Cambodge started her maiden voyage in July 1953. Her route linked Marseilles with various ports along the
Suez Canal,
Red Sea,
Indian Ocean,
South China Sea, and western
Pacific Ocean. From Marseilles, she sailed across the
Mediterranean Sea and through the Suez Canal and Red Sea to
Port Said and
Suez in
Egypt,
Aden in
Yemen;
Djibouti; across the Indian Ocean to
Bombay,
India;
Colombo,
Sri Lanka; and the island of
Singapore; through the South China Sea to
Saigon,
Vietnam;
Manila,
Philippines;
Hong Kong, and along the Pacific coast of Asia to finally reach
Kobe and
Yokohama in
Japan. Along with
Viet Nam and
Laos, she sailed without major incident on this route until 1967, when the
Six-Day War closed the Suez Canal.
Cambodges sister ships were bought by Compania Navegacion Abeto to carry
Muslim pilgrims, and remodelled to carry over 1,600 passengers. Both were destroyed by fire in the mid-1970s.
Cambodge, however, was bought by Sun Lines, a
Greek cruise line, for conversion into a
cruise ship. In 1970
Cambodge sailed to
La Spezia in northern
Italy, where she was renamed
Stella V and her interiors were partially gutted for a massive planned remodelling. When plans were completed,
Stella V sailed to
Perama, in southern Greece for conversion into
Stella Solaris. Her passenger accommodations were revised to 765—all first class—and nearly twice the original capacity. Her
gross register tonnage was reduced to . Her funnel was replaced with a more finned and streamlined one, her superstructure was terraced, lengthened and expanded, her cabins were fitted with
air conditioning and private baths, and her pool and lido section was expanded and moved. Many of the French and Italian decorations were replaced with Greek-themed artwork, including ceramic, metal and
velour features. Upon incorporation into Sun Lines' fleet, she was the largest vessel. and was said to have a "repeat passenger ratio that was the envy of her competitors". In 1995, Sun and the rival
Epirotiki Lines merged to form Royal Olympic Cruise Lines. Soon after, in 1998,
Louis Cruise Lines, the final owner, bought most of the shares in Royal Olympic. Due to the
Kosovo War the following year,
Stella Solaris was temporarily laid up at Piraeus. In 2001 an accident damaged one of her propeller shafts, which was repaired soon after, but continued to cause problems. ==Fate==