MS Saga Pearl II was a cruise ship of about 18,700 GT that was built in Germany by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft as the Astor in 1981.

Her schedule of winter cruises in the Caribbeean region and summers in Europe did not prove to be profitable, so Hadag decided in October 1983 to sell her.

[5] The South African Marine Corporation (Safmarine) bought the ship in February 1984 and, after a refit in Hamburg during which the passenger capacity was reduced to 530, they began a programme combining cruises in Europe and southern Africa with Southampton–Cape Town voyages, reviving the ocean liner route.

At the same time the HDW shipyard, desperate for new work, would build the ship, and East Germany, which lacked the foreign currency to buy Astor, could pay the intermediary in its national Ostmark.

[8][9] On 29 August 1985, Astor was acquired by Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock (DSR), the East German state shipping company, and was renamed the Arkona.

The vessel was used to give favoured party officials cruises for part of the year, and was chartered to western operators for the remainder.

The vessel then operated on coastal itineraries, providing low-cost cruises for German, Norwegian and Swedish passengers.

Following an auction in August, Saga Cruises acquired the ship after an unsuccessful attempt to do so earlier in the year.

For her last voyage Saga Pearl II sailed from Portsmouth (UK) on 16 February 2019 for a 54-day cruise to South Africa.

This was a coming-home cruise, as it was where the ship spent many of its earlier years, when it sailed the South Atlantic waters for Safmarine.