The Simpsons make their way to the Frying Dutchman restaurant, where they wait anxiously for their food. The Sea Captain apologizes for the delay, explaining that the chef is having problems with the daily special (an octopus armed with cutting knives). The Sea Captain suggests an old sea yarn might help pass the time.

“Mayflower Madman” — Lisa begins her story: the tale of how the Mayflower arrived in America. The year is 1620, and a pilgrim woman (Marge) hurries her two children (Bart and Lisa) toward the docked ship. They are anxious to escape England’s “insufficiently Puritanical” ways. Marge is anxious to bid drunken, decadent sinners goodbye, but before the ship leaves port, Homer charges up the gangplank pursued by two soldiers. Marge and Lisa overhear Homer praying, so they disguise him using the clothing of Marge’s late husband. The ploy works, and soon after, the Mayflower sets sail. Homer asks one of the other Puritans, Ned Flanders (who is also the captain), where the alcohol is stored. Flanders assures him that Puritans have no interest in drunkenness. Homer makes a pass at Marge, but soon discovers that Moe has taken an interest in her. A short time later Bart angers Homer, and Homer begins to strangle him. Marge looks moved. She tells Homer he’s choking the boy the same way her deceased husband choked him. Marge allows Homer to take her hand, and walk her to a nearby railing. This enrages an incredibly jealous Moe, who asks God for revenge. That night Moe throws a celebration party, and pours Homer some beer that had been stowed on board to “mess up the Indians.” As a terrible storm rocks the boat, Flanders discovers a bunch of drunken male pilgrims in the ship’s hold. Moe blames Homer for the outrage, and Lovejoy snaps a portable wooden stock around Homer’s neck and hands. As the storm rages on, the captain — Ned Flanders — is knocked unconscious. Still in stocks, a drunken Homer grabs the wheel. He steers the vessel into calmer waters. Later, as Homer kisses Marge, he spots something over her shoulder: land. When the ship reaches shore, the pilgrims celebrate Thanksgiving… and Flanders plots to steal land from the Indians.

“Stupidity On the Bounty” — At the restaurant the Simpsons tell the Sea Captain they still haven’t received their food. Bart decides to kill time by recounting the story of the Bounty. In the story Bart appears as Fletcher Christian, while Skinner appears as Captain Bligh. Bligh announces that due to space limitations, the crew must sleep standing up. As punishment for a prank someone pulled, Bligh orders that all mail from home be dumped into the sea. Bosun Willie warns Bligh that if he pushes the crew too far, they will revolt. The ship sails to Tahiti, where Bligh trades with King Homer and Queen Marge for their valuable knickknacks. Afterward the disgruntled crew boards the ship for the long journey back to England. Bligh lashes out at the men when they sing a lackluster version of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Fed up, the crew mutinies. Bligh and Willie are forced into a longboat, and set adrift. In an effort to destroy all evidence of the previous regime, Fletcher Christian snaps off the ship’s wheel and tosses it into the sea. Later the Bounty ends up trapped in polar ice, and surrounded by penguins.

“The Neptune Upending” — As the Simpsons wait for their food, Homer tells his story about the sea, a spoof of the disaster film The Poseidon Adventure. On New Year’s Eve, 1970s-era revelers ring in the new year in the ballroom of the cruise ship Neptune. On the bridge Captain Montgomery Burns listens as Lisa sings. He never sees a massive wave approaching the ship. Suddenly the wave hits, capsizing the vessel. The entire ballroom flips upside down, sending people flying into the air. Homer screams as a giant layer cake falls out of his hand, and crashes into a skylight on the floor. Homer loses his grip and plummets downward, but is saved by Flanders’ 1970s-style handlebar moustache. Selma tells the survivors that their only hope is to head upwards towards the hull before the ship fills with water. The Simpsons, Selma, Comic Book Guy, the Old Jewish Couple, and some others make their journey “up” the ship. Along the way Homer stops to use a toilet that’s upside down. Comic Book Guy heroically swims through the flooded engine room with a guide rope, but the effort proves too much, and he suffers a fatal heart attack. The survivors make their way to the hull, where rescuers cut out an escape hole. Moments later the Bounty — now a ghost ship — sails into view, and Fletcher Christian asks for directions to Tahiti.