Finding Love on the High Seas

I enjoyed the article by Karl Zimmermann about the Pacific Princess (“Bye-Bye, Love Boat,” June 30). As a young Englishman in the early ‘80s, I was one of the ship’s photographers on board its sister, Island Princess. I got used to being called “Ace,” after the TV character.

While working aboard another ship, Holland America’s original Statendam, I photographed an attractive young lady standing by the ship’s rail as we left New York. On arrival in Bermuda, I asked her if I could show her the island.

That same young lady and I recently celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary.

So you see, there is real romance on cruise ships. It will be sad to see the Pacific Princess retired. .

TIM FULFORD-BROWN

Hemet

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We probably have cruised more than 30 times aboard the Island Princess and Pacific Princess. We remember the narrow beds where you had to be a contortionist to engage in sex. The stall shower in the bathroom was so small that it became a joke for the [on-board] comedians: “I finally found out how to take a shower. You just apply the soap to the walls and then rub up against them.”

Nevertheless, we always enjoyed the cruises and recall this adage: “If you cruise on a 2,000-passenger ship and you attend the captain’s party, you may remember the meatballs if they gave you heartburn. If you cruise on a ship with fewer than 1,000 passengers, you remember some friends you made during the cruise.”

HERMANN PAUL SCHLANDER

Palm Desert