Fair Princess 1993

[twochromic]

Was anyone else here on the infamous Fair Princess 1993 trip Tahiti to Hawaii? The one where the air conditioning went out.

 

There are still Princess staff who comment to me about that cruise.

[bdjam]

Was not but have always been interested in Fair Princess and the original Dawn Princess. Would have loved to sailed on one of these classic ships. Anyone know where there might be some interior photos?

[Mulege]

We were on her for the Mexican Riviera cruise where the ac went out. We received a full refund and a free cruise for our trouble. Loved the days when Sitmar owned her.

[runnerodb83]

Was not but have always been interested in Fair Princess and the original Dawn Princess. Would have loved to sailed on one of these classic ships. Anyone know where there might be some interior photos?

 

You can probably find some here

http://www.ssmaritime.com/saxonia1.htm

 

I have old home movies of me swimming in the pool as a little kid when it was Sitmar. I think theres also a few clips of the galley tour when they turned the galley into a buffet. I'll see if i can get them online.

[CruisinChris]

Brian - you might try MartimeMatters.com Peter Knego over there does a fantastic job of visiting older ships and documenting them.

[NJ Fred]

Sailed her under both her Fairsea, on our 1984 honeymoon cruise, (Sitmar) and Fair Princess names.

 

But not on the voyage you cite. Both sailings were 10-day Mexican Riviera trips out of San Pedro.

 

I loved that charming vessel!

[bdjam]

Thanks for the suggestions...I will check them out...

[bdjam]

Thanks for the suggestions...I will check them out...

 

The ssmaritime link is great and gives information about Fair Princess and her three sisters. There is a full brochure which came from Carinthia's launch with renderings of the public rooms as well as photos from Fair Princess' interiors and exteriors while she was sailing in Australia/New Zealand.

Thanks for the link!

PS - the maritimematters link didn't seem to work for me...

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I did a 12-night Scandinavia / Russia cruise on the original Dawn Princess (former Fairwind) back in 1989. Because this was fairly soon after the Princess / Sitmar merger, it felt much more like a Sitmar cruise than a Princess cruise.

 

My next cruise is the maiden voyage of the new Royal Princess in June. It is amazing how much ships have changed since 1989.

 

Chuck

[srice]

Out of 39 cruises our 1989 Mexican Riviera sailing on the Fair Princess was the worst.

 

As I recall it had just been purchased by Princess from Sitmar and the service and facilities were all substandard.

[yyjguy]

I too really enjoyed the Fairsea/Fair Princess and her sister. In my mind, those 4 tiered stern decks with 3 full sized pools have never been equalled in newer vessels. Sitmar was such a huge step above Princess, and with their 3 newbuildings ordered, the purchase by Princess was a very good move. I do miss the older vessels!!

[Astro Flyer]

We sailed on Sitmar's Fairwind summer '88 then as the Dawn Princess in early '89. I was happy that Princess kept the pasta course but was sad to see them eliminate the great pizzeria restaurant. The other thing I remember was having a very large quad inside cabin for our family.

 

The white glove Sitmar service from the all Italian & Portuguese crew was great & the food was the best we've experienced. :D

 

I have a Fairwind logo coffee cup which is made of bone china unlike today's ceramic coffee cups.

[ricki]

The Fairsea was our first experience in cruising in 1987, and I still think of Sitmar with great fondness. The food was excellent, especially the pasta. But I don't miss the hair dyer rooms-- going down the hall to a room with 11 other women blowing their hair dry:p.

 

Ricki

[Mulege]

We sailed on Sitmar's Fairwind summer '88 then as the Dawn Princess in early '89. I was happy that Princess kept the pasta course but was sad to see them eliminate the great pizzeria restaurant. The other thing I remember was having a very large quad inside cabin for our family.

 

The white glove Sitmar service from the all Italian & Portuguese crew was great & the food was the best we've experienced. :D

 

I have a Fairwind logo coffee cup which is made of bone china unlike today's ceramic coffee cups.

 

Yes those were the days. People today have no idea what a great experience it was cruising then. I too loved the food, service, and Italian Portuguese crew. Anyone remember Captan Protenzoni (sic), short gentleman, nice looking, and so charming. He as on Fairsky.

[Victorious8]

This is sort of random but my Great Grandmother died on a cruise ship on or around March 11th 1994. I am not even sure if it was Princess but since this is what my Grandma cruises with. I think she had a heart attack but I'm not sure. I know my Nana told me that one of the gentlemen that they dined with bought all the pictures for my Grandpa and sent them to him.

[DRS/NC]

MY late husband & I loved Sitmar! We began cruising w/them on the Fairsea to Mexico in June 1974. Our daughter was 2 1/2. Sitmar was almost the only line with a children's program. DD was "bella bambini" until she graduated from high school. We usually had the same cabin on the 2 identical ships & DD could find her way anywhere. We had 1 cruise on the new Fairsky. Our final trip w/Sitmar was actually the Fairwind/Dawn Princess in the Med. in June 1989 for DD's high school graduation. GREAT MEMORIES!

