Regal Princess and the ‘The Love Boat’.

Following last years christening of the Princess Cruises ship Regal Princess by Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Cruises are once again enlisting the help and reputation of more stellar names to christen and serve as godparents to their newest vessel the Regal Princess. This time the company have bestowed the honour upon the original Love Boat series cast members. You must remember classic 1970’s TV show that gave us unforgettable characters like Captain Stubing, Gopher, Isaac, Doc, Julie and Vicki? The naming ceremony will start the company’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2015, and is scheduled for November 5 in Fort Lauderdale.

I know the obvious question is why? In case you didn’t know Princess Cruises and the Love Boat series have a history together. It all began in the mid-70s when television producer Douglas S. Cramer, when searching out a location for the movie pilot of what was to become his Love Boat television series, found the ideal setting on a Princess Cruises ship. The 1977 pilot show was shot aboard the line’s original Sun Princess in Mexico and filming continued primarily aboard Pacific Princess and Island Princess, though many other of Princess’ ships were also used in various destinations around the world.

Hard as it is to believe, The Love Boat went on to enjoy phenomenal success, continuing for 10 seasons until 1987 as one of the highest-rated prime-time television shows in the USA. So popular was the show, in fact, that it was revived in 1998 as Love Boat: The Next Wave with a new cast and characters and once again filmed aboard the Sun Princess, I kid you not!

The show, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 1997, has been widely credited with introducing millions of viewers to the concept of a contemporary cruise holiday, and also with providing a helping hand in the increasing expansion of the industry to the size it is today – gosh!

So there you go, not a lot of people know that.

Bye for now.