Well the champagne bottle had to be coaxed just a little bit, but it did smash as fireworks lit up the early evening sky over Fort Lauderdale. Streamers rained down on the cheering audience, VIP guests, the star studded lineup of Hollywood actors and actresses and of course, the original Love Boat cast themselves as they performed their Godparent duties for the Regal Princess.
Inaugural guests Carol Patterson &
Debbie Pickett, Cruise Holidays Burlington on
the Regal Princess Deck 17 Sanctuary.
The pre-ceremony kicked off on Decks 16 and 17 around the main pool and fountain area with Jill Whalen, who played Vicki, the Captain’s daughter on the hit TV series, interviewing an extensive number of celebrities all of whom had made appearances on the Love Boat over the years. Standouts were Florence Henderson (who later did a very nice job of hosting and introductions); Marion Ross of Happy Days fame (truly charming); the beautiful and elegant Lee Meriwether; sexy Lorenzo Lamas; Rich Little (funny as always); Diane Ladd (a consummate professional) and Jack Jones who entertained the audience with a rendition of the Love Boat theme song.
Balancing camera & champagne as
the ceremony begins.
Carnival Corp executives were on hand as well and now that I have met and spoken to Arnold Donald, President & CEO of Carnival Corporation, I understand the buzz around him. What an interesting and charming chap and one so full of charisma. More on him in another column. And of course there was the wonderful and very smart Jan Swartz who was appointed President of Princess Cruises just over a year ago. This is one impressive woman of whom I am very fond and have nothing but the best things to say about her and the career she has carved at Princess.
Late night fireworks over
Regal Princess in FLL.
The original Love Boat cast were guests of honour – Captain Stubing aka Gavin Macleod; Doc played by (the apparently quite naughty!) Bernie Kopell; Fred Grandy (who was Gopher the Purser); bartender Isaac in his red jacket; Julie the Cruise Director portrayed by Lauren Tewes and the aforementioned Jill Whelan playing Vicki.
After a blessing by the Seafarers House priest, some musical moments by acapella group Mosaic and a stirring Flamenco guitar performance by the totally out there Charo along with an introduction by the affable English Captain, Ed Perrin - the ship was christened by her Godparents.
Charo did her coochie coochie, jiggy jiggy
dance around the deck and then performed a
fabulous flamenco on her guitar.
Really impressive performance.
In addition to the large bottle of champagne on the top deck, another 50 bottles were smashed against the side of the ship’s bow in tribute to the 50th anniversary of Princess Cruises which takes place in 2015. A moving video tribute to the founder of Princess, Stan McDonald was also aired on the large pool deck screens.
And then we set sail for a few days. I will have time to enjoy the Regal Princess and all of her features and next week in my regular column I will report back, share more photos and report on life at sea on the newest ship in the Princess Cruises fleet.
