The Suite Life on Deck

**The Suite Life on Deck** is a live-action television series created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series premiered on September 26, 2008 and aired for three seasons until May 6, 2011.

It is a spin-off from the television series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. It is the second spin-off of a Disney Channel series; as well as the last Disney Channel series to debut broadcasting exclusively in standard definition, and the first of three Disney Channel shows to transition from standard definition to high definition.

## Episodes

See Also: List of The Suite Life on Deck Episodes

 2 | 28
 3 | 22

## Cast and Characters

### Main

* Dylan Sprouse as Zack Martin
* Cole Sprouse as Cody Martin
* Brenda Song as London Tipton
* Debby Ryan as Bailey Pickett
* Phill Lewis as Marion Moseby
* Doc Shaw as Marcus Little (Season 2-3)

### Recurring

* Matthew Timmons as Woody Fink
* Erin Cardillo as Emma Tutweiller
* Windell D. Middlebrooks as Kirby Morris
* Zoey Deutch as Maya Elizabeth Bennett
* Rachael Kathryn Bell as Addison
* Lillian Adams as Mrs. Pepperman
* Michael Hitchcock as Mr. Blanket
* Lisa K. Wyatt as Frankie

### Guest Stars

* Kim Rhodes as Carey Martin
* Ashley Tisdale as Maddie Fitzpatrick
* Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana
* Emily Osment as Lilly Truscott/Lola Luftnagle
* Selena Gomez as Alex Russo
* David Henrie as Justin Russo
* Jake T. Austin as Max Russo
* Jordin Sparks as Herself
* Kathie Lee Gifford as Cindy
* George Takei as Rome Tipton
* Sean Kingston as Himself
* Dwight Howard as Dwight Moseby Howard
* Deron Williams as Himself
* Kevin Love as Himself
* Hutch Dano as Moose
* John Michael Higgins as Wilfred Tipton
* Jennifer Tisdale as Connie Fitzpatrick
* Cody Kennedy as Mischa
* Brian Stepanek as Arwin Hawkhauser / Milos Hawkakapolis
* Brittany Curran as Chelsea Brimmer
* Sophie Oda as Barbara Brownstein
* Charlie Stewart as Bob
* Jacopo Sarno as Luca
* Robert Torti as Kurt Martin
* Justin Kredible as Armando the Magician
* Elizabeth Sung as Khun Yai
* Ed Begley, Jr. as Mayor Ragnar
* Adrian R'Mante as Esteban Ramirez
* Charo as Señora Ramírez
* Kurt Warner as Himself
* Charles Shaughnessy as Constable
* Camilla and Rebecca Rosso as Jessica and Janice
* Matthew Willig as The Genie
* Andy Richter as Brother Theodore
* Lisa K. Wyatt as Frankie
* Fabio Lanzoni as Captain Hawk
* Brian Posehn as Dr. Cork
* Michael Ralph as Sergeant Pepper

## Production

### Development

On February 4, 2008, it was announced that the Disney Channel was developing a new contemporary sequel to the Disney channel sitcom The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. The announcement was made by Gary Marsh, the President of the Disney Channel. He stated, "Our audience has shown us that after 88 episodes, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody remains one of their favourite sitcoms ever, we decided to find a new way for Zack, Cody, London, and Mr. Moseby to live 'The Suite Life' in a whole new setting, this time aboard a luxury cruise liner." The series original creator, Danny Kallis was announced to be involved with the project. The elements from the original series remain the same though the setting is completely different.

In December 2008, it was reported that the Disney Channel had renewed the series for a thirteen episode second season. On May 11, 2009, Disney issued a press release stating that the second season had been extended to include a larger number of episodes than the original thirteen. Gary Marsh, the president of Disney Channels Worldwide said: "With this second-season extension, the cast of ‘The Suite Life’ makes Disney Channel history by becoming the longest running continuous characters on our air, 138 half-hour episodes. We are thrilled for them, and for the brilliant, inspired production team that made this extraordinary run possible."

As of 2011, The Suite Life series holds the record (162 episodes) for having the longest running continuous characters on air and the most canon episodes for any Disney Channel series.

### Settings

According to show creators and producers, the choice of setting was made to appeal to an international audience with different ports-of-call, such as India, Greece, Italy, Morocco, the United Kingdom and Thailand. An on-board theatre serves as an "organic" set-up for musical numbers. Most of the action in the series occurs on board the SS Tipton. However, the ship travels to a variety of places around the world, which are often unfamiliar places to both Zack and Cody Martin.

## Release

The Suite Life on Deck premiered in Australia and New Zealand October 6, 2008. It is broadcast on Disney Channel and on NZ MediaWorks TV3 and FOUR.

## Reception

### U.S. Nielsen Ratings

The show's pilot premiered on the Disney Channel in the U.S. on September 26, 2008, and gathered 5.7 million viewers on the night of its premiere. The series premiere in Canada was also the most watched series premiere on Family channel. In December 2008, Business Wire reported the show was 2008's #1 top scripted television series for children between the ages 6 to 11 and pre-teenagers between the ages 9 to 14, beating the veteran series Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place in the ratings. The show was in the #1 spot for the top rated children's television series for many months. The show has been one of the top 4 live-action television series for many months. Since then, "The Suite Life on Deck" held a commanding lead in the time slot (Friday 8:00pm), ranking as TV's #1 program among the key children demographics, virtually doubling Nickelodeon among children between the age of 9–14, and defeating it by a 6% among children between the age of 6–11. In addition, the series would reach #1 in total viewers on all cable, outperforming #2 networks Fox News and Nickelodeon by 800,000 more viewers.

As of August 2009, the highest rated episode of The Suite Life on Deck was "Double-Crossed," the second part of Wizards On Deck with Hannah Montana, a trilogy of crossover episodes featuring guest stars from Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana which premiered on July 17, 2009 on Disney Channel. The special was viewed by more than 10.6 million viewers, program of the night across both cable and broadcast television, and ranks as one of the highest-rated episodes for a Disney Channel original series. This was the first episode that Cody and Bailey go out on a date.

In early October 2009, the series one-hour special episode "Lost at Sea" became the most watched episode of the series, with 7.6 million total viewers, including 3.2 million in the Kids 6–11 demographic, and 2.8 million in the Tweens 9–13 demographic. The episode delivered Disney Channel's best numbers in the hour with regular programming in the net's history. In 2009, the series was the most watched scripted series in the children and tween demographic (6–14), outpacing Hannah Montana and several other teenage shows. The series second season's ratings grew 25% higher than the show's season one ratings, the second season has averaged approximately 5.1 million viewers.

## Merchandise

An activity book based on the series was released on July 13, 2009. The book is called "The Suite Life on Deck Sink or Swim Sticker Activity Book". A photo album based on the series was also released, and it includes several posters, coloured images from the series, captions and activities for the reader. In August 2009, two new books titled "Suite Life on Deck: A Day in the Life" and "Suite Life on Deck Party Planner" were released by Walt Disney.