Princess Cruises Announces "The Love Boat" Themed Cruise

[Honolulu Blue]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this earlier; my apologies if it got linked and buried elsewhere.

 

Anyway, Princess has had a few cruises with comedy and the 80s as a theme last month and continuing into next month (I'm on one later this month).  Somebody must have decided that they might as go with the ultimate theme, the show that made this cruise line a household name.  The press release is a little long for me to comfortably quote, but here are the listed highlights:

 

"Love Boat" themed cruise activities include:

 

* Sailaway party 

* Festive 1970s-inspired Love Boat Disco Deck Party returns exclusively for a "command performance" during this themed cruise

* Renewal of vows ceremony, hosted by Whelan and the cast on the top-deck

* Q&A with the cast, sharing favorite memories of the show and MacLeod

* Birthday celebration honoring MacLeod

* "Love Boat" episodes airing on Movies Under the Stars and in staterooms

* Love Boat trivia with the Cruise Director

* Cast photo opportunities

* "Love Boat" themed menus and specialty cocktails

* Themed décor, photo backdrops and merchandise

 

About that cast... except for Gavin, most of the people from the (original) show will be there.  It's a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Majestic Princess on February 26-March 5, 2022.  

 

The press release: Princess Cruises Announces "The Love Boat" Themed Cruise Hosted by Celebrations Ambassador Jill Whelan With Appearances by the Cast and Special Tribute to Actor Gavin MacLeod (prnewswire.com)

More info from Princess: Themed Cruises – On Board Special Events - Princess Cruises

Direct link to book:  https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results?voyages=8209

 

I'm mildly interested, but since (a) I have another themed cruise scheduled immediately before this one, and (b) I'll be on the Majestic for another cruise (no theme - yet) two months later, I think I'll pass.  But I'm sure some of you are intrigued.  Tell us all about it!

[LACruiser88]

We received the Princess email re: this cruise yesterday.  This is not something that would move the needle for us to book.  Actually, we would avoid this cruise...

[Bgwest]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm surprised no one mentioned this earlier; my apologies if it got linked and buried elsewhere.

 

Anyway, Princess has had a few cruises with comedy and the 80s as a theme last month and continuing into next month (I'm on one later this month).  Somebody must have decided that they might as go with the ultimate theme, the show that made this cruise line a household name.  The press release is a little long for me to comfortably quote, but here are the listed highlights:

 

"Love Boat" themed cruise activities include:

 

* Sailaway party 

* Festive 1970s-inspired Love Boat Disco Deck Party returns exclusively for a "command performance" during this themed cruise

* Renewal of vows ceremony, hosted by Whelan and the cast on the top-deck

* Q&A with the cast, sharing favorite memories of the show and MacLeod

* Birthday celebration honoring MacLeod

* "Love Boat" episodes airing on Movies Under the Stars and in staterooms

* Love Boat trivia with the Cruise Director

* Cast photo opportunities

* "Love Boat" themed menus and specialty cocktails

* Themed décor, photo backdrops and merchandise

 

About that cast... except for Gavin, most of the people from the (original) show will be there.  It's a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Majestic Princess on February 26-March 5, 2022.  

 

The press release: Princess Cruises Announces "The Love Boat" Themed Cruise Hosted by Celebrations Ambassador Jill Whelan With Appearances by the Cast and Special Tribute to Actor Gavin MacLeod (prnewswire.com)

More info from Princess: Themed Cruises – On Board Special Events - Princess Cruises

Direct link to book:  https://www.princess.com/cruise-search/results?voyages=8209

 

I'm mildly interested, but since (a) I have another themed cruise scheduled immediately before this one, and (b) I'll be on the Majestic for another cruise (no theme - yet) two months later, I think I'll pass.  But I'm sure some of you are intrigued.  Tell us all about it!

Thanks for posting! We either didn't get the email or trashed it without looking. 

 

Just now booked it! (WALDT)

[DougH]

I sailed on the Princess 50th Anniversary cruise on the Pacific Princess a few years back. It was the original route with the full cast on board for the whole cruise. They all did talks/shows about their careers, guest entertainers were all top notch. Fantastic cruise, that one would be hard to beat. Our roll call thread almost broke the Cruise Critic site lol

[caribill]

1 hour ago, DougH said:

I sailed on the Princess 50th Anniversary cruise on the Pacific Princess a few years back. It was the original route with the full cast on board for the whole cruise. They all did talks/shows about their careers, guest entertainers were all top notch. Fantastic cruise, that one would be hard to beat. Our roll call thread almost broke the Cruise Critic site lol

 

And that was the appropriately sized ship for an occasion like this.

