Sitmar's Fairstar (Bibby's Oxfordshire)

[nauditor]

Does anyone know what happened to her after 1973, when I did a R/W on her as Asst. Purser? It was advertised in Cape Town as a R/W 'cruise', vs. the emigrant voyage it really was. Also, someone in the office had figured her speed at the max it used to be when she was a new Bibby ship. Result was, passengers assumed ARR Papeete Mon meant 08:00, DEP Papeete Tue meant 18:00, when in fact we arrived 21:00 and departed 10:30. The 'cruise' passengers were not amused; and neither was I.

[dougnewmanatsea]

1973 was the last year for Sitmar's emigrant service; from then on she switched to becoming a full-time cruise ship from Australia. She lasted through 1989 when P&O bought Sitmar, and continued as a P&O ship (first branded as P&O Sitmar Cruises, then as P&O Holidays) through 1997 when she was replaced by FAIR PRINCESS.

 

There are some good postcard images and a brief history of the ship here from Simplon Postcards (some of the historical information on the page is not quite accurate), and a very good history of the ship with lots of photos here from ssMaritime.com.

 

You also might be interested, as a former Sitmar crew member, in the excellent book "The Sitmar Liners & the V Ships" by Maurizio Eliseo, published by Carmania Press, a fantastic volume with in-depth information on all the Sitmar and other Vlasov-owned ships, and without a doubt the most authoritative work ever written on the line.