Each standard cabin (non-suite) is equipped with either two or three single beds (not movable) and a private washroom with shower, sink, and toilet.

The Ofotens and Vesteraalens steamship company commissioned a new ship which was to be built at the Kværner Kleven shipyard in Ulsteinvik.

It was christened on 23 March 1996 by Queen Sonja of Norway in a double ceremony with MS Polarlys, which was built at a neighbouring shipyard.

[3] On February 18, 1997, MS Nordkapp travelled to Trondheim to work as a hotel ship during the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1997[3] On 29 November 2001 at 7:40pm the ship suffered a total engine failure on both main engines outside Henningsvær in Lofoten.

In 2005, MS Nordkapp was taken out the Norwegian coastal route and put into service in the Baltic Sea before cruising Antarctica to Chile.