[5] She did not stay in service with her original owners for very long, as the route she was designed for proved unsuccessful, and in 1975 she was sold to the Paquet Cruises subsidiary Nouvelle Cie. de Paquebots.

At Festival Cruises bankruptcy sale, The Azur was sold to the Israel-based Mano Maritime for over US$10 million.

Upon entering service for them, Mano Maritime renamed her the Royal Iris and painted a smiling yellow fish on both sides of her hull.

[9] On 28 January 2017 Cruise Industry News reported that the vessel would enter into service for Sovfracht and Rosmorport in a joint venture calling on ports in the Black Sea including Crimea, Yalta, Sevastopol and Istanbul, with the ship sailing round-trip from Sochi.

[11] On board Royal Iris there are three swimming pools, two night clubs, a discotheque, sauna, sports facilities, a casino, hairdressing salon and movie theater.