Her namesake is HMS Endeavour, Captain James Cooks' research ship, which discovered Australia and New Zealand; and the new vessel was designed for global expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic as well as in tropical conditions.

[12] Following the collapse of parent company Genting Hong Kong in January 2022, Crystal Endeavor completed her last Antarctic cruise in February, at Ushuaia, Argentina and was then laid up at Montevideo, Uruguay under arrest.

[16] On Monday July 18, 2022, Royal Caribbean Group announced they received court approval to buy the "ultra-luxury" megayacht Crystal Endeavor for $275 million.

[17][18] Prior to her maiden voyage it was intended to refit the ship, but due to scheduling and supply chain issues, only minor modifications were made with venue names and signage.

Following the Antarctic season several substantial changes were made to the Silver Endeavour including: converting the casino into crew cabins and an infirmary, removing the current infirmary and converting into four balcony suites, and removing the helicopter bay on Deck 8, and remodeling it into six suites, since Silversea has no plans to utilize the two helicopters that Crystal had on order for the ship.