As expected, when Discovery finished her service with Cruise and Maritime Voyages, she was fairly quickly sent for breaking. Her final voyage, reported to be to Aliaga, was undertaken under the name Amen in October. However, to be fair Discovery has survived for much longer that would have been anticipated when she was built in 1971.
The life expectancy of a (then) modern cruise ship would probably have been fewer than 25 years. It is, therefore, a testament to the quality of her construction at Rheinstahl Nordseewerke, where she was built as one of a pair of ships for Norwegian Cruiseships, a joint venture between Fearney & Eger and Lorentzen. As Island Venture she was chartered to Flagship Cruises, along with her sister, Sea Venture, for service between New York and Bermuda, but the service could not support two ships, and so Island Venture was offered for charter.
She found a home with Princess Cruises, who at that time were looking for a replacement for the chartered Carla C. As Island Princess, she fulfilled a lifetime’s service for Princess, becoming famous as one of the ‘Loveboats’, before being sold to Hyundai for South Korean cruising in 1999. As one of three ships in that market, she was underutilised and was sold to Gerry Herrod, who renamed her Platinum and sent her to Tuzla, Turkey for a major refit. In 2002 she emerged as Discovery and has since operated under that name for Discovery World Cruises and for Voyages of Discovery.
