[5] Prior to beaching at the scrapyard, her yellow funnel, a trademark of Costa Crociere, was painted white.

She was launched on 29 April 1969 and delivered to her owners on 4 December of the same year, entering service on the same date.

During the early years of her service with Costa she sailed in the Mediterranean during the northern hemisphere summer season, relocating to the Caribbean for the winter.

Countries visited included China, South Korea, Japan, Vietnam,[9] the Philippines, Malaysia,[10] Thailand and Indonesia.

For these cruises, Costa Allegra featured a French master, cruise director, maitres 'd, receptionists and two French chefs, one of whom, Jean Abauzit, served on board the renowned Mermoz, retired a decade earlier.

[12] The fire was extinguished by the on-board fire-suppression system and there were no injuries, but the ship was left without power and adrift about 200 miles southwest of the Seychelles.

[13][14] She was towed by the French tuna-fishing vessel Trevignon, from the Compagnie Française du Thon Océanique (CFTO) based in Concarneau,[15][16] to Mahé in the Seychelles for repair and evacuation of the passengers.

Her story was a part of a feature on the scrapping operations of Aliaga in the January/February issue of Cruise Travel Magazine.