The Love Boat's Pacific Princess sails off into the sunset

First we lose Continental Airlines and now The Love Boat! Time Magazine are reporting that the original Pacific Princess, better known as TV’s The Love Boat, has been sold off for scrap and is headed to the ship junkyard.

The ship was originally built in the 1960s and was used as the exterior “set” for The Love Boat weekly series from 1977-1986. The 550-foot cruise liner returned to commercial duty after the cancellation of the show but was put into dock for repairs in Italy in 2009 and never returned to service. Honk a forlorn foghorn and shed a salty tear for the Princess, for she has sailed the river Styx.

The Love Boat began life as a trio of made-for-TV movies on ABC in 1976 before it became a weekly fixture. I can remember my sister and myself begging to stay up late so we could watch The Love Boat specials. At 9-years-old I found this seafaring comedy about relationship troubles great fun. Strange but true. It was also vaguely exciting to see which well-known celebrities would guest star on each episode. Gofer and Issac were my favorite characters on the permanent crew.

Time Quote:

“Though it’s the final cruise for the celebrated ship, it’s had a long run even since its days of stardom. The ship was built in the 1960s and first set off from port in 1971 under the name ‘Sea Venture.’ In 1975, the ship was sold to Princess Cruises, who dubbed it ‘Pacific Princess.’ But all monikers aside, it sailed into our hearts in 1977 as the ‘Love Boat’ when ABC decided to use it as the backdrop for the weekly television show.”

Ted Lange and his cool finger! The best part of each Love Boat intro.

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