Gavin Celebrates his 80th aboard the Pacific Princess
Princess Cruises- Santa Clarita, CA March 2011
Princess Cruises honored the line's long-time ambassador and everyone's favorite "Love Boat" captain with a special 80th birthday party aboard Golden Princess today in Los Angeles. Crew members, along with his friends presented him with a massive cake -- a 5-foot-long, 3D replica of the original "Love Boat," Pacific Princess. Gavin MacLeod is perhaps best known for his role as "Captain Merrill Stubing" in the popular television series, The Love Boat. One of the longest running television shows in history, The Love Boat cruised through ten seasons from 1977 to 1986 and is still in syndication in 92 countries worldwide. This year also marks his 25th anniversary serving as the Princess Cruises' spokesperson.
By Princess Ambassador; Captain Merrill Stubing
One of the 50 Essential Experiences, Number 18, From Tahiti with Love.
I was lucky. I spent 10 memorable years playing “Captain Stubing” on “The Love Boat” – what a dream job! Every week I got to act in stories about love and romance … and I had the chance to meet some incredible guest stars. I couldn’t believe I was actually working alongside these amazing actors I had admired since my childhood – like Lana Turner and Ginger Rogers. Some were interesting folks, like Andy Warhol, and others were up and comers just starting out, such as Tom Hanks. It was an unforgettable experience.
We didn’t just shoot “The Love Boat” in our Los Angeles soundstage. Several times a year we actually boarded a Princess ship and shot scenes on an actual cruise. We sailed to Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Alaska. But one place we never got to on the show was Tahiti.
Clearly, there's somebody in the Princess Cruises human resources department with a sense of humor.
The line on Wednesday revealed that it's now employing a young bridge officer by the name of Gavin MacLeod -- the same name as the 81-year-old actor who helped put the line on the map in the 1970s as "Captain Stubing" on TV's Love Boat. As of last week, in fact, the two are becoming fast friends.
Princess says the actor, who has serves for years as a Princess ambassador, met up with the younger MacLeod for lunch on the 1,970-passenger Island Princess after it sailed into Los Angeles. The younger MacLeod, from Inverness, Scotland, is the ship's third officer.
