Where Is The Old Star Princess?

[cruzinjudi]

I was on the star princess along time ago----It seems Like Princess doesn't keep there ships very long-Does anyone know how long they kept her?

[Leela]

I was on her 9 years ago, on an Alaska Cruise. I seem to recall that she was sent over to P&O and after an overhaul became ... I could have this wrong ... the Oriana? Not sure. I used to know but I've since forgotten.

 

That was the first cruise my Hubby ever went on. I've finally talked him into his second cruise :)

[dougnewmanatsea]

The first STAR PRINCESS was transferred to P&O Cruises in 1997 and became ARCADIA (she replaced CANBERRA). In 2003, she left the P&O Cruises fleet to become OCEAN VILLAGE for Ocean Village Holidays which is a new entry-level UK market subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises. She was replaced at P&O by ADONIA, formerly SEA PRINCESS, which will return this year to Princess and take up her old name again, being replaced by a new ARCADIA (originally ordered as a HAL ship, then transferred to Cunard who were going to use her as QUEEN VICTORIA, and then transferred - still in build! - to P&O after Cunard ordered a new, larger QUEEN VICTORIA).

 

As you can see from the above, P&O Princess (and now their parent Carnival) transfer their ships very frequently between brands so as to adapt to market conditions, etc. STAR PRINCESS (I) was with Princess from her debut in 1989 through 1997, so she had eight years as a Princess ship.

 

She was actually acquired while still in construction from Sitmar Cruises which P&O bought and merged into Princess in 1988. She was launched as SITMAR FAIRMAJESTY but by the time she entered service the following year, Sitmar had been fully integrated into Princess and she entered service as STAR PRINCESS, christened by the late Audrey Hepburn if I recall correctly.

 

Of note, SITMAR FAIRMAJESTY/STAR PRINCESS was the first large passenger ship ever to be built with diesel-electric propulsion, which today is the industry standard. She was also, at the time, the largest-ever P&O ship (eclipsed in 1990 by CROWN PRINCESS, and then by a very long series of ships today culminating in QUEEN MARY 2, Cunard now being part of P&O Princess who are in turn part of Carnival).

[Leela]

Doug, if you are doing even 50% of this from memory I am amazed.

 

And yes, the first STAR PRINCESS was definitely christened by Audrey Hepburn. I clearly recall that from the Princess literature at the time, and remember it because I am a big fan of her movies.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Doug, if you are doing even 50% of this from memory I am amazed.

Most of my more involved posts are not entirely from memory - the above one happened to have been, but by my standards that is not an involved post ;) .

 

And yes, the first STAR PRINCESS was definitely christened by Audrey Hepburn.

I thought so. Somewhere I have a book with a photo of her christening the ship. The podium she was standing at had a special logo created just for this ship - it was a regular Princess logo, but the ends of the waves/strands of hair "dissolved" into little stars (for STAR PRINCESS)... Hard to describe but obvoiusly expensive at the time.

 

I always thought she looked like a rather nice ship, but she was always eclipsed by CROWN PRINCESS (now AIDABLU) and REGAL PRINCESS, which came out in the following years and were always noted because of their unusual exterior design by Renzo Piano. Those two were the last Princess newbuilds I really like.

[Leela]

I remember the logo! And thinking when I saw it that suddenly Princess seemed a lot snazzier than I'd imagined. When we sailed her we passed through a HUGE gale with massive waves that blew up in the Gulf of Alaska. A crew member said it was the worst Alaska storm he'd ever been in. 3/4 of the passengers were in their cabins sick, and over half the wait staff was gone in the restaurant, but a group of die hards were having a great time. I hear there was a great party up in the highest deck's bar (forgot the name) that night. We didn't quite get there. I know this sounds like something a 9-year-old would do, but one fun memory was Hubby-san and I trying to run up and down the stairs as the ship pitched and rolled :)

 

Oh, and the movie that night? You wouldn't believe this, but it was "Twister." It was somehow oddly fitting to be in the middle of a high wind storm watching a movie about high wind storms. Or frighteningly cooincidental, depending on how you chose to look at it.

 

I've got to say, if you're sailing in an area with changable weather and possibly bad high seas, this is a boat that you want to be on! In fact, our steward told us that the only reason why we went through the gale (and thus made our next port on schedule -- and it was even a nice day that next day) was because of the Star Princess's capabilities.

[dorisday]

I hear there was a great party up in the highest deck's bar (forgot the name) that night. We didn't quite get there.

 

Windows to the world was the name of that bar, great disco, late night bar.

Huge thanks to Julie, Di & Jamie, fab bartender with wicked shooter recipes

[Princessgal]

I was on the last cruise of the Star Princess as a Princess ship from San Diego to Puerto Rico. It was 1 of the best and saddest cruises ever. Staff from P&O were on board measuring rooms for changes and it was like a ghost ship the last night. The shops were completely empty with unsold items boxed and ready to leave for other Princess ships. The main lobby area had chairs piled up and ready to be taken off when we disembarked. It was sad to see the entertainers on the stage singing for a final time "When you Wish Upon a Star" and a very tearful CD. The mood was anything but cheerful. The Star was one of my favorites and I truly miss her. There weren't giveaways but they did tell us to keep those horrible robes and sterling silver ships charms were being sold at a ridiculous $2 or $3 each. At that price I bought 10 and gave them to friends for gifts.