SHE is the length of 32 London buses and can carry nearly 5,000 passengers.

Royal Caribbean’s brand new ship the Anthem of the Seas sailed into Southampton dwarfing many of the waterfront’s icons.

Shipping enthusiasts had the chance to see the state-of-the-art cruise ship glide into port as she made her way up Southampton Water before making the city her home port for the forthcoming season.

Towering over the waterfront dock workers stopped to take photos of the 18-deck liner, which is 1,141 feet long and 136 feet wide.

The largest ship to be based in the city she will be spending the coming weeks here before her maiden voyage later this month.

She is billed as one of the most architecturally and technologically advanced ships ever.

Shipping chiefs believe the ship will bring in a “significant amount of money into the local economy” with more than £50 million in knock-on benefits over the season.

Dominic Paul, a senior vice president at Royal Caribbean International, pictured below, said he expected 80,000 holiday makers to board the liner over the coming months giving the city a £50m boost.

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“It’s an enormous honour to see the Anthem of the Seas come to Southampton,” he said. “This ship is a whole new holiday experience. Southampton itself is a very attractive port for those going on cruises.

“The connections here are very good, you can get to Southampton from anywhere in the country.”

Costing more than £1 billion to build, the new ship replaces the 3,634-guest Southampton-based Independence of the Seas, which at the time of her launch in 2008 was the largest cruise ship in the world. Anthem features a number of game-changing “firsts at sea”, including a skydiving experience called RipCord by iFLY and the North Star, a capsule, which extends 300 feet above the ocean allowing 360-degree views.

Other cutting-edge attractions include SeaPlex, the largest indoor sports and entertainment complex at sea with bumper cars and roller skating and the cruise line’s largest and most advanced staterooms, where holidaymakers can experience the “bionic bar” where guests can order drinks via computer tablets then watch the automated bartenders mix and deliver their cocktails of choice.

Mr Paul added that the ship will appeal to a wide range of holiday makers and is not daunted at filling the 4,905 capacity.

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Picture by John Kennedy

He said: “This is an incredible experience, this is a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. We’ve got a lot of customers who have cruised with us before and they are really keen to try the latest Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

“With this incredible array of activities on board we will fill this ship.

“If people want to try the latest in cruise technology then you need to sail the Anthem of the Seas this season out of Southampton.”

Godmother of the ship Emma Wilby, a chorister from the Military Wives, will christen the ship and perform a song to more than 1,300 specially invited guests and dignitaries on Monday.

Emma said it was a “huge honour” to be part of the proceedings next week.

She said: “It’s something that I will cherish for a long time.”

When she sets sail for the Mediterranean later this month guests on board will be partying to Ben Elton’s Queen musical We Will Rock You.