The Love Boat (slightly off topic I suppose)

[avonlady6390]

My first cruise was on Carnival I think it was the Celebration and they had a singles program which matches you up with other singles it was late 80's four girls to an inside with bunk beds can't imagine doing that now with only one bathroom to share.  I paid 600$ for a week long cruise to the Eastern Caribbean so 2400$ for the week is what Carnival got which was expensive for an inside glad the prices have come down!

[wcook]

Always fun to watch the show and see the differences in cruising then vs now. And to try and figure out which differences were real (ie cruising really was like that) and which were just script conveniences. 

[Scirocco Breeze]

Well the Love Boat branding makes SO much more sense now 😂

[MCC retired]

And those huge cabins on that tiny Pacific Princess ?

[NavyVeteran]

1 hour ago, MCC retired said:

And those huge cabins on that tiny Pacific Princess ?

DW and I sailed on the original Pacific Princess on a one-week cruise in 2002. Our cabin sure didn't look like the ones on the show. Also, the cabin had two single beds that could not be moved together - not actually the best layout for "The Love Boat".

[Retired-N-Happy]

4 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Also, the cabin had two single beds that could not be moved together - not actually the best layout for "The Love Boat".

Those beds were made for sleeping.  If you wanted hanky panky, your partner could always ride cow girl in one bed, lol.

[Heidi13]

On 6/6/2024 at 2:37 PM, Scirocco Breeze said:

Whilst on Sky recently we watched the first episode of The Love Boat and 2 single women who were strangers to one another where sharing a cabin. Was that a thing that happened to solo travellers in the past? Or just fiction for the show?

 

The cabins on the TV Show were created in the studio and bore zero resemblance to the actual cabins on the ship. Having singles share a cabin wasn't overly common on the 3 Princess ships, it was definitely common practice of the other P&O ships.

 

Older ships had a number of 4-berth cabins in the old steerage class accommodation, with each berth sold individually.

 

In 1977, DW booked a cruise with a friend on SS Oriana from Vancouver to Sydney. They were in a 4-berth cabin, which they shared with 2 other girls. This was common practice on those ships.

[Heidi13]

On 6/6/2024 at 2:42 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

I'd say it was just a script for the show...

 

Having actually worked at sea for P&O Cruises in those days, I can assure you that was not script for the show.

[Heidi13]

On 6/6/2024 at 2:50 PM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Except that there isn't really any "savings". Fares are based on double occupancy...total is twice what the individual fare is.

 

 

In those days, many ships had cabins with 4 actual bunk beds in the cabin, so not all cabin fares were based on double occupancy, as they are today.

 

Note - don't recall 4-berth pax cabins on the Island/Pacific/Sun Princess, as they were newer smaller ships.

 

[Heidi13]

14 hours ago, wcook said:

Always fun to watch the show and see the differences in cruising then vs now. And to try and figure out which differences were real (ie cruising really was like that) and which were just script conveniences. 

 

Other than the scenes around the pool, and wide-angle railing shots, most filming was in the studio.

[esad9556]

19 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Other than the scenes around the pool, and wide-angle railing shots, most filming was in the studio.

I joined P&O in mid 1979 sailing on the Canberra and transferring to Princess Cruises the next year, sailing as an engineering officer on both the Island and the Sun Princess.

Nice to know that somebody remembers what life at sea was really like back then. 

When I was on board the Canberra, the multiple berth steerage cabins were used primarily for school/college outreach programs and not so much shared cabins.

I did hear rumors of shared cabins on the Island, Sun and Pacific, but they were not through Princess and were very rare.

What I remember of the Love Boat filming was nowhere near as glamourous as the series depicted.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, esad9556 said:

I joined P&O in mid 1979 sailing on the Canberra and transferring to Princess Cruises the next year, sailing as an engineering officer on both the Island and the Sun Princess.

Nice to know that somebody remembers what life at sea was really like back then. 

When I was on board the Canberra, the multiple berth steerage cabins were used primarily for school/college outreach programs and not so much shared cabins.

I did hear rumors of shared cabins on the Island, Sun and Pacific, but they were not through Princess and were very rare.

What I remember of the Love Boat filming was nowhere near as glamourous as the series depicted.

Only worked Canberra once and that was the 1978 drydocking. In 1980, I was on Sun Princess from end of July (Vancouver) to mid December (San Juan). I was 3/O on the 4-8 watch, so we may have sailed together.

 

Do you attend the annual P&O/Princess retirement luncheons in Southampton?

[esad9556]

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Only worked Canberra once and that was the 1978 drydocking. In 1980, I was on Sun Princess from end of July (Vancouver) to mid December (San Juan). I was 3/O on the 4-8 watch, so we may have sailed together.

 

Do you attend the annual P&O/Princess retirement luncheons in Southampton?

Possibly, I was on the Island most of 1980 and 1981 joining the Sun in Victoria for the refit, trans canal and start of the winter Caribbean season. I now live in so Cal and the pilgrimage back to Southampton for the annual luncheons is not fun, hated the flights back then and even more now.

If you want to contact me off the boards..... esad9556 at yahoo dot com

[cfabar1]

It is fascinating to watch the show... cruising definitely becomes more glamorous as the show was a hit and the budget increased... more unique shots, more elaborate restaurants and sets...It is amazing how many expenses were made to make cruising seem so glamorous...