Legendary entertainer Charo reunites with The Love Boat cast aboard Regal Princess this fall—live performances, meet-and-greets & nostalgic fun.
Princess Cruises is once again reuniting the cast of The Love Boat, the beloved CBS series that featured the company’s brand prominently, on a special cruise to Mexico and Central America this fall.
Princess has periodically gathered the show’s cast for special reunion sailings and other events, like the launch of the company’s newest ship, Sun Princess, last year. Present for the special theme sailing will be Cynthia Lauren Tewes, who played cruise director Julie McCoy, as a regular cast member, and for the first time, Charo, who was one of the show’s most prolific guest stars, appearing in ten episodes during the show’s decade-long run.
Also joining the reunion sailing will be regular cast members Jill Whelan (Vicki Stubing), who also serves as Princess Cruises’ Celebrations Ambassador, Fred Grandy (Burl “Gopher” Smith), Ted Lange (Isaac Washington), and Bernie Kopell (Dr. Adam Bricker).
Charo will also star in a series of live performances onboard the sailing onboard Regal Princess. The Spanish singer and entertainer also performed The Love Boat theme in a 1979 episode as recurring character April Lopez, a stowaway-turned-lounge singer. Noted for her talent in classical Spanish guitar, Charo—who goes by a single name—crossed over to other genres during the 1970s, and also released The Love Boat theme as a single in 1980.
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Several of Princesses’ newest cruise ships, including Sun Princess and Regal Princess, are outfitted with the ability to play The Love Boat theme on the ship’s horn, which is sometimes deployed as a special departure call when leaving port.
The Love Boat theme cruise will depart from Galveston onboard Regal Princess on November 16, 2025 and call at Cozumel, Mexico, where it will remain overnight, and Roatán, Honduras. Princess has planned several meet-and-greets, themed activities, and onboard tributes to the series in addition to live performances by Charo. A limited number of “Captain’s Packages” will also be available, which will give access to a special cast cocktail hour, bon voyage dinner with the cast, and special commemorative merchandise.
The Love Boat originally ran on ABC from 1977 to 1987. The regular cast played the onboard crew, while guest stars drawn from the popular entertainers of the day were cast as new passengers each week. In addition to already established stars, many actors who guest starred on the show did so before their breakout successes, including Tom Hanks, Shelley Long, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Kathy Bates.
Tom Hanks famously called out his 1980 appearance on the show in his 2020 acceptance of the Cecil B. de Mille Award at the Golden Globes: “Can I just see a show of hands? How many people in this room have a clip package that includes The Love Boat?”
The voyages were set on the Princess ship Pacific Princess, sailing out of Los Angeles, and later to destinations around the world, including Alaska, the Mediterranean, the South Pacific, and Hong Kong. The show introduced a generation of TV viewers to the notion of a vacation at sea, and the show is credited with helping drive significant growth to the cruise industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Princess, which had only two ships when the show first aired, now has sixteen, sailing to major cruise destinations on every inhabited continent. Princess is the single largest cruise operator by passenger numbers in Alaska.
Since the show ended, Princess has long remained synonymous with The Love Boat, even adopting the moniker. Princess even uses the theme in its latest ad campaign, “Love Boat by Hannah”, featuring actress Hannah Waddingham singing the theme aboard the new Sun Princess, a ship she also launched as godmother.
The Love Boat Celebration at Sea voyage is now on sale.