ITV’s The Cruise Ship – I bet Paul Ludlows not so ‘thrilled’ now he’s seen it!

It is now almost 24 hours since I watched the first episode of the new ITV documentary which follows the maiden season of the Royal Princess, sailing around the Caribbean and the Bahamas and I am still almost lost for words. Words that do spring to mind are along the lines of ‘cheesy’, ‘cringe worthy’, ‘seventies tastic’, ‘tacky’, to name but a few.
“You must watch it” I said to friends and family, “I attended the launch last year and she is one of the most beautiful ships I have ever been on” (and there have been a few I can tell you). Well I can only assume that any street cred I ever had is in tatters! It was like a re-enactment of some horrible 70’s serial drama, even the opening titles were a throwback to Dynasty complete with 70’s ‘plink plonk’ music and a split screen.

Before the first episode aired, Paul Ludlow, Princess Cruises’ Managing Director for UK and Europe said ““We are thrilled that ITV chose Royal Princess as the focus for this upcoming series. Viewers will get unparalleled insight into this magnificent ship and her crew.
“Cruise holidays are an increasingly popular choice in the UK and we are confident that this series will widen the appeal even further.”
I’m sorry to say, I doubt that this series will do anything to widen the appeal of cruising Paul! If there was anyone watching who was unsure whether they would like cruising then lats night’s first episode will have confirmed their worst fears – the programme focused on ‘hotel general manager’ Dirk and his problems with an overflowing laundry, Exec chef Brent and his efforts to serve 14,000 canapés, homesick hairdresser Kelly on her first trip away from home, passenger ‘moaning Mandy’ and ‘gorgeous George’ the crooning entertainments director, with sarky voice over from Cold Feet star John Thompson. The camera work on the ship itself was shocking – even the revolutionary double sized stunning Atrium, one of Royal Princess’s most fantastic assets looked pokey and dingy the way it was filmed.
As someone who has been on board let me reassure you that Royal Princess is stunning, she is the fleet’s flag-ship and rightly so. She had the most wonderful facilities, serves top notch food, the service is wonderful, and she just has the most fantastic ambience about her.
It just beggars belief that the Marketeers at Princess Cruises think this series is a good move.
Obviously I will be tuning in next Friday evening at 8pm – out of morbid curiosity more than anything, or maybe I’ll just give it a miss and watch Eastenders instead. Let’s hope that in the next episode we see something of this beautiful vessel and leave Dirk and his laundry issues and Brent and his Canape crisis behind.
To read my take on Royal Princess after I attended her launch last June take a look here, and to view her fabulous carpets click here, and if you want to be wowed by her light fittings then you need to click here. I am sure I can ‘market’ Royal Princess far better than ITV – what say you Paul?
For more info on Princess Cruises, their stunning ships and inspiring itineraries give me a call on 0800 408 6084 or email me at [email protected]