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On 3 December 2008, Athena was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. There were reported to be 29 pirate boats surrounding the ship at one stage until a US Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft circled above which led some of the pirates to flee. The crew prevented the pirates from boarding by firing high pressure water cannons at them. No one was injured and the ship escaped without damage and continued on her voyage to Australia.[4]

On 17 September 2012 reports announced that she and her fellow ship Princess Danae were detained in Marseille, France for outstanding fuel bills, it was also announced the Arion was said to be detained in Montenegro for similar issues.[5]

Early in 2013, Athena was bought by the recently created Portuguese cruise company Portuscale Cruises and renamed Azores. As soon as her acquisition was confirmed she was taken to a shipyard in Marseille where she is currently under a revamp awaiting to enter Portuscale Cruises service once she has completed a charter to Berlin-based Ambiente Kreuzfahrten from whom she was to be charter to from Classic International to join her fleetmate Princess Daphne. The charter begins in March 2014 with a cruise from Lisbon, Portugal to Bremerhaven, Germany and concludes in November 2014 in Genoa, Italy.

In 2015 she is scheduled to enter long-term service with Cruise & Maritime Voyages with a maiden voyage from Avonmouth Docks to the Caribbean in January 2015. All crewing and ship management services will be handled directly by Cruise & Maritime Voyages.[