 In late 1996, the managing director of P&O, Mr Phil Young, announced that "Fairstar"s long career would conclude the following year.When the news was broken to the public, the final cruise was sold out in a few hours.On 21 January 1997, "Fairstar" sailed on her last ever cruise, visiting Amédée Island, Nouméa, Lifou, Vila and Havannah-Boulari Passage before finally returning to Sydney.