The Love Boat

The Love Boat (simply Love Boat in its final season) is an American television series set on a Cruise
ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from 1977 until 1986. It was part of ABC's Saturday night one-two punch along with Fantasy Island until that show ended in 1984. The original made-for-TV movie on which the show was based was itself based on a book, The Love Boats by Jeraldine Saunders, a real-life Cruise
director.

The executive producer for the series was Aaron Spelling, who produced several successful series for ABC in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The sitcom was usually set about a Cruise
liner called the Pacific Princess, whose passengers and crew had romantic and funny adventures every week. Other ships used were twin sister Island Princess, the Stella Solaris (for a Mediterranean Cruise
), Pearl of Scandinavia (for a ChineseCruise
), the Royal Viking Sky (for European cruises) and the Royal Princess (for a Caribbean cruise).The ship began operation in 1971 with FlagshipCruises
, under the name Sea Venture. In April 1975 she was sold to P&O's newly acquired PrincessCruises
along with sister ship Island Venture. The pair were renamed Pacific Princess and Island Princess, the latter now operating as the Discovery.

Princess Cruises
agreed to have their Cruise
ships featured in the television romantic sitcom The Love Boat, which debuted in 1977. The ship featured in nearly every episode of the series (which was filmed primarily on sets in a production studio) was Pacific Princess, although other ships also appeared, including Island Princess. The term "Love Boat" was heavily used by Princess Cruises
in their marketing, and became synonymous with the Pacific Princess. The success of the up-beat television show, which remained on the air until 1986, is largely credited with the increase in popularity of cruise ship travel in North America.