Replacing the older and smaller DAR steamer Empress, Princess Helene could carry 500 passengers and 50 automobiles as well as large amounts of freight.

Special side-loading doors moved vehicles and freight to large wharf elevators at Digby and Saint John to cope with the tidal range in the Bay of Fundy.

Princess Helene was part of a chain of CPR's transportation system that “spanned the world” and as such she was outfitted in the style of the company's "Duchess" ocean liners.

The new ship had a greater capacity for automobile and truck traffic but lacked her predecessor's grand ocean liner charm and would be replaced by another newly built vessel carrying the same name Princess of Acadia within 7 years.

“The 4,000 ton Princess Helene closed out 33 years service Saturday (May 4th, 1963) - on this run patronized by the people of the Maritimes as well as vacationers from other parts of Canada, the United States and elsewhere.