Epirotiki (and later Royal Olympic) Cruises sleek 11,724 gross ton BLUE MONARCH was built as the RENAISSANCE in 1966 by the famed Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard (builders of the ILE DE FRANCE, NORMANDIE and FRANCE, among others) for Compagnie Francaise de Navigation's Marseilles to Haifa service and cruising. RENAISSANCE was distinguished by her all white livery and her futuristic lines, many elements (bow, forward superstructure and stern) borrowed from or inspired by the FRANCE of 1961.

From 1970 onwards, she joined Nouvelle Compagnie de Paquebots (Paquet) on full-time cruise service. RENAISSANCE had a spacious, teak-covered lido with two large pools and airy, modern interiors with upmarket, original Midcentury fittings by designers such as Eero Saarinen and Raak Fuga, among others.

In 1977, she was purchased by Epirotiki Lines and renamed HOMERIC RENAISSANCE and in 1978, she became the WORLD RENAISSANCE for a charter to Costa Cruises that lasted until 1985, when she returned to the Epirotiki fold.

In 1995, she became the Indonesian-based AWANI DREAM for a short time, then returned to service for Epirotiki and later Royal Olympic as WORLD RENAISSANCE in the late 1990s.

After the collapse of ROC, she sailed as the GRAND VICTORIA before being chartered by short-lived Monarch Classic Cruises as the BLUE MONARCH in 2007. In 2008, she was laid up and eventually sold for scrap, arriving at Alang in 2010 under the delivery name MAESTRO.