MS Kydon Palace

MS Kydon Palace is a Greek Ro-Pax high speed ferry, built in 2001 at the Sestri Ponente shipyards by Fincantieri as Festos Palace for Minoan Lines' overnight services between Piraeus and Crete. Initially she ran to Heraklion. In 2020 she was transferred to the Piraeus–Chania route and renamed Kydon Palace She is a sister ship of Knossos Palace. She can reach speeds up to 30 knots. The ship's facilities include restaurants, bars and cabins.

Design and construction
Festos Palace was designed as a Ro-pax night ferry for service between Piraeus and Heraklion, Crete, though also used for daytime voyages. Together with her sistership Knossos Palace, she is very similar to the Janas-class, built by Fincantieri for Tirrenia at the same time.

As built, the ferry measured. Her original dimensions were 214.00 m/191.22 m LOA/LBP, with a 26.40 m beam, a 15.67 m depth, and a draught of 7.30 m. The vessel had an original capacity for 1,000 cars, with a usable lane length of 1,850 m and could carry 760 berthed and 1240 deck passengers. She is powered by four Wärtsilä 16V46C diesel engines, together rated at 67,200 kW, giving the ship a service speed of 29.5 kn.

In total, the ship has eight decks. The Deck 5 is called "Androgeo" and features the reception. The Deck 6 is called "Atlantis", where it has an à la carte restaurant called "Yakinthos", with a capacity of 241 people, as well as a self-service restaurant called "Dionysos", with a capacity of 300 people. The difference between the two restaurants is that in one the passengers serve themselves, while in the other they order their meal. On the same deck there is a lounge called "Niovi", an Internet café, outdoor decks and a shop called "Erofili". In the bow there is a large lounge, the "King Radamanthys". There is also the VIP Lounge - Lux Cabins, with a capacity of 98 people. The Deck 7 is called "Zakros" and has cabins as well as airline-type seats. The Deck 8 is called "Zephyros" and has VIP airline-type seats, swimming pools, a sun deck and a pool bar, which are open during the summer months. There is also the round deck "Asterion" and the disco "Selini"; the ship's bridge is on the same deck.

In service
In 2020, she was transferred from the Piraeus-Heraklion line to Piraeus-Chania and renamed Kydon Palace after Kydon of Crete, the mythical founder of Kydonia, an ancient city of Crete in present-day Chania. She was inaugurated on February 22, 2020, by the Deputy Regional Governor of Chania, N. Kalogeris. A second inauguration ceremony took place on July 25 of the same year, in the presence of the Greek Minister of Shipping and Island Policy, Giannis Plakiotakis and the president of the Grimaldi Group, Emanuel Grimaldi.