‘Pretty Little Liars’ Author Sara Shepard Launches New ‘Cruise Ship’ Scripted Podcast With Meet Cute

Today, media company Meet Cute, which has produced over 300 original audio rom-coms since its inception, has announced their latest partnership with Pretty Little Liars author Sara Shepard on a new scripted podcast. The nine-part series, titled Cruise Ship, will premiere on July 6 with new episodes dropping each Tuesday throughout the summer month.

Shepard first conceived the idea of Cruise Ship while the world was technically shut down thanks to COVID-19, in the fall of 2020. The desire for escapism from present circumstances led the author to mull over the idea of a set-piece where a lot of meet-cutes (a term most often used in romance where two people destined to fall in love encounter each other for the first time) would take place. Enter: Cruise Ship, which takes a page from the classic series The Love Boat while also blending in elements of another popular rom-com, Love, Actually.

“Sara has incredible energy, is full of ideas, and open to deep creative collaboration,” said Naomi Shah, Founder + CEO of Meet Cute, in a provided statement. “The nine stories in this series are fifteen minutes each, the same length as every Meet Cute story. They are purposefully designed to give our audience a break from their day, a feel-good rom-com in their pockets wherever they are and whenever they need it. It’s so needed in our world today, and working with Sara on Cruise Ship is a great reminder of that.”

Cruise Ship will be available on all audio platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify beginning July 6, with new episodes releasing every Tuesday. Check out the show’s official synopsis below:

In a modern retelling of the classic show, The Love Boat, bestselling author Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars) launches the cruise ship Queen Beatrice in her inaugural voyage. In this nine-part season, we meet Corby, our peppy cruise director as she tries to get the stern Captain Karl to warm up on the cold seas; Frieda unexpectedly meets Loren at her cousin’s complicated wedding; crewmembers Faye, Harrison and celebrity chef Gabriel form a perfect Bermuda love triangle; in the backdrop of the first onboard Scrabble tournament, Renata teaches newly widowed Edie what it means to be a trans woman in the 21st century; Foster mistakenly books a voyage on the QB’s first cat cruise (he’s allergic) but gets a few pointers from stowaway Lara who has a big secret of her own; teenage bookworm Nessie reluctantly heads onshore to the Irish island of Inis Mor and meets Fintan who shows her that adventure can be found outside the pages of a book; after a series of mishaps, scientist Jonah falls for paralympian Cole at an onboard marathon.