The world’s biggest passenger liner makes its first ever call at an Irish port today to pick up 300 cruise passengers at Dunmore East in Waterford.
Cunard Line claims the Queen Mary IIis the biggest (151,400 tonnes), the longest (1,132 feet), the tallest (236 feet) and the widest (135 feet) passenger liner ever built and, at a cost of $800 million, the most expensive passenger ship in history.
The vessel has capacity for 2,620 passengers and 1,253 crew and is as long as 41 double-decker buses.
"On their voyage from Dunmore East to Scotland and onward to Norway, the 300+ Irish passengers and the c.2,000 who sailed to Dunmore East from Southampton will enjoy one of the most luxurious liners ever to set sail," a statement from the company said.
The Queen Mary IIhas a library, ballroom, and jogging track, and the University of Oxford runs a cultural academy on board. The ship also claims the world's first "floating planetarium", where passengers can have a virtual reality tour through the galaxies.
The chairman of Port of Waterford Company, Ben Gavin, said: "Today's call by Queen Mary IIat Dunmore East represents the pinnacle of our considerable successes to date in developing Waterford as a premier cruise destination."