Queen Elizabeth’s maiden voyage to the Canary Islands was sold out in half an hour of going on sale Cunard’s new cruise ship, the Queen Elizabeth, is arriving in its home port of Southampton later.
The ship will be officially named by the Queen on Monday and will leave on its maiden voyage to the Canary Islands on Tuesday.
It was built in Italy and replaces the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) which made its last transatlantic crossing in 2008.
The vessel will join the other “Queens” in the Cunard fleet – the Queen Mary 2 (QM2) and the Queen Victoria.
This is the third Cunard ship to be named Queen Elizabeth.
The first was launched on the Clyde in Scotland in 1938 by the then Queen Elizabeth – who later became the Queen Mother – with the present Queen, then aged 12, looking on.
The Queen launched the second Queen Elizabeth, the QE2, on the Clyde in 1967. She also named the QM2 at Southampton in 2004.
The new QE is one foot longer and one foot wider than the QE2 – which was sold to Dubai-based property developers Nakheel after being retired – but with 16 decks, it is much taller.
The ship looks like its sister, Queen Victoria, but is more than a third smaller than Cunard’s largest liner, the QM2.
The maiden voyage sold out in 29 minutes and 14 seconds when it went on sale on 1 April 2009.
The 13-night cruise sets off from Southampton at 1700 BST on 12 October and the first stop is Vigo in Spain, then to the Canary Islands.
The cheapest fare is £1,489 for an inside cabin, with prices rising to £16,000 for a grand suite.
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