The ship was built in Germany in 2001 by Blohm + Voss and originally named Olympia Explorer.

The ship was later renamed Explorer when it began sailing for the Semester at Sea program in 2004 and remained with them until 2015.

[4] The ship entered service in July 2016, named Glory Sea, with cruises from several Chinese ports, with destinations in eastern Asia.

[5] In March 2019 the ship was arrested following claims for unpaid crew wages and sold at auction in 2020 to Blue Dream International Cruise.

[5][6] When group travel restrictions in China were relaxed after the Covid-19 pandemic in August 2023, Blue Dream Cruises immediately began their cruise programme with Blue Dream Star, sailing from Shanghai.