[MissP22]

It's something I would avoid like the Covid virus. 

[Coffeeluvr05]

I used to love watching the Love Boat, but this themed cruise does not interest me in the least for some reason.  I guess it would feel more like a convention than a vacation.  Not my cup of tea.  

[Ride-The-Waves]

I absolutely despise the "theme" played on the ship's whistle.  This is dumb.

[Tedferg]

Why would you avoid this cruise, anything we should be aware of ? We are booked on that cruise - we were fans of Love Boat so open to the idea. We did not receive an email announcing the theming.

 

Strangely if I try to book this cruise, we have friends who might join us, and site says Pricing is currently not available for this date or the selected cabin type. Please try a different departure date, cabin type or check back later.

 

However if I link to it as a 'Saved Cruise' prices show correctly.

[LACruiser88]

Our concern would be that the festivities surrounding the theme would dominate the activities onboard.  

[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

Our concern would be that the festivities surrounding the theme would dominate the activities onboard.  

 

That's a fair point.  Normally cruises aren't given a theme this strong this late; it was announced less than four months before sailaway.  I feel sorry for those who thought they were going on an ordinary cruise and all of a sudden find themselves with a theme they didn't sign up for and may not want.

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I recently cruised aboard the Majestic Princess (Oct. 30 - Nov. 6, 2021) and learned about the Love Boat theme cruise during my cruise. I had a wonderful time on this ship. As a big fan of the Love Boat television series, I booked this cruise with the future cruise consultant. 

 

Chuck

[granny49]

The 50thAnniversary cruise was on the Pacific Princess. It was a fabulous cruise. It sold out in days of being posted.

[cr8tiv1]

On 11/5/2021 at 9:06 PM, Honolulu Blue said:

 

That's a fair point.  Normally cruises aren't given a theme this strong this late; it was announced less than four months before sailaway.  I feel sorry for those who thought they were going on an ordinary cruise and all of a sudden find themselves with a theme they didn't sign up for and may not want.

 

Princess did that to the Grand short cruises.  Turned them into 80's themed cruise.  Entertainment, trivia, sailaway party, MUTS, etc were all 80's.  Not what I had signed up for.  Seems as though Princess is grasping at straws to get passengers back.  I just want to cruise the way I did pre-covid...life has changed.

[cruisequeen4ever]

The cruise sounds awesome to me!

Edited November 7, 2021 by cruisequeen4ever

[Honolulu Blue]

13 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Princess did that to the Grand short cruises.  Turned them into 80's themed cruise.  Entertainment, trivia, sailaway party, MUTS, etc were all 80's.  Not what I had signed up for.  Seems as though Princess is grasping at straws to get passengers back.  I just want to cruise the way I did pre-covid...life has changed.

 

Oh yeah, I'm aware of what they did to the Grand.  One could argue the 80s is less of an overwhelming, narrow theme than The Love Boat, but they gave even less notice to those passengers (1-2 months) so there was even less opportunity for disinterested passengers to bow out.  

 

I'll agree that all these themed cruises are ploys to get passengers onto their ships while they (probably) have spare capacity.  The comedy and 80s cruises were mostly likely designed to get younger passengers on who wouldn't ordinarily consider Princess.  It worked for me; I booked one of the 80s themed cruises on the Regal that's scheduled to sail later this month.

 

I'm also with you about cruising the way I could before all this madness happened.  Then again, I was on a cruise last month (not Princess) that was at 15% of passenger capacity.  THAT was pretty nice; I could do with more of those.

[john watson]

If any ladies feel ill on this cruise. Will they be safe attending the medical centre?

 

Lol John

[Bgwest]

This will be cruise #6 for us since restart in Aug. 

we booked it last minute (for us anyway) just because of the LB theme. 
can’t hardly wait!

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by Bgwest

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

We heard about it on our cruise couple weeks ago, thought it sounded fun.

Too bad it won't be on Pacific Princess...

[mpdog42]

I am planning to check this out as well ,I grew up with the Love Boat and am pretty excited...

However having lived in Mexico, not so excited about the our port stops...I know a member answered this in a previous post...but i wish that Princess would put out some more info on, will there be a autograph session?, will you be able to take pictures with the cast if you buy the pictures?..Etc...

[caribill]

3 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

I am planning to check this out as well ,I grew up with the Love Boat and am pretty excited...

