Love Boat TV star meets his real-life counterpart By Laurence Ford
Gavin MacLeod, alias Captain Stubing, and Inverness’s own Third Officer of the same name.
IN the cult seventies TV series The Love Boat, Captain Merrill Stubing was used to finding himself in some odd situations.
The sitcom was set aboard a cruise liner called the Pacific Princess, whose passengers and crew had romantic and amusing adventures every week, much to the exasperation of Captian Stubing, played by actor Gavin MacLeod.
But fact can be stranger than fiction, and last week the actor, who is now an ambassador for Princess Cruises, met a real-life Princess officer called Gavin MacLeod, who hails from Inverness.
When Island Princess Third Officer MacLeod joined the Princess in 2010, he never gave much thought to the fact that he shared a name with the actor who made the role of Captain Stubing an iconic part of television history.
But last week on Island Princess the two men met on the ship’s bridge and enjoyed lunch together in the vessel’s famous Sabatini’s restaurant.
The pair also signed several navigational charts to be auctioned for charity at a later date.
Frequently filmed aboard Princess ships throughout its 1977-86 run, The Love Boat created a lasting legacy in the cruise industry.
Gavin MacLeod the actor has continued his association with the cruise line, now serving as an ambassador who travels regularly aboard Princess ships representing the company at a variety of events throughout the year.
Meanwhile, his namesake gave up the vagaries of Highland weather for a life of luxury aboard ship and the chance to visit some of the world’s top tourist hotspots.
Source: Highland News
The love boat, now to be scrapped still lives on, even though the tv programme was, well you decide :))
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