton
✶ Location: Cyprus Restaurant
✶ Deck: 4
We want as many CrimeCruisers as possible to get their moment with our speakers, so please help us keep lines moving quickly and smoothly! Limit your interaction to either one photo or autograph, and if you’re taking a photo, have your phone unlocked with the camera open and ready. Save any questions for the Q&A portion of the speaker’s session.
Due to limited time and capacity, lines may need to close early to ensure everyone already waiting gets through.
12:00p-1:00p ✶ Meet & Greet with Dr. Katherine Ramsland
✶ Location: Cyprus Restaurant
✶ Deck: 4
We want as many CrimeCruisers as possible to get their moment with our speakers, so please help us keep lines moving quickly and smoothly! Limit your interaction to either one photo or autograph, and if you’re taking a photo, have your phone unlocked with the camera open and ready. Save any questions for the Q&A portion of the speaker’s session.
Due to limited time and capacity, lines may need to close early to ensure everyone already waiting gets through.
Book Signing: Purchase a copy of Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer or any of Dr. Ramsland’s other books before sailing, and bring it with you for her to sign during this meet and greet. Books will not be available for purchase onboard.
1:45p-2:45p ✶ Chris Hansen: Beyond the Sting
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Chris Hansen
The cameras capture the confrontation, but that's only half the story. Chris Hansen takes you inside some of his most memorable stings from Takedown, revealing what unfolded after the cameras stopped rolling and where the predators he confronted are today.
4:00p-5:00p ✶ Meet & Greet with Josh Ritter
✶ Location: Destination Gateway
✶ Deck: 2
We want as many CrimeCruisers as possible to get their moment with our speakers, so please help us keep lines moving quickly and smoothly! Limit your interaction to either one photo or autograph, and if you’re taking a photo, have your phone unlocked with the camera open and ready. Save any questions for the Q&A portion of the speaker’s session.
Due to limited time and capacity, lines may need to close early to ensure everyone already waiting gets through.
5:00p-6:00p ✶ Meet & Greet with Chris Hansen
✶ Location: Destination Gateway
✶ Deck: 2
We want as many CrimeCruisers as possible to get their moment with our speakers, so please help us keep lines moving quickly and smoothly! Limit your interaction to either one photo or autograph, and if you’re taking a photo, have your phone unlocked with the camera open and ready. Save any questions for the Q&A portion of the speaker’s session.
Due to limited time and capacity, lines may need to close early to ensure everyone already waiting gets through.
6:00p-7:00p ✶ [VIP-ONLY] What the Dead (and Barbara Butcher) Know
✶ Location: The Club
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Barbara Butcher
Before setting sail, pick up a copy of Barbara’s memoir, What the Dead Know, and come ready with questions. In this intimate, VIP-only conversation, Barbara Butcher opens the floor to anything—from her life and career as a death investigator to what the dead can reveal about the lives they left behind.
8:30p-10:00p ✶ Group Dining
✶ Location: TBA
✶ Deck: TBA
Join the group for dinner and get to know your fellow cruisers and new partners in crime.
Please note: our dining location will be announced soon.
This is “Evening Chic” night — aka your chance to dress it up! It’s not required, but guests are encouraged to wear their vacation best and have a little fun with it.
10:00p-11:00p ✶ [VIP-ONLY] Matt Murphy: A Murder Story
✶ Location: Destination Gateway
✶ Deck: 2
Grab a cocktail, dim the lights, and settle in as Matt Murphy takes you inside a lesser-known murder case.
Matthew Large, a former high school wrestler turned mixed martial artist, vanished in 2001 just before his debut fight. Three weeks later, his truck was discovered in Humboldt Bay. It would be more than a year before his decomposed body was recovered. The cause of death: a blow to the head with a meat cleaver.
Who killed the promising fighter—and why? Join Matt Murphy as he takes you through the mysterious case, the trial that followed, and the courtroom battle that ultimately brought Matthew’s killer to justice.
friday, 11/20
COZUMEL
ALL ABOARD BY 7:30PM | DEPARTURE AT 8:00PM
9:00a-10:00a ✶ Matt Murphy & Josh Ritter: CrimeCruise Courtroom (Part 1)
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speakers: Matt Murphy & Josh Ritter
The outcome of even the strongest case can hinge on a single cross-examination. In this interactive crash course, former prosecutors turned defense attorneys Matt Murphy and Josh Ritter break down how attorneys expose weaknesses, challenge credibility, reinforce their case, and maintain control in the courtroom.