However having lived in Mexico, not so excited about the our port stops...I know a member answered this in a previous post...but i wish that Princess would put out some more info on, will there be a autograph session?, will you be able to take pictures with the cast if you buy the pictures?..Etc...

 

 

On the 50th anniversary cruise on the Pacific Princess, I remember only one autograph session and that was with Gavin MacLeod, now deceased.

 

However, the cast members were often very willing to stop and pose with passengers, even in the terminal on embarkation day.

[john watson]

1 minute ago, caribill said:

 

 

On the 50th anniversary cruise on the Pacific Princess, I remember only one autograph session and that was with Gavin MacLeod, now deceased.

 

However, the cast members were often very willing to stop and pose with passengers, even in the terminal on embarkation day.

 

That sounds encouraging.  I think it should be remembered that not all episodes featured were based on Pacific Princess.  The Alaskan one I viewed recently was clearly on the Island Princess and the Pacific Princess was visible in the distance at one point.  It may come as a shock to some people but the "Love Boat" was actually a number ships and not all of them were Princess ships.  I did notice a P&O flag on Captain Stubing's cap.

 

Regards John

[Fat Albert]

On 11/3/2021 at 9:28 PM, DougH said:

I sailed on the Princess 50th Anniversary cruise on the Pacific Princess a few years back. It was the original route with the full cast on board for the whole cruise. They all did talks/shows about their careers, guest entertainers were all top notch. Fantastic cruise, that one would be hard to beat. Our roll call thread almost broke the Cruise Critic site lol

That was a lot of fun . They also provided the original singer for the Love Boat Theme song and he sang it so many times it was a lot of nostalgic fun. The Concert by Julie the Captains daughter in the show was so nice. I was impressed the casting crew were such a tight family . Julie said that Capt Stubbing walked he down the aisle.  The open deck parties were fun doing the new dance by the bartender in the show , The dance called The Isaac?

[seacruise9]

5 hours ago, john watson said:

 

That sounds encouraging.  I think it should be remembered that not all episodes featured were based on Pacific Princess.  The Alaskan one I viewed recently was clearly on the Island Princess and the Pacific Princess was visible in the distance at one point.  It may come as a shock to some people but the "Love Boat" was actually a number ships and not all of them were Princess ships.  I did notice a P&O flag on Captain Stubing's cap.

 

Regards John

Hi, 

 

Yes, the vast majority of the episodes were set on the Pacific Princess, but there were special episodes filmed on other Princess ships and even ships sailing for other cruise lines. These were the episodes (frequently two-hour episodes) primarily shown during later seasons that featured more distant ports. I specifically remember episodes filmed on P&O's Sea Princess, Sun Lines' Stella Solaris and a Royal Viking Line ship.

 

As a big fan of the show, I was happy to cruise aboard the original Pacific Princess to Bermuda in 2002 during its final year with Princess. It was a great ship, but of course its small staterooms were nothing like the stateroom sets featured on the show.

 

Chuck 

[seacruise9]

9 hours ago, mpdog42 said:

I am planning to check this out as well ,I grew up with the Love Boat and am pretty excited...

However having lived in Mexico, not so excited about the our port stops...I know a member answered this in a previous post...but i wish that Princess would put out some more info on, will there be a autograph session?, will you be able to take pictures with the cast if you buy the pictures?..Etc...

Hi, 

 

I am booked on this Love Boat cruise and hope that it will be great. However, due to the number of passengers on this ship, I have a feeling that any personal interaction with the cast may be limited. The Majestic Princess is a much larger ship than the Pacific Princess that was used for the 2015 Love Boat cruise. I don't see how they can have the cast sign hundreds (or thousands) of autographs and pose in hundreds (or thousands) of photographs with passengers. COVID protocols also may limit any interaction with the cast. Of course, protocols may change by February.

 

I cruised aboard the Majestic Princess last week and booked the cruise through the onboard future cruise consultant. The ship was sailing at reduced capacity with 1,800 passengers. The future cruise consultant thought that the cruise would definitely sail with more than 1,800 passengers but would still be under full capacity.

 

During my recent cruise, several of the performers told to the audience to be sure to "hi" if they saw the performers around the ship. I hoped to meet some of the performers and tell them that I enjoyed their shows. Unfortunately, I never saw any of the performers around the ship.

 

I am excited about the Love Boat cruise, but I hope that I am not disappointed. I had previously booked a cruise for February on the new Rotterdam. I have decided to cancel the Rotterdam cruise so that I can do the Love Boat cruise instead.

 

Chuck

Edited November 9, 2021 by seacruise9