Tom Stieghorst
Sometimes I wonder what the cruise industry would do without television, which seems to provide inspiration for more and more big ship activities these days.
In 1977, it was TV that was inspired by cruising, with Aaron Spelling's show "The Love Boat", based on a Princess Cruises ship, famously giving the cruise vacation a boost.
But in 2016, the onboard TV-cruise connection has taken on a whole new dimension. The latest example is the partnership between Holland America Line (HAL) and the cooking show "America's Test Kitchen", announced last week.
The show, broadcast on more than 350 public television stations, represents a pipeline from the world of home cooks to the world of HAL's high seas vacations.
Other examples aren't had to find. Celebrity Cruises has a partnership with Bravo TV's "Top Chef" that allows it to run Top Chef contests with passengers on its ships. Norwegian Cruise Line has partnered in the past to offer a version of the hit game show "Deal or No Deal" to guests.
But the leader in taking TV shows to sea has been Carnival Corp., which has introduced shows on several of its brands to leverage television audiences that might want to enjoy their shows in a new setting.
Princess Cruises has The Voice of the Ocean, a facsimile of the NBC talent show "The Voice." And Carnival Cruise Line plays on the popularity of the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives," hosted by Guy Fieri, the chef behind Guy's Burger Joint on Carnival ships.
Recently, Carnival struck a deal with Spike TV's "Lip Sync Battle", which will be coming to Carnival Vista in December.
HAL is second to none when it comes to matching its guests with television hits. One of the best demographic matches in cruise entertainment was HAL's link with "Dancing with the Stars," which brought ballroom and other styles to HAL ships, along with celebrities from the shows.
"America's Test Kitchen" may be the equal of "Dancing With the Stars" as a draw for HAL's passenger base.
"America's Test Kitchen indexes well with the same demographic as our guests," said HAL president Orlando Ashford, after announcing the partnership in New York.
HAL has pegged its passengers as driven by curiosity, so what could be a better match than a PBS franchise for attracting that group? As Jack Bishop, ATK's chief creative officer, said: "We like to be onboard with people who are interested in what we're doing."