Built in 1982, this Cruise-Ferry was designed for DFDS, Denmark, for operation between New York and Bahamas as a combined Cruise and Ferry vessel. She was built at Dubigeon-Normandie S.A. in France and at the time was the largest Cruise-Ferry in the world. Sold to RCCL in 1989, she was converted into a dedicated Cruise Ship and renamed M/S Viking Serenade. In 2002 the vessel was sold to Thomson Cruises and renamed once again, this time as M/S Island Escape. In 2013 she was operating in the Western Mediterranean and the Canary Islands.