[2] The ship was built, at a cost of DM 300 million, by Kvaerner Masa-Yards at their Turku New Shipyard in (Finland), for Deutsche Seetouristik/Arkona Reisen, Rostock, as a "Clubschiff" (Club Ship),[3][1] She was launched in 1996 and entered service in June that year with the name Aida.

[citation needed] In 2021 the ship was sold to a Russian company and renamed Astoria Grande.

[2] In the summer of 2023, the ship began sailing from the Russian port of Sochi.

On Monday, July 31, 2023, Russian passengers disembarking the ship in the Georgian port city of Batumi were met by protesters who threw eggs at the ship, waved Georgian, Ukrainian and EU flags and chanted anti-Putin slogans.

The ship left the port on the evening of August 1, ahead of its scheduled departure.