By today's grandiose standards for cruise ships, the old "Love Boat" of TV fame might well be called a bucket of bolts. But the fact it's being reduced to that is, well, kind of sad.
This year, she is bound for Turkey. Her final hours will take place in a shipyard not far from the one where she was assembled, in West Germany. This time, The Love Boat is being stripped for its parts.
At the time she became famous, and the time was 36 years ago, The Love Boat arrived on TV screens around North America. For nine years, it was 52 minutes of must-see television every week and it had an ever-changing cast of stars who slipped in and out of the script from week to week.
The were three constants with fame that outlived the show. One was The Love Boat theme, a soundtrack so recognizable that Princess Cruises made it a permanent part of 
its newest ship, the Royal Princess. One was Captain Merrill Stubing, played by Gavin MacLeod, a wonderful man whom we had the good fortune to have lunch with last year, and a man who could be addressed by either of his "names" today as he continues to make public appearances for the cruise line, at age 82.
And one was the Pacific Princess.
By the time she became The Love Boat, the Pacific Princess had been around for nine years. Originally christened Sea Venture, she became Pacific Princess in 1975. She's had three pseudonyms since but after her demise is complete, she will always be The Love Boat.
On TV at least, The Love Boat was a luxury liner. By today's standards, she was a midget. Two of her, end to end, would not be as long as Oasis of the Seas. She carried 626 passengers when full. As The Love Boat, rarely would she have that many people on board.
But to a generation of people, in an age when only beautiful people went on beautiful cruises on beautiful ships, The Love Boat WAS cruising.
You'd have thought she would wind up in a museum somewhere, not in a junkyard in Turkey.
Norwegian Sun
7 nights
September 2, 2013
Anchorage, Hubbard Glacier, Icy Strait Point, Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, Vancouver
Inside: $299
Cost per day: $42
www.ncl.com