[10] Santa Paula started her maiden voyage on 30 January 1933 from Seattle, WA[11] and made 12 port calls en route to New York via the Panama Canal.

[12] The new Santas offered 19-day cruises every two weeks between Seattle, WA along the California, Mexico, Latin America, through the Panama Canal to Havana en route to New York.

[18][19] Single or double occupancy cabins were modified to hold six to nine officers while the enlisted men slept in bunks stacked four to six high.

[21][22] 1943 sailings saw trips to Oran, Gibraltar, Casablanca, Argentina, Liverpool, Cardiff, Belfast, Firth of Clyde[19] Palermo and Portsmouth.

They have the very latest type of moving-picture equipment, a public address system, a fine orchestra and varied facilities for deck games.

Thus equipped, these twin liners offer you the comfort of an attractively furnished country home together with the diversions of your favorite club.

[27] In 1948, the liner was used for exterior shots of the fictional vessel Southern Queen in the Doris Day musical Romance on the High Seas.

Santa Paula was renamed SS Acropolis and began a new career as a cruise ship for the Typaldos Lines.

[29] In 1965 she operated approximately every 10 days on a round trip from Zeebrugge to Funchal, Santa Cruz (Tenerife), Tangier, and Lisbon.

[31] In 1968 the Typaldos Lines owners were arrested and the company dissolved after the Greek government investigation of the SS Heraklion incident found them guilty of manslaughter and negligence.