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 Marine Turku Shipyard in Finland, but completed by Kvaerner Masa-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 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. Concept and construction Birka Queen was ordered by Birka Line for short cruises out of Stockholm as a running mate to . 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. Service history 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 , spending five days at the site with many survivors from the famous ship on board, while parts of Titanic were being salvaged. On 10 June 1995, Royal Majesty grounded on Rose and Crown Shoal about 10 miles east of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, and about from where the watch officers thought the vessel was. Investigators found that the officers failed to act on visual cues about the vessel's location, over-relying on the automated bridge system. The vessel, with 1,509 persons on board, was en route from