The MS Winston Churchill was built in 1967 by Cantieri Navali del Tirreno e Riuniti S.P.A. Riva Trigoso, Genoa, Italy.

The Winston Churchill was built as a car ferry for the Scandinavian Seaways DFDS service from Esbjerg to Harwich, and proved a very successful vessel on the route.

As demand for vehicle-carrying services grew, larger vessels were required for the route and the Winston Churchill was transferred to the River Tyne in 1978, for the twice-weekly service to Gothenburg, following the arrival of the new DFDS vessel MS Dana Anglia on the Harwich route.

After the military exercises she went to be re-fitted for luxury cruises, at a yard on the German Kiel Canal, in early 1987.

Then she would sail summer luxury cruises from Esbjerg, up along the Norwegian coast and into the fjords, following the old Hurtigruten trail to Northcap and back.