Our Princess Cruise to the Panama Canal - February 21st to March 3d, 2002


The Royal Princess sailed out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
There are so many different subjects to cover I have divided the cruise into different themes.
- The Ship - Eating - Jamaca - Costa Rica - the Panama Canal - Cartagena - Aruba -

The subject of this page will be SCENES On THE SHIP.

There are lots of pictures to download so please be patient.


As the sun began to set in Ft Lauderdale on Thursday, Feb 21st, everyone crowded the deck to watch the Royal Princess leave its burth and head out to sea.

Our first pleasant surprise is to find that our room with a balcony had been upgraded to a mini-suite. Even more surprising is that Mary & Jere (Fran's sister and husband) had their room upgraded to our original room.


We sat on our balcony with a bottle of champagne to watch the sun go down on our first night at sea.

The next morning, with a clear sky and bright sun, we knew we were had made the right choice.


Before sailing everyone is required to participate in a life boat drill which includes putting on your life vest.

Every morning our sterwardess Natasha, a Dutch girl from South Africa with a Russian name, brought us coffee and juice.


Because we were going to Machu Picchu, Peru, in June we made up our minds to walk two miles every morning before breakfast. This is the staircase which we had to decend four decks before arriving on the Promenade Deck.

We pause for a photo on the Promenade deck in our walking clothes.


This is the view we had every morning as we walked the deck. Lifeboats overhead and the blue sea below.

Every time we approached the stern we knew we had walked one quarter mile. Only seven laps to go.


Only after our brisk walk would we allow ourselves the first meal of the day. Frequently we were greeted in the Lido Cafe by Mary and Jere who had already found a table with a view.

We spent several days at sea so after breakfast we could choose any one of a number of decks to relax, read, and swim. This is the pool on the Lido deck. One day we even pampered ourselves with a soothing massage


If you were real energetic, we weren't, you could do use the lap pool, on the Sun deck. Fran prefered to read instead. I walked around taking these pictures.

Although breakfast and lunch were casual affairs the evening meal was very formal. We were pleased to learn that we were sitting at the table belonging to Staff Captain Ronald Wilson and his delightful wife Joan.


Here is a picture of the "social set" of the year. Sitting at the head table with Staff Captain Ronald Wilson and his wife Joan were Ben and Dee Garrett of North Carolina, City Councilwoman Mary Gwin-Lenth and her husband Jere from New Hope and Colonel Robert Frazee and his wife Fran from Plymouth. Naturally they were the talk of the ship.

One social gala followed another. Here we are with Captain Bob Oliver at the Captain's cocktail party.


On anothr night Mary and Jere went through the receiving line at the cocktail party for the Captain Circle members and were greeted by our table mate Staff Captain Ronald Wilson

And we met again at the Captain's champagne brunch


Even at sea special events have to be celebrated. Here Staff Captain Wilson receives a birthday cake.

Every night a different ice sculpture greeted us at entrance to the main dining room.

Jump Station

Back to the views of The Royal Princess.

Back to viewing eating opportunities.

Our first port of call Jamaca.

Our second port of call Costa Rica.

The highlight of our cruise was entering the Panama Canal.

Our fourth port was the ancient Spanish city of Cartagena, Columbia.

Our final port was Aruba.

Back to the views of The Royal Princess.


This page was created by Bob "Belli" Frazee

Bob at Grand Tetons, 2015
Belli at the Grand Titons, June 2015


If you have any questions, or corrections, just write to Belli.

Have a good day and come back again.

Have a good day and come back again.

Since May 30, 2002, you are visitor number