The ship was built by Slovenské Lodenice at their shipyard in Komárno, Czechoslovakia, and entered service in 1978.

At 3,935 tonnes,[5] Feliks Dzerzhinskiy is one of the world's biggest river cruise ships.

Her sister ships are Valerian Kuybyshev, Mikhail Frunze, Fyodor Shalyapin, Sergey Kuchkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Aleksandr Suvorov, Semyon Budyonnyy and Georgiy Zhukov.

Feliks Dzerzhinskiy is currently operated by Vodohod, a Russian river cruise line.

The ship has two restaurants, two bars, solarium and resting area.