Arcadia, Southampton's new £200m superliner, will leave the city's Mayflower Terminal in the Western Docks for her maiden voyage on April 14 next year.

The announcement by city based P&O Cruises comes as tickets for Arcadia's inaugural season, featuring 17 Southampton voyages before the ship is repositioned to Caribbean for the winter months, go on sale from next Monday.

Some passengers were so anxious to be among the first to step aboard Arcadia that they registered their names with P&O Cruises to be at the front of the queue for cabins as soon as the company revealed details of the new vessel earlier this year.

According to the company's latest brochure passengers on the maiden voyage, a 16-night cruise to the Mediterranean calling at Spain, Monaco, Italy, Sardinia, Majorca and Gibraltar, will pay anything between £2,739 for a berth in a standard inside cabin right up to £7,219 each for the vessel's most luxurious suite, although there is some discounting for early bookings.

During next year's summer months Arcadia is due to visit Scandinavia, the Baltic, the Atlantic and Balearic islands before crossing to the Caribbean in October for a programme of voyages to the USA, South America, Mexico and Central America before arriving back in Southampton early in April 2006.

Arcadia, now under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in northern Italy, is the largest cruise ship to be built exclusively for British passengers and will be commanded by Captain Stephen Burgoine, the present master of the Southampton based 77,499 ton Oceana.

David Dingle, managing director of Carnival UK, the parent company of P&O Cruises, together with other top executives from the shipping line, has been to the yard to see the flooding of Arcadia's dry dock berth, where the vessel has so far been built, in readiness for the move to a nearby fitting-out basin for the next stage in the ship's construction.

"This is an extremely exciting time for the company as Arcadia will, without doubt, be a fine addition to our fleet,'' said Mr Dingle.

Last year, when work first started on the ship, she was originally destined for P&O Cruises' sister company, Cunard where she was expected to enter service as Queen Victoria.

All this changed when Carnival took the decision to switch the vessel to P&O Cruises and rename her and then order another Cunard ship, also called Queen Victoria, which will begin operation early in 2007.

Designed for adult only passengers, Arcadia will feature glass-front lifts on the exterior of the ship, numerous works of modern art by some of the country's leading artists and two-thirds of her cabins will have private balconies.

Larger than any other vessel in P&O Cruises' Southampton fleet the ship incorporates a three tier theatre, the traditional Crow's Nest observation lounge, a swimming complex and spa area.

Arcadia factfile

Cruise company: P&O Cruises, Southampton Cost: £200million Entry into service: April 2005 Tonnage: 85,000 Length: 952 feet Beam: 106 feet Draught: 26 feet Service speed: 22 knots Fuel capacity: 2,300 metric tonnes Propulsion: Diesel-electric Stabilisers: Two Passengers: 1,968 regular capacity 2,388 maximum capacity Crew: 869 Passenger decks: 11 Cabins: 984 Passenger facilities will include: Three deck high atrium, 14 bars, two swimming pools, shops, casino, night-club, library, 14 passenger lifts including two panoramic lifts on the side of the ship, spa and fitness centre, beauty salon and art gallery.