Britain’s biggest and newest ship, P&O Cruises’ Britannia, is due to arrive in Southampton, her new home port, today.

For those who want to be the first to welcome Britannia into Southampton, P&O Cruises has produced a special map, which includes viewing times from local vantage points.

Daily Echo:

Britannia’s pilot will board off Nab Tower, off the east coast of the Isle of Wight, at around 10am, before the ship makes her approach into the Solent past Portsmouth and the Island before entering Southampton Water at around noon.

This stage of Britannia’s journey offers spectacular views from Warsash, Netley, Western Shore, Hythe and Dibden with a number of fire tugs escorting her on the approach to Mayflower Park.

Among those going out to meet Britannia as she enters her berth at the Ocean Terminal in the city’s Eastern Docks will be a group of Daily Echo readers, winners of a special competition to greet Britannia’s first entry into Southampton from the decks of a specially chartered pleasure craft.

The £500m Britannia, built specifically for the rapidly expanding British market, has been constructed in Italy at the Fincantieri shipyard near Trieste.

The Ship's vital statistics include:

  • 15 passenger decks
  • 13 bars
  • 13 places to eat
  • Nine places to enjoy entertainment, including a 936-seat state of the art theatre
  • Four pools
  • Three-tier feature atrium
  • More than £1m art collection
  • Extensive children's facilities, including four age group areas, a night nursery and outdoor splash area for teens
  • Sports arena
  • 1,837 cabins - all outside accommodation has a balcony - 64 suites - 1,313 balcony cabins - including 15 single balcony cabins - 460 inside cabins - including 12 single inside staterooms

Britannia will be officially named by the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, on Tuesday before the ship departs on her maiden voyage to the Mediterranean on Saturday, March 14.

Daily Echo:

The 1,082ft, 141,000-tonne Britannia will boost P&O Cruises’ capacity by 4 per cent, carrying more than 3,600 passengers.

Britannia's arrival times:

  • 11am Portsmouth
  • 11.15am Ryde 
  • 11.15am Gosport & Lee-on -the Solent
  • 11.40am Cowes 
  • 12.05 pm Calshot and Warsash 
  • 12.35pm Hythe & Weston 
  • 12.45pm Mayflower Park