P&O Holidays

SS Fair Princess

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Operator: P&O Holidays
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 1956 / 1997
Length / Tonnage: 602 / 25,000
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 525 / 1,050
Officers / Crew: British / International
Operating Area: South Pacific out of Sydney/Cairns
Overview: she started life as Cunard's Carinthia in 1956 crossing between Liverpool and Quebec and Montreal on a regular schedule. After Cunard, she joined the Sitmar fleet and in 1970 she was completely rebuilt when a large theatre, five nightclubs, three swimming pools were added. She joined P&O when they acquired Sitmar. Although she was sold briefly to Regency in 1996 she never sailed for that line and returned to P&O when Regency went out of business.

She operates out of Sydney and Cairns on a wide variety of cruises ranging from 3 to 14 days with stops at New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Lifou. Even though the ship was recently refurbished, the public areas are beginning to show their age. Cabins are bigger than you might expect and they have lots of storages space. The quality of food and service is good. The deck areas and the pools are nice although they can be a bit crowded when she is sailing full. The ship has an active children's program and there are likely to be lots of children on board during the holiday season. Entertainment is average. Your fellow passengers will include a lot of first time cruisers and for some reason the ship seems to attract a lot of people who like to smoke.