[1] The story included several of the show's most popular characters attending a masked ball on a cruise ship, which is taken over by a vengeful Ernesto Toscano, played by Charles Cioffi.
[5] A storyline of this magnitude had not been developed for the series before this time, and even today it is remembered as one of the most ballyhooed ratings events in the show's history.
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.
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.
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.
Following their rescue from Ernesto's island, the shipwrecked characters return to the show's hometown of Salem, USA to cope with Hope's "death" and move on with their lives following the life-changing events of the story.
Eventually, actress Kristian Alfonso returned to the show four years later, and it was revealed that Hope was in fact switched at the last moment before the explosion with an imposter, Greta von Amberg.