P&O Nostalgia

We have plucked out our top P&O Instagram posts from 2021 so far.

There is a resounding theme to these glorious pictures. Are you missing our beautiful ships? We are!

Let’s take another trip down memory lane and revisit the Fairstar, the ship that sparked Australia’s love affair with cruising.

Fairstar began full time cruising from Australia in 1974 but not before doing numerous voyages carrying immigrants to Aussie shores including the ‘Ten Pound Poms’ under Australia’s post-war assisted passage migration scheme.

However, it is holiday cruising for which Fairstar is best remembered, P&O Cruises Fairstar was the star in the memorable and iconic advertising campaign, ‘Take me away, P&O’. Almost everyone in the country knew the song about the legendary “Fairstar the Funship” and, plenty of people experienced the ‘fun’ firsthand … many repeatedly!

Many a life partnership began with an onboard ship romance. For popular comedian, Demo Simis, it was the start of a 30-year career at sea starting as aqua sports manager and disc jockey. “The memories will never be replaced or forgotten,” says Demo. “The passenger participation shows and theme nights were fantastic!”

For paramedic Mike Ristuccia, a Fairstar family cruise as a 15 year old began a lifelong passion for cruising inspiring his popular social media blog for Fairstar diehards TSS Fairstar. “It was a cruise from Sydney to the South Pacific, departing from Pyrmont wharf 13 for 13 nights and returning on February 13!” says Mike. “Despite all the ‘13s’, it turned out to be a fantastic adventure and started my passion for cruising and cruise ships.”

Do you have any fond memories of Fairstar? We believe ships have a personality and Fairstar will always have a special place in P&O heritage and in our hearts.

Let’s take another trip down memory lane to the much-loved Pacific Dawn and the Towel Animal Competition run in 2019. And we all know how much Cruiselings LOVE their towel animals!

Fifty room stewards went the extra mile to impress guests with their creative towel animal displays, mixing creativity and recycling to come up with some incredible displays.

Dinosaurs, cows, pigs and even unicorns were spotted everywhere onboard. The crew stayed true to the recycling theme by incorporating eco-friendly items including boxes, toilet paper rolls, old mop heads, gloves and egg crates, each adding extra flair to their exhibit. Guests were encouraged to explore each deck and see all 28 towel animal designs before voting for their favourite.

Can you remember who won?

We can't wait to share the magic of towel animals with you again.

Here's to a cheeky trip back in time to St Patrick's Day in 2019, where the team on Pacific Dawn helped guests’ commemorate St Patrick's Day in true Irish style.

All things Emerald Isle were celebrated. From splendid Irish themed cocktails including Shamrocktails, Grassy Leprechauns, Irish Sours and Galway Girls, to shamrock themed cakes, leprechaun hats, oversized ties and balloons as far as the eye could see.

No one does special event celebrations better than P&O, and we can’t wait to get back into the spirit of it when cruising resumes.

Make sure you grab your greenest outfit, a sprig of shamrock (or clover as we like to call it) and enjoy a pint of Guinness to mark the occasion.

Or you could try one of our yummy cocktails at home.

• Irish Sour - Irish Whiskey & Lemon Juice
• Galway Girl - White Rum shaken with a touch or luck
• Lucky 17 - Whiskey, Elderflower & Apple Juice
• Shamrocktails - Midori, Malibu, Sweet & Sour with Pineapple Juice

Right now we can’t sail to Mare, New Caledonia, but we can certainly dream of our return.

Going through the P&O archives, we un-earthed this amazing shot of much loved Pacific Pearl on one of her first calls to Mare, with a young Mare islander gazing contentedly out to sea.

If you have sailed on one of our cruises to Mare you’ll know how exceptionally beautiful it is.

Our Destinations Director, Michael Mihajlov, runs out of adjectives when he talks about Mare.

“Our first call to Mare was on April 15 in 2012. Mare’s geographic magic comes from the colours in the water, which is unique due to the different depths of the reef close in to the shore. The refraction of light creates an array of colours unlike any in the Pacific Islands. Together with the amazing white sandy beaches and swimming lagoons, Mare is definitely one of the most beautiful of our South Pacific island destinations."

Dreams do come true and we hope return to Mare soon.

Did you know that February 24 is World Bartender Day? A day that celebrates the craft of bartending, the bartenders themselves and the passion they have for one of the world’s oldest professions.

As you know, we have some incredible bartenders at P&O, and an internationally recognised winner in our midst. In 2020, P&O Cruises bartender, Antonio Pepe was crowned one of the world’s top cocktail makers after being awarded a silver medal in the 2020 Bacardi Legacy Cruise finals for his ‘Ron Passion8’ creation.

Antonio outshone thousands of other bartenders around the globe to reach the final, which saw three bartenders create their special version of a rum-based cocktail.

This is the second consecutive year that a P&O bartender has made it through to the final stages of this international competition. Has anyone tried Antonia Pepe's Ron Passion8? If you haven’t, put it at the top of your list when you next cruise and you might even be lucky enough to have Antonio make it for you personally :)