The Cristoforo Colombo was slightly larger than the Andrea Doria, making her the largest merchant ship in Italian service.

The Pietà was put in a crate filled with plastic foam, which was lowered onto a rubber base in the first class pool where the least damage was likely to happen to it.

In 1977, the Italian Line sold the vessel to the government of Venezuela, where she was used as an accommodation ship for workers during the construction of the planned city of Ciudad Guayana.

The Cristoforo Colombo is prominently featured in the 1962 Warner Brothers film Rome Adventure starring Suzanne Pleshette, Troy Donahue and Rossano Brazzi.

The opening titles of the 1971 film The Burglars ("Le Casse") by Henri Verneuil shows the Cristoforo Colombo at dock in Athens, Greece.