The mv Pride of Burgundy was initially to be built as the mv European Causeway as part of an order for four new freight ferries for the 4 hour Dover to Zeebrugge crossing in the early 1990's. The original order with the shipyard was for four identical ferries to be named: mv European Seaway, mv European Highway, mv European Pathway & mv European Causeway. During the construction of the mv European Causeway the design was seriously amended and the ship was converted to full passenger mode, entering service as the mv Pride of Burgundy.

The forward part of deck 7 was designed as passenger cabins for use on the Zeebrugge route, these are still present on the ship after the conversion and are now used by the crew as living accomodation. Unlike the mv Pride of Kent (ex. mv European Highway) & mv Pride of Canterbury (ex. mv European Pathway) the ship feels very much like a converted freighter. Due to the conversion of the ship during construction, the passenger capacity is the lowest on the route being in the region of 600 passengers less than her converted sisters. Early in her career the passenger capacity was increased from 1320 to 1420.