She was built in 1982 by the CNIM shipyard in La Seyne, France for Home Lines as Atlantic.

She ended her career as an accommodation ship Qing, during which she sank in storm at her berth, and was scrapped in 2019.

The ship would join former fleetmate Oceanic, catering to the family cruise market with a partnership with Walt Disney World.

[7] The ship would continue to sail on routes similar to her Home Lines days with short cruises to the Bahamas.

In November 2013, she was sold for an undisclosed price to Sahara India Pariwar, a multinational group involved in finance, leisure, hotels, construction, property and industrial activities.

[citation needed] While on a repositioning cruise from Durban, South Africa, to Genoa, Italy, with some 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members[18] on board, MSC Melody was attacked by Somali pirates on 25 April 2009 when approximately 300 km off Seychelles at around 11:25 p.m. local time (19:35 UTC).

Media reports indicate passengers fought off pirates by throwing tables and deck chairs overboard before the ship's security personnel could be mobilized.

[20][21][22][23] As a security precaution MSC Melody's original itinerary had been altered to allow her to circumvent some of the more pirate-infested waters.

[20][23] The pirates that attacked MSC Melody were pursued and eventually captured by the Spanish frigate Numancia on 27 April 2009.