Paul’s drawn by the allure of cruising

Genial comedian, astute observer and intrepid explorer Paul Merton has been on his travels again. After TV travelogues visiting India, China and Europe, his latest series takes him to places where most of his audience is more likely to spend their own holidays.
In Paul Merton’s Adventures, debuting on Channel 5 next Wednesday, October 19, will see him on a fly-drive holiday in Florida, upsetting the Top Gear generation in a caravan, visiting the clubbers’ paradise island of Ibiza, climbing the Alps, and touring Scotland.
And in the first episode, “On A Cruise,” he joins 6,000 passengers on Allure of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, during a week-long voyage around the Caribbean.
Setting off from Fort Lauderdale earlier this year, he visited Royal Caribbean’s private resort in Haiti; the newly-opened port of Falmouth, Jamaica; and Cozumel, Mexico, as well as spending three days at sea.
Few details have yet been released of what he and his family got up to, but the first teaser from production company Tiger Aspect claims that – in a scenario reminiscent of the film Cool Running – he hitches a ride from a Jamaican dogsled team, gets lost on a reef in Mexico, and, most bizarrely of all (especially given the name of the film company), has a run-in with a tiger. I’m pretty sure I can guarantee that encounter did not take place on board the ship.
Merton’s production team sought advice from me when planning the shoot, so I will be doubly fascinated to see how the show turns out, and what Paul thought of the ship’s greenery-filled Central Park area, the spectacular shows in its Aqua Theatre, and to find out whether he sampled chef Molly Brandt’s delicious smoked sweet potato soup.
Paul Merton’s Adventures, Episode 1: On A Cruise, will be broadcast at 9.00 pm on Wednesday October 19, on Channel 5.