AURORA, the latest addition to a growing list of cruise ships based in Southampton docks, has been specially designed for the rapidly growing British market.

Although a sister ship to Oriana and built by the same German shipyard, it is certainly not identical.

"She will be a sister but definitely not a twin,'' said Gwyn Hughes, managing director of P&O Cruises.

"There will be a distinct family resemblance but Aurora will be completely her own 'person' and will feature several evolutionary design modifications and many firsts.

"Her size, which will make her one of the most spacious ships ever built, will allow ample space for a whole range of public rooms, leisure and entertainment features while more than 40 per cent of her cabins will have private balconies.''

For the first time on P&O Cruises, passengers will be able to eat right around the clock with the liner having five restaurants including a bistro open 24 hours a day.

There will be 12 bars ranging from one serving just Champagne to another offering speciality coffee and chocolate while a sports bar will feature wide-screen television broadcasting live and recorded matches, races and contests.

Crowds in their thousands will welcome the liner into port for the first time if the numbers which greeted her sister-ship Oriana are anything to go by.

Every vantage point along the Solent and Southampton Water was packed five years ago with sightseers all anxious to get the first glimpse of P&O Cruises' original British superliner and now the shipping line is hoping local people will turn out again for Aurora.

With Captain Steve Burgoine at the helm, Aurora is due to arrive at around noon on Sunday, April 16, off the Isle of Wight and then enter the docks at approximately 3pm sparking two weeks of celebrations as she officially enters service.

During that time thousands of representatives from the shipping and travel industries will flock to Southampton.

Later this month Aurora, which is still in Germany, will make the tricky 28-mile passage down the River Ems from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg to the North Sea where it will undergo an exhaustive series of sea trials.

For more pictures and a full report on the new liner see tonight's Daily Echo

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