She was built in 1989 by Wärtsilä Marine, Turku, for Rederi AB Slite as MS Athena for use in Viking Line traffic.

[5] The authorities of Kapellskär failed to modernise their harbour to accommodate such a large ship, and when delivered in April 1989 the ship (which at the time of delivery was the largest cruiseferry in the world) was set on cruise traffic between Stockholm and Mariehamn, replacing the aged MS Apollo III.

Unfortunately at the same time her owners were experiencing notable financial difficulties and were forced to declare bankruptcy in April 1993.

Athena continued serving with Viking Line until August of the same year, when she was laid up in Stockholm awaiting sale.

In September 1993 Athena was renamed Star Aquarius, re-flagged into Panama and started her journey from the Baltic to Singapore.

In 1998 her port of departure was changed into Hong Kong, and around the same time she received Star Cruises' new white-hulled livery.

In October 2006 DFDS decided to drop the stop at Helsingborg in order to save fuel and pilot expenses.

[8] In 2016, the ship hosted an e-Navigation conference onboard while in Copenhagen, Denmark, which included a speech by the International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Kitack Lim.

After testing, Pearl Seaways started official shorepower operation in Oslo on 1 March 2019,[10] for a potential 2.6 GWh consumption per year.