Your Sitmar Experience

Let's go back in time..... Your Sitmar Experience !

My grandma was a frequent cruise traveler & always had brochures on her coffee table. Of all her cruises she couldn't stop talking about Sitmar. How Italian it was, the food, the Fairwind, the service. She had many Princess & Royal Viking line brochures also.

When most boys my age were dreaming of Star Wars in 1978, I was obsessed with cruise ships....specifically the Fairwind ! I made a promise to myself that as soon as I became an adult with some disposable income that I'd run, not walk to our local travel agency.

Fast forward to 1988 when I did run to the travel agency & the friendly woman told me that Sitmar was just that week bought out by Princess . I couldn't believe it. When I finally set sail, Fairwind was officially Dawn Princess. The sea witch looked beautiful on her funnel & gone was the famous Sitmar yellow. Back then a 25,000 grt ship seemed big !

The mostly older crew seemed tired & going through the motions, particularly in the dining room. I found this surprising considering the reputation of Sitmar, but a table mate said that the general changes after Princess were notable. Much of the food & desserts were prepared on carts at the table & full platters of vegetables were individually served. My cabin steward was near my age, Portuguese, very warm & friendly.

We talked in Spanish. Dawn Princess was obviously an older ship that had seen younger, fresher days. The cosmetic upkeep didn't seem to be a priority for Princess. I still loved the ship nonetheless.

On this cruise I discovered two places that I still gravitate to aboard any ship - promenade deck & aft pool . I'll never forget swimming in that aft pool in a tropical sunset & hearing the dinner chimes & announcement in Italian calling first seating to the dining room.

My first cruise was on the Fairwind and we sailed the 1st sailing of the renamed Dawn Princess.

Do you remember Baked Alaska lit aflame in the Darkened Dining room for a huge display of 20+ giant trays circling the dining room to the applause of everyone in the dining room?

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Yes, what an occasion. I also was impressed how a crew member escorted us ALL THE WAY to our cabin.

I sailed on both the Fairwind and the Fairsea. As a young, single girl travelling alone, I got lots of attention from the mostly younger Italian crew! I do remember the baked Alaska parade, back when all your meals were eaten in the dining rooms and every night was dressy. I still have the glasses they used to give when you were members of the "Captains Circle" (don't remember what exactly the name in Italian was).

I thought the Italian Crew was fabulous! Sitmar was a real Foody experience. Also loved the community experience of the women all gathering in the "dressing Room" in order to use electric hair appliances (hot rollers) and the big long mirrors and dressing tables. Everyone visiting and getting to know the ladies around them. It was a different era in cruising!

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Our very first cruise was on the Fairsea in 1984 for 11 days to the Mexican Riviera. We had a wonderful time with our kids in a small interior room but it hooked us on cruising.

Some of our memories:

Wonderful Italian crew --especially the waiters

I do remember the hair dryer rooms

Baked Alaska

Singing "Olde Lang Syne" in the showroom on the last night of the cruise as everyone swayed back and forth.

A Bon Voyage party in our stateroom for family and friends and then throwing streamers as we sailed away.

Great memories.

My first cruise was on the Fairwind in 1974 when I was 11 years old. I loved the cruising life I was introduced to and have been cruising as much as I can since then. My memories:

Great food and service, and dinner with the Captain in the dining room. He had his own table and would invite passengers to dine with him. Also remember the real flaming Baked Alaska and loved the Midnight Buffet.

There was trap shooting off the back deck.

Having to pay for, and being assigned a deck chair. This is the cruise where I fell in love with the Promenade Deck.

The Captains Circle was called the Circolo club but not sure of the spelling.

Men dressing in Tuxedos with ruffled shirts, not my style but still made for great photos.

We were spoiled by our 2nd cruise which was on Sitmar's Fairwind in summer 1988. The white glove service from silver serving platters by Italian & Portuguese waiters was amazing. Their pizzeria in red & white had freshly baked calzones & pizzas which were great. It was an all Italian & Portuguese and our waiter was pictured on that final Sitmar brochure and Paolo was great!

Six months later we sailed the now Dawn Princess & definitely noticed changes...all of those great things were gone & the overall cruise experience definitely was degraded. :( Two years later we tried Costa's Cruising Italian Style which was closer to Sitmar than Princess but overall we preferred Princess.

While I don't know if Princess offered a nightly pasta course before the merger, thankfully Princess still has this option even though it's no longer freshly made onboard the ship. I occasionally run into one of the old Sitmar Italian or Portuguese crewmembers & enjoy reminiscing with them. A few continued their careers with Princess because of their love of the sea.

However the price we paid was about the same as now nearly 30 years later. With inflation we paid much more & today such prices would be closer to those on luxury or more premium cruise lines such as Oceania & Azamara. I've never sailed on those premium cruise lines because of their price however good friends who've sailed Oceania, Azamara & Princess say they're a step up from Princess. Although to get Sitmar's level of service & food we'd probably have to sail a luxury cruise line which definitely isn't within our budget.

And with Princess we can afford to sail more days & to still enjoy our cruise experience. Even though it'll never be Sitmar it also doesn't have Sitmar's higher prices. It's enjoyable to have a trip down memory lane however the good old days of cruising were rarely affordable for many of us to take a cruise.

