MS Crown Iris is a cruise ship owned by Mano Maritime. She was originally ordered by Birka Line as MS Birka Queen from the Wärtsilä MarineTurku Shipyard in Finland, but completed by KvaernerMasa-Yards as MS Royal Majesty for Majesty Cruise Line. In 1997 she was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line as the MS Norwegian Majesty and lengthened by 33.76 m (110 ft 9 in) at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany. She was sold to Louis Cruises as the MS Louis Majesty from 2008 to 2012 when she was chartered to Thomson Cruises as the MS Thomson Majesty before being returned to Louis Cruises/Celestyal Cruises, as the Majesty. In 2018 the ship sold to >Mano Maritime.
Birka Queen was ordered by Birka Line for short cruises out of Stockholm as a running mate to MS Birka Princess. The ship was ordered from Wärtsilä Marine, but the shipyard went bankrupt in 1989. Operations were soon reorganized under the name of Masa-Yards, but the price of the ship was increased in the process, and Birka therefore refused to take delivery. Instead, the build contact was sold to Majesty Cruise Line, who took delivery of the ship on 2 July 1992, renaming her Royal Majesty. Due to her past, the ship has some features uncommon for cruise ships, such as the highest Finnish-Swedish ice class.
Following delivery, Royal Majesty set on her maiden voyage, a transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York City, on 7 July 1992. She was officially christened in New York City on 21 July 1992. She was christened by Liza Minnelli. Following this, she was used on three- and four-night cruises out of Florida. In 1994 she initiated a new northern hemisphere summer season itinerary with cruises from Boston to St. George’s, Bermuda, returning to Florida for the winter season. In September 1995 she participated in an expedition to the sinking site of RMS Titanic, spending five days at the site with many survivors from the famous ship on board, while parts of Titanic were being salvaged.
Majesty Cruise Line ceased operations at the end of the 1997 summer season, and Royal Majesty was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line. She was renamed Norwegian Majesty, and in 1999 she received a 33.76 m (110 ft 9 in) lengthening at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany. Similar lengthenings had been carried out on NCL’s Dreamward and Windward the previous year. The lengthening of the Norwegian Majesty however was more technically complicated than those of the other ships, as she had not been designed for such an operation.
In 2004 the ownership of Norwegian Majesty was transferred to NCL’s parent company Star Cruises in preparation for potential transfer to the Star Cruises fleet or sale at a later date. She remained in NCL service without other changes. On 23 April 2008 Norwegian Majesty, was sold to the Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines. Louis Cruise Lines had reportedly outbid International Shipping Partners with their offer of $162 million. The deal was completed on 29 July 2008, but Norwegian Majesty was chartered back to Norwegian Cruise Line until October 2009.
Louis Majesty was chartered to Thomson Cruises from May 2012 and renamed Thomson Majesty. It sailed from Corfu in the summer and the Canary Islands in the winter.
In November 2017 she joined “Celestyal Cruises” and renamed simply as Majesty.
In late 2018, Majesty was sold to the Israeli cruise line Mano Maritime and renamed Crown Iris. In early 2019, the ship was refurbished and lengthened in a stretch and total rebuild operation, extending her length to 216 meters. On 7 May 2019, the ship docked for the first time in Haifa port, Israel, and On 11 April the Crown Iris launching ceremony was held.
As Norwegian Majesty she was based in various US ports and cruised to the Caribbean. As Louis Majesty she was based in Piraeus, Greece and undertook cruises around the Greek Isles. As Thomson Majesty she was based in Corfu, Greece and sailed in the Mediterranean from June–October, and during the winter sailed to the Canary Islands & Morocco. As Crown Iris she was based in Haifa, Israel and cruise along the coasts of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and to various destinations in Europe.
