The Love Boat was a classic American television series that was aired between 1977 and 1986. It was based on the idea of a cruise ship with a wide variety of passengers, each with their own romantic story. The series featured an ensemble cast of characters, including the ship’s captain, doctor and bartender.
The show was set on the fictional Pacific Princess cruise liner, which was initially operated by Princess Cruises. This ship made regular trips around the world, visiting the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and other exotic locales.
As part of its promotional efforts for the show, Princess Cruises renamed one of its ships to Pacific Princess in 1978. The ship sailed around the Mediterranean Sea during its first season before being replaced by a larger vessel in 1979.
The series featured a number of vessels during its run, including two different ships named Pacific Princess and Island Princess. Other ships used as stand-ins for the Pacific Princess included Royal Viking Sky (which doubled as Grand Hotel), Sun Viking (which filled in for Island Princess) and MS Island Breeze (which substituted for Royal Viking Star).
The show also filmed onboard real cruise liners such as Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras (used to portray Fantasy Island) and Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam (used to represent Monarch of the Seas).
In total, there were six seasons of The Love Boat between 1977 and 1986; however it was always shot on-location aboard various cruise liners from different companies. While some of these vessels were used more than once and even renamed specifically for the show, there is no single vessel that can truly be called “the Love Boat” as it changed throughout production to keep up with changing trends in cruising technology and style.
Conclusion: The Love Boat was an iconic television series that ran from 1977 to 1986. While it featured many different ships from various companies over its nine-season run, none could be considered as “the Love Boat” since they all changed throughout production due to advancements in cruising technology and style.