Jill Whelan Says a “Love Boat” Sequel Would Be 'Fabulous'

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On the last day of August, approximately 3,600 passengers boarded the Enchanted Princess in Brooklyn, N.Y., for Princess Cruises’ The Love Boat Celebration at Sea. Throughout the seven-night sailing, guests listened to The Love Boat stars Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, Bernie Kopell and Jill Whelan talk about the hit ‘70s and ‘80s series during Q&As, tested their knowledge at The Love Boat trivia, sipped on specialty Love Boat cocktails and mingled with the actors when they ran into them around the ship.

Princess Cruises already has its 2025 Love Boat Celebration at Sea sailing slated to leave out of Galveston, Texas, on the Regal Princess beginning on Nov. 16, 2025, so the cast knows fans have an appetite for more Love Boat.

“Wouldn't a sequel be fabulous?” Whelan, 57, asked PEOPLE on board the Enchanted Princess.

Whelan said she would like to see her character Vicki, who she began playing at age 11, in a fulfilling relationship. “She always had terrible boyfriends who made her steal or drink,” the former child star recalled. “It would've been fun to explore where she would've gone in work or in a relationship. Maybe she is [married] for the third time, like me.”

Until the cast reunites on screen, Love Boat devotees can catch Whelan, Grandy, 76, and Lange, also 76, together in an off-Broadway play that Lange wrote in N.Y.C. next summer.

“We get along really, really well,” Whelan said of her costars. “Professionally, they taught me how to behave in this industry. We've been so lucky that with Gavin [MacLeod] and Bernie in the beginning to set the bar. They set a tone and a level of respect that some actors unfortunately don't have because they weren't taught it necessarily. It's a wonderful thing to be in a business where you get to entertain people, and that's probably what I've learned from them more than anything else, is to not take myself too seriously.”

Whelan credits the “incredible cast of human beings” on The Love Boat, as well as her mother Carol Garrett, with helping her navigate Hollywood at a young age. “She's the reason I haven't been arrested yet,” Whelan quipped. “I'm still frightened of her because she's a powerhouse woman! But look, putting a child in a business always leaves room for disaster or nefarious things. My mom did the best she could."

Meanwhile, Grandy and Lange helped shape Whelan into “who I am as a person, because those were my most formative years,” she said. “They have been so generous with their love for me and their professionalism and their knowledge of our craft.”