LEONARDO and Kate did it standing on the bow of Hollywood's Titanic in one of the blockbuster movie's most memorable scenes.

Now it could be your turn if you book a trip on the world's largest megaliner heading for Southampton.

With the help of the film-maker's wizardry, the couple stood on the make-believe deck, high over the Atlantic, with their arms spread, flying over the waves, but soon this will not be a special-effects trick but reality for passengers on the Explorer of the Seas.

Later this year, the 142,000-ton cruise ship, more than twice the size of Southampton's luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2, is due to make a dramatic entry into the port for her international debut.

She will be the biggest cruise ship ever to visit the docks in its entire history, an enormous vessel with 14 decks and designed to accommodate up to 3,838 passengers who will be looked after by 1,176 crew.

One of the most innovative features is a special platform in the tip of the bow - where normally, on other ships, only crew members are allowed to stand - for passengers to re-enact the scene from Titanic.

Explorer of the Seas is not so much a cruise ship but more a massive floating resort, with every kind of passenger facility owners Royal Caribbean International can imagine.

Costing a cool 500 million dollars to build, the ship even has her own 900-seater ice rink, a promenade the length of two football pitches, a rock-climbing wall, a wedding chapel for marriages at sea and her own TV studio and broadcasting station.

The theatre can seat more than 1,300 people and the dining-room soars three decks high, while out on deck there is a golf range.

Throughout her week-long visit to Southampton, when the ship will use 38/9 Berth in the Eastern Docks, thousands of representatives of the maritime and travel industries will visit the vessel.

After arriving on October 5 from the builder's yard in Finland, Explorer of the Seas will undertake two short cruises before leaving for New York.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.