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This website has no connection with any shipping company, cruise line, boat operator or other commercial organisation - There are no postcards for sale on this website
P&O and Princess Cruises
Page 1: 1962-1988
This is one of a series of pages devoted to postcards of the P&O and Princess Cruises fleets.
An alphabetical list of ships
shown on this page is shown below. Below this are official
postcards of the fleet
in chronological order. Later cruise ships delivered 1989-1999 are shown on
Page 2
, whilst ships delivered from 2000 are shown on
Page 3
. There is a
Table of Ship Histories
on the
P&O Header Page
.
These pages are devoted to postcards of the cruise ships of P&O and Princess Cruises fleet. P&O liners that have been used for cruising are linked from the
P&O Header Page
, only purpose-built cruise ships or major conversions are shown on this page. Ships from the 1989
Star Princess
are shown on
Page 2
. Swan Hellenic Cruises, also part of P&O, are shown on
Page 3
.
P&O acquired a 51% interest in German cruise company Arkona Touristik in 1999, and links to their ships will be added, starting with
Aida
. In May 2000, it was announced that
Festival Cruises
would be acquired by P&O, bringing two former P&O ships,
The Azur
(ex-
Eagle
) and
Flamenco
(ex-
Spirit of London/Sun Princess
) back into their fleet. However, the two companies later agreed not to proceed with the merger. Following protracted negotiations, P&O Princess merged with
Carnival
in 2003.
Simplon Postcards have issued nearly 50 cards of P&O and Princess Cruises Vessels. A separate page is dedicated to showing these
Simplon releases
.
Ships on This Page:-
Dawn Princess (1)
- ex-Sitmar
Fair Princess
- ex-Sitmar
Fairstar
- ex-Sitmar
Island Princess
- ex-Flagship Cruises
Pacific Princess (1)
- ex-Flagship Cruises
Pacific Sky
- ex-Sky Princess
Princess Patricia
Princess Carla
- Chartered from
Costa Cruises
Princess Italia
- Chartered from
Costa Cruises
Royal Princess
Sea Princess (1)
- later Victoria
Sea Venture
- Flagship Cruises - became Pacific Princess
Sky Princess
- ex-Sitmar
Spirit of London
- later Sun Princess (1)
Sun Princess (1)
- ex-Spirit of London
Victoria
- ex-Sea Princess (1)
Ships delivered 1989-1999
Page 2
:-
Adonia
- new!
Arcadia (2)
Arosa Blu
Crown Princess
Dawn Princess (2)
Golden Princess (1)
Grand Princess
Ocean Village
Oriana(2)
Regal Princess
Sea Princess (2)
Star Princess (1)
Sun Princess (2)
Ships delivered 2000-2005 on
Page 3
:-
Aurora
Coral Princess
Diamond Princess
Golden Princess (2)
Ocean Princess
Oceana
Pacific Princess (2)
Star Princess (2)
Tahitian Princess (2)
P&O Pages:-
P&O Header Page
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 1
- 1962-1988
- this page!
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 2
- 1989-1999
P&O Princess Cruises - Page 3
- 2000-2005
P&O Liners - Page 1
- 1837-1899
P&O Liners - Page 2
- 1900-1914
P&O Liners - Page 3
- 1915-1939
P&O Liners - Page 4
- 1940-1961
P&O Australia
P&O Princess Cruises Photographs
P&O Princess Cruises Cards by Simplon Postcards
Ocean Village
- P&O Subsidiary
Swan Hellenic
- P&O Subsidiary
Associated Pages:-
Arosa Cruises
Sitmar Line
Cruise Ship Postcards
Ocean Liner Postcards
Simplon Postcards Home Page
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P&O Princess Fleet List - Page 1
Princess Patricia
Princess Cruises was formed by Stanley MacDonald in the mid 1960s, when he chartered the Canadian Pacific ferry
Princess Patricia
for cruises from Los Angeles during what would be the ferry's winter lay up. I have never seen any official Princess cards from this period, and am keen to hear from anyone who has any.
Official Canadian Pacific cards, posted in 1954.
Official Canadian Pacific cards, posted in 1955.
Postcard of
Princess Patricia
in Ensenada, Mexico in Princess Cruises service.
Scan: Drew Waveryn
Click to open larger image in new window
Postcard of
Princess Patricia
in Mexico in Princess Cruises service, with the
Northern Star
of
Shaw Savill
.
Scan: Drew Waveryn
Click to open larger image in new window
Princess Italia
The Canadian Pacific ferry
Princess Patricia
was not designed for warm weather cruising, and Princess followed her charter with a more suitable vessel, the purpose-built cruise ship
Italia
.
Italia
was ordered by Sunsarda SpA in 1963, from the Felszegi yard in Muggia, near Trieste. Both the builders and ordering company were owned by the Giacomelli group.
Italia
was one of the earliest purpose-built cruise ships, and was of an advanced design with rear engines and lifeboats mounted on lower decks, giving a very spacious open top deck. Her interiors were designed by Gustavo Finali and Romano Boico, who designed many other fine Italian liners such as the
Augustus, Guglielmo Marconi, Homeric, Raffaello
and
Oceanic
.
Construction proceeded slowly, and
Italia
was not launched until April 1965. During fitting out, both the owners and builders were declared bankrupt, and ownership passed to the
creditor bank BNL. BNL formed a new company Crociere d'Oltremare, based in Cagliari, Sardinia, to charter or sell the ship.
