Kristina Cruises. Renovation and renaming Renamed MS Kristina Regina after the 17th century Queen Kristina of Sweden, the ship was extensively rebuilt as a cruise ship, with first having her steam engines replaced with diesel units at the Wartsila shipyard at Kotka. Then during the winter of 1988-89 the vessel was completely renovated at the Holming shipyard in Rauma. All cabins without bathrooms were removed and 120 brand new cabins were installed, whilst the remaining 30 were completely renovated. During the renovations her car deck was converted into a 250-seat conference and function hall, a sauna was added on first deck and a tax-free shop was installed on third deck. With exceptions of some minor alterations, her profile remained intact. In April 1989 the Kristina Regina commenced her first cruise, operating from Finland mostly to destinations along the Gulf of Finland, but later also destinations in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and Africa's west coast. By February 2007, she was the only Finnish cruise ship in service. A large modernization took place in 2001, but the interiors and exterior remained intact. After 22 years service as a cruise ship and despite still being in good condition the Kristina Regina wasn't capable by 2010 of fulfilling the stricter fire safety requirements of the SOLAS 2010 regulations. As a result it was decided to withdraw the vessel from international cruise service and replace it with the much larger Kristina Katarina. Preservation The Partanen family were very attached to the Kristina Regina and did not want to see it scrapped. Aware of the efforts of Finnish’s entrepreneur Johnny Sid’s well publicized but ultimately failed attempt in 2008 to save the ferry Finnjet Mikko Partanen approached Sid prior to withdrawing the cruise ship from service to see if he was interested in buying the MS Kristina Regina. Sid had an interest in old passenger ships due to his family’s past involvement with the Bore and Silja lines and in 1984 had enjoyed a family holiday about the Bore. Using the experience he had already gained in attempting to save the Finnjet and later the Kungsholm Sid was able to obtain build a business case and obtain the financing necessary for the Finland-based Oy S/S Borea Ab to buy the Kristina Regina for operation as a hotel, restaurant and museum. Oy S/S Borea Ab is dedicated to preservation ships that have