 

:)Esp. Capt. Quartini & the 1981 2-weeks from San Francisco to Alaska & back!

[Traveler30]

You brought back a lot of good memories, so I took out my Photo Album, we had booked under Sitmar Fairsea, but when we boarded it was under Fair Princess.

Does anyone remember the South Pacific Grand Adventure (28 days) from San Franciso to Sydney, Austrailia in Oct. 1988? When we had a plumbing and air conditioner Problem, and Princess put us in a hotel in Papeete for 2 nights.

In those days you were escorted to you cabin by a steward wearing white gloves,you also had a wine steward and a masquerade night party.

Wish those days were back, I could go on and on.

 

Even though we had a problem, we still had a great time. I find today the ships are to big.

 

Captain in 1988 was Nicola Di Stefano

Cruise Director - Janet Edwards

 

Hope there is someone who remembers this Cruise

[DRS/NC]

Capt. Di Stefano was great with the kids! I still have cute picture of him with our daughter one Easter on the Fairwind in the Carribbean c.1978.

[notentirelynormal]

I agree with the above posters. Loved Sitmar, and the white gloves etc. There were no kid programs back then but the staff were still great with them. My DD learned to fold napkins and set a table properly. They would set up a pyramid of glasses in the restaurant and get nice round oranges and "bowl". I came back to the cabin one day and my DD has unraveled a roll of toilet paper all over the cabin. I ask her what she thought she was doing. The counselor told the kids to go back to their cabin and do it, with one end in the toilet - then flush and watch it be sucked down. They had a scavenger hunt. We tell Stewart we need green cherries. He asks why. We tell him. All of a sudden you hear all the Stewarts yelling at each other and they scatter. They run all over the ship to get her stuff so she can win. Yes - those were the days we fell in love with cruising!

 

Of ya, the the hair drying area! We had one of the first portable recorders and we had to plug it in to recharge every day for the next port. Someone would keep coming by and unplugging it so we finally had to station someone nearby so we could charge it LOL.

 

We sailed on the Fairwind and the Fairsky. Then we sailed on the old Dawn, Regal, Sun, Pacific and Fair Princess. Good times.

[OnVacation11]

Our 1st Princess cruise was on the Fair Princess in 1995 - 10 days round trip from San Francisco to Alaska. I still remember sailing under the Golden Gate bridge on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

On all of our previous visits to SF, the bridge was fogged in all day. We got lucky on that cruise !

[twochromic]

Well, nobody else from Fair Princess in 1993, so here is the story. Bear with!

 

We boarded in Papeete, bound for Hawaii. On the way down, the A/C had failed, and the crew threatened to abandon the ship in Tahiti. So a repair crew flew in from Italy, fixed things, went home, and the crew was now happy.

 

2 days out, though, it failed again. We made several 10 mile circles while they decided what to do out in the middle of the Pacific. The decision was to press on. Since the portholes were painted shut, it got very hot onboard, and folks dragged mattresses to every alcove and stairwell available to sleep. In the cabins, they forced open the portholes, and every piece of cardboard available was stuck out to catch a breeze, and doors were propped open. Crew were very unhappy, but served their passengers extremely well.

 

The repair crew returned from Italy, and were picked up "on the fly" at Christmas Island. Captain Romano (later Chief Captain for the line) announced that "they will stay onboard the remaining trip".

 

One night about 2am they got the A/C going again. But they had to close all those open portholes. We were all sleeping "au naturale" on top of the covers, of course. So at 2am, the door opened. Through one partly open eye, I saw 2 officers come in, hold up a large sheet as they looked the other direction, then 2 crewmen ran in, dogged the porthole closed, and they all quickly exited. We spent the entire rest of the night laughing till our sides had split!

 

Twenty years later we are still laughing about this trip. On subsequent Princess cruises we have run into many crew who either were there, or had heard about the "famous Tahiti cruise".

 

Compensation? Naaah. They offered a discount on the next trip Hawaii to Alaska, but I don't think there were a lot of takers. We did get our Circolo di Capitano upgraded though.

Edited April 29, 2013 by twochromic

[Sitmar Lady]

There is a really cool Sitmar Cruises page on face book that people post old photo's and momento's. Their are even a few Captains that are members such as Napa, Tringale, & Ditel.

[Astro Flyer]

We have been lucky to have old Sitmar employees in the Princess dining rooms who still enjoy their careers at sea and provide outstanding service & a fun experience. :D

 

I'm looking forward to the expanded Alfredo's Pizzeria menu on the Royal Princess & hope it's as good as the Fairwind's pizzeria. I've enjoyed Alfredo's on the Sapphire but it'll be nice to have more options in the Royal's larger venue.

[DRS/NC]

Sitmar Lady -- thank you! I just saw a photo of our first waiter from the Fairsea in 1974!

[windsor26]

Reading this was fun I think it is such a lovely name why do we no longer have a ship with the name Fair Princess Think about it Princess and perhaps use it next