The vessel was built at Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard in the Netherlands and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since 2002.

Mont St Michel was to be named Deauville or Honfleur but this was thought to be too similar to Barfleur.

The internal layout of Mont St Michel is based on the MV Normandie, which also operates on the Portsmouth–Caen (Ouistreham) route.

Major delays in fitting out meant that the ship was not delivered until December 2002, over 5 months behind schedule.

In place of Mont St Michel, the smaller Quiberon was kept in the fleet throughout the busy 2002 summer season, assisted by Purbeck.