Italia
was delivered in 1967, with a logo of red and yellow triangles on her white funnel. A bareboat charter with Fratelli Cosulich (Genova) had been arranged, and
Italia
ran three Mediterranean cruises for them. Crociere d'Oltremare then chartered her to
Princess Cruises
, who used her to inaugurate their Mexican cruises out of Los Angeles.
Italia
was marketed as
Princess Italia
during her time with, although her name was not officially changed. At this stage she retained her original funnel logo, not receiving the famous Princess logo until the following year. In 1969,
Princess Italia
moved to Alaskan cruises out of San Francisco. The charter to
Princess Cruises
was cancelled in 1973, and
Italia
was returned to Crociere d'Oltremare. After a partial modernisation,
Italia
was then chartered to
Costa
in February 1974, although she was not purchased by them until 1977. She cruised around the world with
Costa
, plus served on further charters, until sold in September 1983 to
Ocean Cruise Lines
.
Complete history of
Princess Italia
Official Princess Cruises release of
Princess Italia
in Acapulco.
This is an early card still showing
Crociere d'Oltremare
funnel colours.
Scan: Sergio de Luyk.
Official Princess Cruises release of
Princess Italia
in Alaska (plus card back).
Scan: Sergio de Luyk.
Official Princess Cruises release of
Princess Italia
.
Princess Carla
The next ship chartered was the
Carla C
, marketed as
Princess Carla
.
Carla C
was originally the
French Lines'
Flandre
. She was bought by
Costa Line
, and given a major rebuilding (including replacement of her steam turbines by diesels). Princess chartered her almost immediately, and it was aboard this ship that Jeraldine Saunders wrote the first chapters of 'Love Boat', the popular TV series which has been credited with assisting in the subsequent American boom in cruise holidays.
Complete history of
Princess Carla
The following official cards show her at Acapulco and in the Panama Canal.
Spirit of London - Sun Princess
Spirit of London
was to have been a sistership to NCL's
Southward
, to be named
Seaward
.
NCL
pulled out of the deal after price rises following the Italian builders' nationalisation, and the hull was sold to P&O. She was eventually completed in the autumn of 1972. When P&O later acquired Princess Cruises in 1974, she was transferred to that fleet, becoming the
Sun Princess
. She was later sold to
Premier Cruise Line
, as
StarShip Majestic,
and then operated for
Festival Cruises
as
Flamenco
. Following the collapse of Festival Cruises,
Flamenco
was sold for $12.25 million to Cruise Elysia, being renamed the
New Flamenco
. In 2007 she was sold to Club Cruise for £26 million and renamed
Flamenco I.
In November 2008, Club Cruise defaulted on their payments and she was sold at auction for just $3.4 million.
Complete history of this ship
Official P&O postcard of
Spirit of London
.
Official P&O postcard of
Spirit of London
.
Official P&O postcard of
Spirit of London
.
Official Princess postcard of
Sun Princess
.
Postcard of
Sun Princess
.
Pacific Princess
(1974-2003)
Island Princess
(1974-2000)
These ships were completed in 1971 as
Sea Venture
and
Island Venture
for Flagship cruises, a Norwegian company set up by established lines Lorentzen, Fearnley & Eger etc. They were sold to P&O, for their recently acquired Princess subsidiary, in 1974. Flagship Cruises then bought the
Kungsholm
, which was also, in turn, sold to P&O.
Island Venture
was renamed
Island Princess
in the Princess fleet, and served with them from 1974-2000. She was then sold to Korean interests as the
Hyundai Pungak
. In 2003,
Island Princess
was acquired by UK-based Voyages of Discovery, who renamed her
Discovery
.
Sea Venture
was renamed
Pacific Princess (1),
and served with Princess until 2003 when she passed to Spanish Operator
Pullmantur
and renamed
Pacific
. From summer 2008
Pacific
is operating in Europe for new Spanish company Quail Cruises then
New Pacific
.
Complete history of
Island Princess
-
Complete history of
Pacific Princess
Flagship Cruises official card of
Sea Venture
.
Flagship Cruises official card of
Sea Venture
.
Flagship Cruises official card of
Island Venture
.
Scan:
Rogerio Gouveia
This is an early card of
Pacific Princess
, when the fleet only consisted of
Sun, Island
and
Royal Princess
An early card of
Island Princess
, although
Sea Princess
had joined the fleet.
A later card of
Island Princess
, immediately prior to the arrival of Grand Class ships.
The
Pacific Princess
card contemporary with the one above.
A later
Island Princess
card, maybe the last since issued.
A later
Pacific Princess
card.
The
Pacific Princess
card included in the
Princess Postcard Set
available in 2000.
Pacific Princess
is due to leave the Princess fleet in 2002.
Hyundai Pungak
Island Princess
was sold in 2000 and became the
Hyundai Pungak
.
This photograph of
Hyundai Pungak
was taken by Ken Murayama at Pusan on 4th July 2001.
There were no postcards available on board when he travelled on the ship in March 2001.
Sea Princess - Victoria
This ship was originally the
Kungsholm
, bought by P&O in 1979 to replace the aging
Arcadia
. She was given a major overhaul in Bremen, which ruined her classic liner appearance. Initially Operated by P&O Cruises in the Australian, then British markets, she was later transferred to the US market and appeared in Princess colours. She eventually returned to P&O, and has subsequently been renamed
Victoria
. In Winter 1999/2000
Victoria
operated a cruise on charter to the Union-Castle Line, and received a red/black funnel. An official card was issued in these colours.
Victoria
will leave the P&O fleet in 2002.
Complete history of Sea Princess - Victoria
An early official card is shown below, before the black top was added to the funnel to hide the effects of soot.
A strange
Sea Princess
card to release, with distorted proportions.