But the highlight of the day was when I got to have my photo taken with Gavin MacLeod of TV's The Loveboat. You might remember him as Capt. Stubbing. He was such a nice man taking time to talk to everyone. I think if I were famous and had to spend hours signing autographs and having my photo taken, I'd very quickly turn into Alec Baldwin. That's why I don't understand why it upsets people so much that he gets all crazy and goes off on the paparazzi. I'm more amazed by the celebrities that don't do that. You know?
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| Me and Gavin MacLeod (Capt. Merrill Stubbing) from ABC's The Loveboat |
But getting back to Capt. Stubbing, Princess employs him these days as a spokesman. After all, the Loveboat was a Princess ship - The Pacific Princess, in fact which was scrapped last year after a very long career as the flagship of the Princess fleet. I've often said that I wanted to be Julie McCoy when I was a little girl. Maybe that's what finally got me into this business after the previous career at the former employer who shall not be named ended so abruptly a few years ago. Maybe I finally decided that being a travel agent was for me since the Julie McCoy gig didn't really seem to be in the cards for me.
In line yesterday waiting for my 2 minutes with Capt. Stubbing, I enjoyed chatting with others who were as excited to get a photo with him as I was. The woman just behind me kept talking about how cute he was and how she just wanted to kiss him. I'll be honest, she was scaring me a little. I thought about hanging around when I was done just to see if she would molest him. Many of us discussed how The Loveboat had really kind of put cruising on the map. Prior to that show, no one really thought that a cruise was something a normal person could do.
I think, in all, I probably stood in line for about 30 minutes to get this photo taken and then he autographed a photo. His handler looked at each persons name tag as we came up and told him our names and then he started working on the autograph. In some cases, the autograph seeker would strike up a conversation with him. While others, like me, just stayed quiet. After all, I didn't feel like I really had much to say other than when I was a little girl, I wanted to be Julie and marry Gopher. But I didn't really feel like that was anything he would be that interested in hearing anyway. I also felt like the show "jumped the shark" when they brought the little girl on who played his daughter. I never watched it after she became a regular. It was just wrong that Capt. Stubbing had a little girl that he didn't know about. I also thought it was weird that she could live on a cruise ship and not go to school. Again, probably not a good conversation starter.
So, I guess he was a little taken aback by the fact that I didn't say anything so he started talking. He looked at my name tag which contains the city that I am from and said "Dallas, Tx - I love Dallas!" Then he went on to tell me that he played in many shows at the Majestic Theater downtown. I said that I loved the Majestic and had been to a few shows there. Then he told me that he and his wife had at one time considered buying a house in Ft. Worth. Then we talked about the Stockyards. I thought he was very nice and gracious. After all, for a man who is probably in his late 70's to hang around all day signing autographs and making small talk with middle aged to elderly women he was much more tolerant than I ever would have been.
I'm fairly certain that a lady about 10 people in front of me was trying to hook up with him. She was at least 65 and was hanging all over him. She stayed for about 10 minutes after her turn, snapping photos of him every time he was alone. She even kissed him at one point. I have no idea what Princess pays him to work events like this, but it can't be enough. The people in line around me all figured she was trying to slip him her hotel room key. It was just embarrassing. What would her grandchildren think???!?!?!
Beyond meeting Capt. Stubbing, I got a pretty good tote bag from the nice folks in Barbados, a Butchart Gardens perpetual calendar, a few cruise brochures that I haven't been able to get through the mail and a tear away apron from Royal Caribbean. I mention the cheap tear away apron from Royal Caribbean because one of the most entertaining things I saw yesterday involved that apron. I was walking through the Royal Caribbean booth because I needed a new Travel Agent Guide and I keep forgetting to order one when I saw a lady with one of the aprons around her neck and a man working for RCCL who had just draped it around her. She seemed so happy about the apron and I remember thinking that it was so flimsy that it would only be good for one use since it could never be washed. So it struck me as strange that she was so excited about it.
As she walked away, the man draped one around my neck and continued to drape them around the neck of each person who came through. I, like most of the others passing through, took my apron off and stuffed it in one of the many bags that had been handed to me. Later, I saw the woman who had gotten the apron in front of me again and she still had the apron draped around her neck but not tied exactly as he had draped it when he handed it to her. I thought at the time it was strange that she was the only person still wearing hers.
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| The apron in question |
Much later, as I left the trade show in the lobby I saw her again still wearing it and someone asked her where she had gotten it. She responded saying that one of the men who worked for Royal Caribbean recognised her as an outstanding travel agent so he rewarded her with it. It was one of those bless your heart moments. It was sort of sweet and sad that she thought she was the only person around special enough to earn one of the cheap throw away aprons. But it was nice that she was so pleased to get something that I decided to keep so that I could use it the next time I make soap and then throw it away afterwards.
Today I very quickly toured Oasis of the Seas. Just got to see a few public areas then we sat down for lunch. I'll tell you all about the ship tours next week when I get home and can download photos. Tomorrow I'll be on Royal Princess, the newest Princess ship which was christened by Kate Middleton, then Monday I'll be aboard Holland America's Zuuderdam. Have a great weekend and happy travels!
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