MV Pacific Pearl

Pacific Pearl is the sixth cruise ship of the P&O Cruises Australia brand. She was built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, at their shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, and launched in 1988 as Sitmar FairMajesty. Originally ordered for Sitmar Cruises, she was sold and first entered service with Princess Cruises as Star Princess in 1989. From 1997 to 2003, she served in the P&O Cruises fleet as MV Arcadia. She was renamed Ocean Village in 2003 when the brand was established.Ocean Village was the sole cruise ship of the Ocean Village brand after the Ocean Village Two became the Pacific Jewel. She was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Pearl.

History

Sitmar FairMajesty had been launched and named but was still being fitted out when Sitmar was taken over by P&O in 1988. She was subsequently renamed Star Princess when she commenced operating for P&O's Princess Cruises division in 1989. In 1997 she was transferred to P&O's Southampton based UK fleet as a replacement for SS Canberra, which was scrapped that year. Appropriately, she was refitted for her new role at Harland and Wolff, the shipyard in Belfast that built Canberra.