Southward was NCL's fourth cruise ship, the others being Sunward (1966), Starward (1968), and Skyward (1969).

In 1987, however, she was dispatched to the west coast of the United States to begin operating out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) on three and four-night cruises to Catalina Island, San Diego and Ensenada, BC, Mexico.

[2] The Southward was featured on episodes 315 and 316 of Baywatch, which originally aired on January 25, 1993 and February 1, 1993 respectively.

From 2004, she joined the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, under the name of Perla.

[3] In 2005, she operated cruises out of Piraeus to the Greek Islands and Turkey, after a winter in the Far East.