The show prospered from the Cruise of Deception. In late 1989, its ratings were in a freefall and its popularity was on the wane. Former executive producer Al Rabin, who had helmed
Days of our Lives during the popular mid-1980s period, was lured out of retirement to restructure the show. He, along with then-head writers Anne M. Schoettle and Richard J. Allen, concocted the Cruise of Deception. The show even changed its opening credits for the first time in its history to correspond to the storyline. At the half-way point of the famous hourglass opening, the shot faded to that of a dark, ominous-looking ocean, and the words "Cruise of Deception" scrolled into place as "Days of Our Lives" appeared in smaller lettering below it. An announcer intoned, "The story continues on 'Cruise of Deception.'" One of the memorable elements of the story was the red dress worn by Julie Williams (
Susan Seaforth Hayes), which was noticeably unseaworthy when the character abandoned ship. Julie and
Victor were dressed as
Kate and
Petruchio from
The Taming of the Shrew, with Julie wearing an elaborate evening gown. A
Soap Opera Digest columnist wrote, "The dress got wetter and wetter and tighter and tighter and Julie, her hair damp, looked positively bedraggled... Shipwrecked and stranded, Julie didn't need a life jacket. That red dress saved her — and the cruise." Costume designer Richard Blore said, "The infamous red dress. I think that is going to haunt us... I have never had so much story or reference in magazines about that red dress." NBC promoted the story heavily to lure kids home from school to watch the show during their summer vacation. Ratings rose due to the storyline, but then the ratings retreated, something that would not markedly change for at least the next three years. ==Plot summary==