MS Isabella - Service History

Service History

Prior to entering service the Isabella visited Pori, Finland where the ship was displayed to the public on 1989-07-03. She had originally been planned to replace MS Rosella on the Naantali–Mariehamn–Kapellskär route, but the authorities of Kapellskär failed to modernise the port of the town to accommodate a ship of such large size. As a result, when delivered the ship was placed on a new Naantali–Stockholm route for the northern hemisphere summer season, and 24 hour cruises from Helsinki for the rest of the year.

In spring 1992 the ship was rebuilt at Naantali with a new skybar on deck 11, new cabins in place of the former second cardeck on deck 5 and her livery was slightly altered by the addition of a red stripe running along the windows of deck 6. After the 1992 summer season SF Line decided to terminate the Naantali–Stockholm service and the Isabella was placed on the Helsinki cruise route all year round. In summer 1993 she made a handful of cruises from Helsinki to Visby. After the 1994 summer season Isabella swapped routes with MS Cinderella and served Helsinki–Stockholm for the next three years. During the summer of 1996, instead of spending the day in Helsinki she made short 'picnic' cruises to Tallinn. These proved to be unprofitable and were terminated after the single season.

In 1997 Viking Line placed Isabella's newly-purchased sister MS Gabriella on the Helsinki–Stockholm route and Isabella joined Amorella on the Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route. After this Isabella has occasionally sailed on the Helsinki route when the normal ships of that route have been docked. She was rebuilt with rear sponsons at Naantali in 2000.

In September 2007 the ship was again docked at Naantali. Her tax-free shop, pub and disco were completely rebuilt, and two restaurants based on new concepts replaced two earlier restaurants. In the future Viking Line plan to refurbish all of the ship's cabins as a part of their large-scale fleet rebuilding programme.