You’ll also learn the rules and limitations of cross-examination, including when to ask a leading question and when to object to the opposing side’s line of questioning. Part One will prepare you for Saturday’s CrimeCruise Courtroom mock trial, where you’ll have the chance to put your new courtroom knowledge to the test.
10:00a-11:00a ✶ Dr. Katherine Ramsland & Nate Eaton: Moms Who Murder
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Dr. Katherine Ramsland & Nate Eaton
Lori Vallow Daybell, Andrea Yates, Deanna Laney, Lisa Snyder and Lindsay Clancy. All of these women have one thing in common; they were all accused or convicted of killing their children. Join Nate Eaton and Dr. Katherine Ramsland as they explore one of the most unfathomable crimes and the forces that can drive a mother to the unthinkable.
2:30p-4:00p ✶ Solve the Mystery
✶ Location: Cyprus Restaurant
✶ Deck: 4
Team up with your fellow cruisers and put your sleuthing skills to the test as you race against the clock to solve a mystery. Detectives will be divided into teams of six and given a case to crack. Can your team follow the clues, piece together the evidence, and be the first to solve it for a chance to win some prizes?
This session is open to all badge types, but seating is limited to the first 150 attendees.
Please bring paper or a notebook, something to write with, and reading glasses if needed. Each team will also need at least one internet-connected phone or tablet.
5:00p-6:00p ✶ [VIP-ONLY] Sunday Funday (on a Friday!) with Josh Ritter
✶ Location: The Club
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Josh Ritter
Got a burning question about your favorite case, criminal law, or the trial you watched from opening statements to verdict? Ever wondered what an immunity agreement actually means, when the right to remain silent applies, what voir dire is, or what the heck a habeas corpus petition does? Still trying to understand how Alex Murdaugh could get a new trial? Now’s your chance to ask!
Join Courtroom Confidential host Josh Ritter for a special live edition of his hit weekly Q&A show, Sunday Funday. VIP guests will be invited to submit a video question at badge pickup, and Josh will answer your questions during a live taping aboard the Celebrity Beyond.
You bring the questions. Josh brings the answers.
8:30p-10:00p ✶ Group Dining
✶ Location: TBA
✶ Deck: TBA
Join the group for dinner and get to know your fellow cruisers and new partners in crime.
Please note: Our dining location will be announced soon. “Smart Casual” attire is required for entry; comfortable but polished — dresses, skirts, pants or jeans with a nice top or button-down. Please skip shorts and flip-flops.
10:00p-11:00p ✶ [VIP-ONLY] Family Feud: CrimeCruise Edition
✶ Location: Destination Gateway
✶ Deck: 2
Survey says…it’s time for Family Feud: CrimeCruise Edition! Select VIP attendees, chosen at random, will join one of our speakers’ “families” and go head-to-head for bragging rights and prizes.
Bring a cocktail, your competitive spirit, and get ready for a night of crime-themed survey questions, friendly competition, and plenty of laughs. Nate Eaton is the reigning champion—but can anyone dethrone him in 2026?
SATURday, 11/21
FULL DAY AT SEA
8:30a-9:30a ✶ Dr. Katherine Ramsland: How to Catch a Killer
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Dr. Katherine Ramsland
What does it take to catch a killer? Dive into the cases of notorious murderers and uncover what finally brought them down—from forensic breakthroughs and police work to critical mistakes, miscalculations, witness accounts, and even killers who turned themselves in.
Then, put your own investigative skills to the test. Do you have what it takes to crack the case?
9:30a-11:00a ✶ Barbara Butcher: Death Scene Investigations
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speaker: Barbara Butcher
Barbara Butcher will guide attendees through training typically reserved for law enforcement and investigators, revealing the methods, decisions, and realities behind medicolegal death investigations.
Step inside the world of a medicolegal death investigator and learn why they are dispatched to a scene, how cause and manner of death are determined, and which protocols guide an investigation. Barbara will also explore evidence collection and interpretation, common investigative pitfalls, when medical expertise is needed, and the techniques used to estimate time of death. There may even be a few surprises along the way.
This session contains graphic images. Audience discretion is advised.
