[2] Warren S. Titus became the first president of Royal Viking Line, which established its US head office in San Francisco.

The ships were all built by Wärtsilä Helsinki New Shipyard, Finland, and were each approximately 21,500 gross register tons (GRT) and nearly identical in appearance, with a tall superstructure and a single, scooped Queen Elizabeth 2-esque funnel.

Each ship featured a double-height theatre occupying an interior space on the two lowest passenger decks; however, on the Star the space just forward of the theatre on the higher of these decks was occupied by a chapel, a feature not found on either of her fleet-mates nor any of the Scandinavian-built cruise ships of that generation.

These vessels were intended for longer voyages to exotic destinations, and a significant percentage of the line's passengers were wealthy retirees.

Royal Viking Line prided itself on single-seating dining, and the restaurant was situated unusually high in the ship, with large windows.

Beginning in 1980, under the leadership of then CEO Torstein Hagen, each of the three ships was stretched to 28,000 GRT by adding a 93-foot prefabricated midships section at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremerhaven.

In 1984, Torstein Hagen arranged a $240 million management buyout of the company, with the assistance of venture capital firm JH Whitney[citation needed].

The passenger capacity on each of the original three ships had been increased to 850, mainly with the addition of staterooms amidships on the Bridge Deck, in what used to be officers' quarters.

A buffet was also added in the lounge on the top deck, since the ships did not have the casual indoor/outdoor dining area (often called a Lido) that was becoming de rigueur.

Aboard both ships, the lounge/buffet on the top deck has been replaced with additional passenger cabins, while the observation lounge above the bridge remains.

Aboard the Black Watch, the aft portion of the formerly vast main dining-room has been converted to two smaller restaurants and an additional lounge.

Olsen retired the Black Watch and the Boudicca after 24 and 15 years respectively due to the COVID-19 pandemic and sold them as accommodation ships for workers in Tuzla, Istanbul.

The ship was charted back to Holland America for one final year before transferring to Phoenix REsisen and being renamed Amera.