Lobez...I still have my cruise log book & it was the Circolo del Comandante which is translated to the Captain's Circle. Do you remember the list each cabin received with the roster of passengers & their hometowns? I discovered at the end of the cruise their were other passengers from our small town.

My first cruise was through the Panama canal on Sitmar. The food was fantastic, the crew outstanding and the parties onboard were so much fun, especially the costume party. Cruising HAD to become a way of life after that!

I never sailed Sitmar, but 1992 our first cruise was on Sky Princess (formerly Fairsky, I believe). It was so elegant. We had pasta every night, the Dining Room staff were mostly Italian and we had great times. I remember the flaming Baked Alaska and our wonderful room steward. That cruise got us hooked on cruising.

Several years later we sailed on the Dawn Princess on one of her last trips. She was tired and listed to port. The maintenance crew worked overtime keeping her serviceable and we learned some Portuguese phrases that are not in the normal curriculum. Heading south on the inside passage the Star Princess changed course to salute Dawn Princess. Apparently the Star's captain had served on the Fairwind.

In February 1985, we took the Fairsea from Aruba through the Panama Canal to Los Angeles. As everyone else has stated, the food, the crew, and the service were exceptional.

We had our 17 month old daughter with us. At the time, not many children would be on board (there were six under the age of ten on our sailing).

Sitmar had a complimentary children's program for six months old and up (there were cribs and diapers in a separate nursery area of the children's area).

The staff were not Sitmar employees but were instead volunteers that did a round trip (LA-LA) for free in exchange for working in the children's area a certain amount of time. And the qualifications to be eligible to volunteer were stringent. Sitmar only accepted people that had professional experience with children, i.e; nurses, EMTs, teachers, etc. On our cruise the volunteer staff consisted of one teacher, two pediatric nurses, an EMT and a child social worker,

Besides the usual fun and games, the teacher had a daily two hour "class" time in which she was available to help with school work.

The highlight was the cookies and milk "tea" party that the captain and his wife hosted in their quarters for the children (parents were welcomed to attend).

At the time ship's would not have a buffet area. In the morning, there would be a light breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, pastries, cereal, fruit) set up on the rear of the promenade deck.

Because our daughter had learned the first day that all the action was on the upper decks, she would be awake and ready to go around 6:30 AM each morning. We would go up to have breakfast on deck. On the third morning, as we approached the serving table, a ship's officer was standing there.

We didn't realize he was waiting for us until he approached and said he had a big favor to ask of us. The ship crew had families and many missed their children. Would we please allow our daughter to be taken to the crew mess for breakfast?

When we said yes, he arranged to meet us back at the serving table in one hour.

Every morning after that, a ship's officer was there for the "baby," and in one hour an officer (including the captain one day) would carry her back up to us. She usually had jelly smeared on her mouth and she would be clutching some goody a crew member had given her. We would be given a full report by the returning officer on what she had eaten and drank at breakfast (and it was always nourishing food, the goody clutched in her hand was just the good bye treat each morning).

It seemed that every crew member on the ship knew Alicia (our daughter) and always stopped to talk and play with her as we passed. This included the crew that usually did not interact with passengers such as the deck washers, the mechanics, and others. This would happen in the presence of a "boss," who would just smile as the crew stopped to play with the baby.

The last day, when we were leaving, there were tears in the eyes of the crew who said good bye to her as we passed to leave. We had also received a handwritten note from the captain the night before thanking us for sharing our baby with the crew and telling us we would never know what a difference her presence had made on board ship.

Well done OP!

There should be more threads like this:):):)

I thought the Italian Crew was fabulous! Sitmar was a real Foody experience. Also loved the community experience of the women all gathering in the "dressing Room" in order to use electric hair appliances (hot rollers) and the big long mirrors and dressing tables. Everyone visiting and getting to know the ladies around them. It was a different era in cruising!

 

 

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You are bring back fond Sitmar memories.

Strange as it sounds, the community dressing rooms were FUN experiences.

Gosh, the food was WONDERFUL! :D

LuLu

My first cruise was on the Fairsea in 1980. I was ten and my sister was twelve. We cruised over Christmas and we sang in a children's choir on Christmas evening in the main theatre. I still remember our waiter's name was Marcello. I have no idea how I remember that. We had so much fun. It was the first vacation where we could do things "on our own" in the kid's club.

Homosassa what a beautiful story. Thank you so much for sharing.

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Yes, those were good times. The kids could do no wrong. My DD would disappear and when I'd notice there she was doing dolly racing. Dolly and suitcase and dolly and Kim. I told her to leave them alone so they could work. Umm, no. Back on and the races were on. Every night this drop dead gorgeous young Italian would see my daughter enter the dining room. He would stop what he was doing and run over, put her arm through his and escort her to the table. She was 7. Our cabin held 4. Two sets of bunk beds and a single night stand. We actually had an outside cabin. You walked down a narrow hallway and looked out the tiny port hole. The midnight buffet was a King's spread.