Photography and video recording are strictly prohibited.
12:00p-1:30p ✶ Matt Murphy & Josh Ritter: CrimeCruise Courtroom (Part 2)
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speakers: Matt Murphy & Josh Ritter
In Part One, you learned the rules and techniques of cross-examination. Now it’s time to put those skills to the test.
Jewelry valued at $1.3 million has been stolen aboard the Celebrity Beyond, and the ship’s manager is on trial. She insists she had nothing to do with the theft, but will the evidence tell a different story?
Choose your side: join Matt Murphy’s prosecution team or Josh Ritter’s defense. Working alongside your counsel and fellow teammates, you’ll develop a strategy and help cross-examine the accused manager, a coffee shop employee, a custodian, and a passenger—each of whom may know more than they’re letting on.
Will the prosecution prove its case, or will the defense create enough reasonable doubt to win an acquittal?
1:30p-1:45p ✶ CrimeCruise Farewell
✶ Location: The Theatre
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speakers: Chris Hansen, Dr. Katherine Ramsland, Barbara Butcher, Matt Murphy, Josh Ritter and Nate Eaton
Join us for a final goodbye as we look back on the highlights of our time together and relive some of our favorite moments in a special closing montage.
2:15p-3:15p ✶ Meet & Greet with Matt Murphy
✶ Location: Destination Gateway
✶ Deck: 2
We want as many CrimeCruisers as possible to get their moment with our speakers, so please help us keep lines moving quickly and smoothly! Limit your interaction to either one photo or autograph, and if you’re taking a photo, have your phone unlocked with the camera open and ready. Save any questions for the Q&A portion of the speaker’s session.
Due to limited time and capacity, lines may need to close early to ensure everyone already waiting gets through.
Book Signing: Purchase your copy of The Book of Murder: A Prosecutor’s Journey Through Love and Death before sailing and bring it with you for Matt to sign during this meet and greet. Books will not be available for purchase onboard
3:15p-4:15p ✶ Meet & Greet with Barbara Butcher
✶ Location: Destination Gateway
✶ Deck: 2
We want as many CrimeCruisers as possible to get their moment with our speakers, so please help us keep lines moving quickly and smoothly! Limit your interaction to either one photo or autograph, and if you’re taking a photo, have your phone unlocked with the camera open and ready. Save any questions for the Q&A portion of the speaker’s session.
Due to limited time and capacity, lines may need to close early to ensure everyone already waiting gets through.
Book Signing: Purchase your copy of What the Dead Know before sailing and bring it with you for Barbara to sign during this meet and greet. Books will not be available for purchase onboard.
5:00p-6:30p ✶ [VIP-ONLY] Chris Hansen & Matt Murphy: Have a Seat with Chris Hansen
✶ Location: The Club
✶ Deck: 4
✶ Speakers: Chris Hansen & Matt Murphy
Financial sextortion occurs when scammers threaten to release a young person’s intimate images unless they are paid. It is one of the fastest-growing online threats facing children and teens, and the consequences can be devastating.
In 2025, NCMEC received more than 50,000 reports of financially motivated sextortion—an average of 137 reports every day. Separate research from Thorn found that one in five teenage respondents had experienced some form of sextortion. These cases can also be extremely difficult to investigate and prosecute, as offenders often operate from other countries.
Join investigative journalist Chris Hansen, whose latest documentary, Sextortion, examines the devastating rise of this crime, and former Orange County deputy district attorney Matt Murphy for an eye-opening discussion about the challenges of bringing offenders to justice and what can be done to protect children.
7:00p-8:00p ✶ [VIP-ONLY] Closing Cocktail Party
✶ Location: Rooftop Garden
✶ Deck: 15
With another CrimeCruise in the books, join your fellow VIPs and our speakers for one last get-together. Swap stories, share photos from your adventures, and raise a glass to the friendships and memories that will stay with you long after we return to shore.
8:30p-10:00p ✶ Group Dining
✶ Location: TBA
✶ Deck: TBA
Join the group for dinner and get to know your fellow cruisers and new partners in crime.
Please note: Our dining location will be announced soon. “Smart Casual” attire is required for entry; comfortable but polished — dresses, skirts, pants or jeans with a nice top or button-down. Please skip shorts and flip-flops.
sunday, 11/22
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL
DISEMBARK STARTING AT 7:00AM