Princess' Most-Traveled Passenger Reaches Record 4,000 Days at Sea
Jan 04, 2007
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (January 4, 2007) - Lorraine Arzt, Princess' most-traveled passenger, last week reached a record-breaking 4,000 days at sea - the most time ever spent by a passenger aboard Princess ships. Arzt, who is currently sailing on Sea Princess, celebrated the occasion onboard, marking a milestone that in total represents more than 10 years spent at sea.
Arzt, who has been a regular resident aboard Princess ships, particularly the original Royal Princess and now Sea Princess, began cruising with her late husband, Joe, in the early 1970s aboard P&O's Spirit of London - which later became the original Sun Princess. That first Mexico voyage sparked a life-long love of cruising, which became increasingly frequent over the years. The Arzts spent 17 years as regular passengers aboard Royal Princess. Following the 2005 transfer of Royal Princess to P&O, Lorraine Arzt now spends approximately 10 months each year aboard Sea Princess. She plans to transfer to the new Royal Princess when it debuts in April.
To mark Arzt's cruising milestone, Sea Princess hosted a celebration on the vessel's bridge with many shipboard personnel in attendance. Captain William Kent presented her with a special invitation to be the guest of honor at the inaugural festivities for the new Royal Princess in Santorini, Greece on May 12, 2007.
"We are thrilled to celebrate this milestone with Lorraine," said Jan Swartz, Princess' senior vice president of customer service and sales. "She has continually been our most steadfast Princess supporter, and has become a part of the family on the ships she has called home."
"I don't know how it all happened ... I just love cruising," said Arzt, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday. She noted that she chose Princess for a variety of reasons, including the crew ("they are unbelievable"), the diverse itineraries ("fantastic"), the cuisine ("the Italian kitchen is a great attraction") and the accommodations ('the suites are wonderful").
When not at sea, Arzt resides in Beverly Hills, Calif. She traces her love of the sea to her childhood days fishing with her father in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Together with her husband, Joe, Arzt was an accomplished professional ballroom dancer for many years. The Arzts, who have a son and a daughter, later enjoyed a successful real estate business.
Arzt, who has traveled around the world with Princess, rates Chile as her favorite destination. Despite numerous world-wide voyages, she has yet to visit the Holy Land, but looks forward to visiting there aboard the new Royal Princess next year.
She continues to be an ardent cruise enthusiast. "How can you not like a cruise -- you hang your hat and you're there. Everyone is there to entertain and serve you -- you're waited on hand and foot. Where else can you go to completely escape and have so much fun?"
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