One night the Captain was doing a speech. I told her to leave the cruise director alone that he was working. As the Captain finishes up and walks toward the back of the room for the photo op he grabbed my daughter and took her with him pulling her to his side. Came time for the first dance, she was it. He handed her off to the CD and then on to the other officers. My DD could fold napkins with the best of them.

Every time I watch the Love Boat I laugh. About the only real thing on that ship is the staircase. The pool is the about the right size but you certainly couldn't dive in it. I mean Julie and staff had a cabin that was twice the size of the real M'D's cabin. His was really the size of the waiters except instead of 4 there was just him and he got his own bathroom. Back then, the morning was spent doing the place settings for dinner.

Fast forward many years later. She is an 18 YO. We see one of our friend waiters. One that we had known since she was 7. Yes, people we were friends. Every time the ship docked in Vancouver we met up with him. Sometimes shopping, sometimes our house. Anyway, he was laughing about her "boots" that she wore for Air Cadets (the US version of ROTC). The guy with him laughs. You could hear a pin drop. He looks at the other guy and says, YOU have no right commenting on her shoes. I've known her since she was a child.

We initially sailed on the Fairsky under Sitmar and then several more times after Princess took her over. Loved the ship and really loved the Sitmar crew. Initially the transition from the Italian Sitmar officers to the rather stiff British Officers of Princess was difficult. When asked I still say 40 cruises later, Sitmar is/was the best.

Went on the Fairwind in 1978 as a 16 year old, 10 night cruise from Ft. Lauderdale. Loved the food, service and for some reason I really enjoyed the "horse racing" with the wooden horses in the main lounge. Skeet shooting off the stern.

We loved Sitmar and it was the favorite cruise line of our, then, very young DD who loved the way the Italian crew doted on her. Among our fond memories were the wonderful fresh pastas (made tableside at every dinner) and the amazing midnight buffets (every night). But our most vivid memory happened when we were on the last cruise of the Fairsky (which was changed over to the SkyPrincess immediately after our 1988 cruise. One evening (near the end of the cruise) we were in a bar where a passenger was giving the Italian bartender a difficult time over his drink. The bartender got angry, threw a glass against the wall, and shouted, "everyone get out of my bar.....we are closed!" He later told us that he, and most of the other crew, had been "fired" by Princess....effective at the end of that last Fairsky cruise. When Princess took over Sitmar, they did not retain many of the Italian crew.

Hank

great stories about Sitmar! I have never sailed them, but it's nice hearing all the stories. Someone mentioned the Baked Alaska parade in the MDR, along with the singing of Aulde Lang Syne.p, abd the fact that were escorted to your stateroom by a crew member upon boarding. When we first atarting cruising on Celebrity back in the mid 90s, they always had the Baked Alaska parade & singing on the last formal night. They also always had a crew member escort you to your stateroom upon boarding. The escort was eliminated in the early 2000s I think, & the parade more recently. I have to admit, the parade was a bit hokey after a while!

Oh my god! Sitmar holds the top spot in my cruising memories. The white glove treatment, the buttered linguine with meat sauce and on and on. Never really got into the cakes with liquor poured over them to keep em moist, but I suffered thru it:D

Cruised the Fairsea to Alaska, 14 days out of San Francisco. To a young kid, this was the cruise bug biting hard enough to break skin, so to speak!

First cruise, honeymoon, 1987, Fairsea. They were giving away free drinks before sail away. I was able to take 2 drinks off the ship over the gangway to my sister and her boyfriend, this was in LA, and walk back on the ship. No security, no buffet, no TV's, streamers, skeet shooting, real formal dining. Hooked for life!

Forgot to mention, no balcony's and ocean view was just a small porthole.

Forgot to mention, no balcony's and ocean view was just a small porthole.

And the gym was a small space between the hull & a metal interior bulkhead with a couple of exercise machines. The Fairwind was built in 1957 as Cunard's last oceanliner the RMS Sylvania. There may have been a real gym as an oceanliner but when converted for cruising that space was apparently used for other purposes & thus a gym was stuffed into what appeared to be a storage space.

Sailing with our kids their quad bunk beds cabin was huge by today's standards. There was about 5' of floor space between the bunk beds & also the closets with lots of storage space.

One small example of the difference between Sitmar & Princess...Sitmar's souvenir coffee cups were made from Staffordshire Fine Bone China from Sherwood England; Princess souvenir coffee cups are ceramic made in China. ;)

Our very first cruise was on Sitmar's Fairwind; we loved everything about the line. Reading the various posts brings back many wonderful memories: The service was outstanding and we were always treated like royalty. The crew was fabulous with children and always greeted us with a genuine smile. The food was outstanding and we loved the fact that we had vegetable options with our entree. We enjoyed the Venetian Quartet and the officer interaction with the cruisers. I remember one time one of the officers had his family on board and his young son took a liking to our daughter --- they would pass in the hallway and he would say ciao and she would just blush. Sitmar was also the only line where we got a listing of all the passengers to keep as a souvenir. The hair preparation room was unique and filled with fun conversations. My husband is Italian and enjoyed many conversations with the crew and staff. We will always miss Sitmar --- at least we have many wonderful memories of our cruises with them.