[2] She was built in 1953 by Alexander Stephen & Sons at Glasgow, Scotland as the ocean liner SS Olympia for the Greek Line.

[1] The Regal Empress was also the last vintage passenger ship to regularly sail from the United States.

Her first voyage on the intended route from Piraeus to New York City as an ocean liner did not take place until March 1955 due to legal complications.

[4] In 1968, Olympia was registered in Greece, and spent an increasing number of voyages cruising, this becoming her exclusive occupation in 1970.

She was renamed Caribe and refitted with Klockner-Humboldt-Deutz diesels of 20,270 shp replacing the steam turbines.

One public room that remained untouched throughout her life was her gorgeous, paneled library on Promenade deck.

The ship's original funnel had been replaced by exhaust pipes decorated in a framework design.

The Regal Empress was featured in a late-2007 episode of the TV show MythBusters, where it was used to demonstrate that it is possible to waterski from the back of a cruise ship.

[5] In September 2008, the Regal Empress was removed from service to be used as an aid in the recovery of the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.

[6] The Regal Empress departed Freeport in early April to sail to her final destination in Alang.