Princess Cruises recently presenting another offspring for its royal family - the Regal Princess, the third "Super Love Boat" in as many years.
Many things have changed at the cruise line and in the industry since Princess Cruises took on its "Love Boat" identity back in 1975, when the popular TV series "Love American Style" moved from the studio to the sea and chose the Pacific Princess as the stage for its deckboard romances.
The original "Love Boat," the Pacific Princess, which had a multimillion-dollar facelift in 1984, was considered big for her age when she first entered service two decades ago. She is 20,000 tons (a ton in ship talk is a measurement of interior space), seven decks high, 550 feet long and carries 610 passengers. However, her new $200 million-plus sister, the Regal Princess, is 70,000 tons, 811-feet-long and her 1,590 passengers have a dozen decks to dawdle on.There's a simple reason why many of this new generation of cruise ships are in the "super" category.
When the "Love Boat" series first hit the TV tubes some 16 years ago, cruise lines attracted less than a million adherents. Before this year ends, some 4 million passengers are expected to hit the decks, with that figure rising to 10 million by the year 2000.
Princess and her "Love Boats," however, has been able to cash in on America's fast-growing romance with the sea. In fact, it is now one of the world's largest cruise lines.
The spanking new Regal Princess is the spitting image of the Crown Princess, her slightly older sister, which came on line in the summer of 1990.
Outwardly, the two newest Princesses look exactly the same, right up to their topside forward "domes," a two-story-high, 13,000-square-foot area that offer passengers a variety of entertainment options under one roof, including a casino, bar, dance floor and a dramatic panoramic observation lounge.
On board, passengers who have sailed on both ships said there is very little difference between the two - except for decor, color schemes and some slight modifications. Otherwise most features, facilities and amenities are identical.
Each has 795 passenger suites and cabins (a quarter of them with private balconies) that range in size from 190 to 587 square feet. The size of the standard (190-square-feet) cabin has almost a 20 percent higher space ratio than the industry average, according to a cruise line spokesman, who points out that "the ships are among the most spacious in the industry and carry almost 1,000 passengers less than some of the new ships being introduced by competitors."
All cabins have twin beds that can be converted to queensize, color TVs, walk-in closets, electronically-coded safes, refrigerators and good-size bathrooms with stall showers (the suites also have bathtubs).
There are a variety of bars, lounges and cafes (including a pizza parlor), two swimming pools ( one with a waterfall and swim-up bar), several whirpool hot spas, a jogging track and other sports facilities, such as a health center that has weight machines, exercise bikes, sauna, steam room and offers aerobics and massages as well as barber and beauty parlor facilities.
At the core of each ship is a dramatic three-story atrium foyer, highlighted by a grand staircase and featuring a spacious reception area. Gourmet coffee, pastry and wine bars, along with duty free shops and boutiques, line the different levels.
And there's more.
Their home port is Fort Lauderdale and both feature seven-day Caribbean cruises until the spring when the sister act will split up because the Regal Princess is going to head for Alaskan waters.
Until then, passengers embarking in Florida will also find that the ships have Italian chefs, a mostly Italian dining room staff and a mix of British and Italian officers directing a predominantly European crew.
So except for the difference in the decor, the names of the public rooms and shipboard personalities, wouldn't you think that a passenger might just be worried about getting a feeling of "deja vu" when sailing on one of the new Princesses if they've previously sailed on the other?
No way! In the case of these two ships, it has already become quite evident that familiarity does not breed contempt - just the opposite.
Both ships are sailing at or near capacity and more than 40 percent of the passengers on an average voyage are repeaters, said Max Hall, vice president of public relations for Princess.
"While each ship is structurally identical, each has already established a definite personality of her own, and that's one of the reasons why our passengers really love our Love Boats. They offer consistency and yet have personalities," Hall explains.
Gianfranco Carpaneto, who has sailed on both ships, concurs. He's the chief purser and hotel manager aboard the Regal Princess.
"Our passengers know exactly what they can expect in terms of treatment, facilities and amenities. In fact, about the only big change I've noticed on Princess ships in recent years is that more passengers are opting for leaner and lighter foods and there's been a tremendous increase in the amount of fish, salad and pasta being served. Especially the pasta."
Although there hasn't been an official announcement yet and no one is handing out cigars, talk in the industry has it that Princess may be expecting another arrival as early as next year.
For information on Princess cruises, call 1-800-LOVE BOAT.