The ceremony was attended by members of the public, employees of the P&O Princess Group and local and international dignitaries including Mauno Koivisto, President of Finland.

Artania sailed the South Pacific, New Zealand and Oceania for the first part of 2017, docking at Wellington Harbour on 27 February.

On 26 October 2017, Artania docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, sailing north from New York as part of the autumn New England cruising schedule, departing 27 October to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, which was its last North American port of call before making a transatlantic crossing to Europe.

Due to measures taken by the Government of Western Australia to contain the outbreak and, as there were no Australian passengers or crew on board, Artania was required to anchor offshore as Commonwealth forces were organised to refuel and resupply the ship before it departed.

41 passengers and crew tested positive for COVID-19 and were treated in Perth private hospitals such as in Joondalup Health Campus.

The Australian Government had directed it to leave port, but the ship demanded to stay another 14 days, presumably so that they could be treated if COVID-19 symptoms developed.

"[21] An update on 3 April 2020 by CNN stated that the cruise line indicated that "16 passengers, plus hundreds of crew members" remained aboard Artania.

[23][24] On 17 April, a Filipino crewman of the ship died in the Royal Perth Hospital, the youngest to date fatality in Australia due to COVID-19.

[33] On 26 April 2020, it was considered that 8 passengers and 346 crew members were still on board when Artania left Indonesian waters.

[36] On 8 June 2020, after approximately six months at sea, Artania docked in the port of Bremerhaven, Germany.