Despite every effort to have the ship ready in time for her original scheduled maiden voyage on May 12 out of Southampton, it was decided that an extra week was needed in the shipyard before she could take on passengers.

David Dingle, Princess Cruises' UK marketing director, says:

"She is a truly superb ship and we are delighted with her, but it would be wrong to send out a ship is she is not ready. We are confident everyone who sails on her will be thrilled."

Grand Princess is the third Grand Class ship in the fleet. Together with Sun Princess (introduced last December), and Dawn Princess, which went into service in May, 1997, the introduction of the $400 million Grand Princess positions Princess Cruises as one of the leading Caribbean cruise operators and will increase its overall capacity by 50 per cent.

The ship includes three state-of-the-art show lounges - the first cruise ship to do so - each offering passengers a different option for after-dinner entertainment.

She also features three main dining rooms, an entire deck dedicated to suites and 750 cabins have their own private balconies.

And on top of all that, she boasts

• A motion-based interactive cinema offering virtual adventure rides through sea or space
• A spectacular nightclub positioned 15 decks above the seas and accessible by a moving glass escalator
• A theatre with a flexible seating arrangement which can be altered to create a 'theatre in the round'
• A Blue Screen Room, where passengers can be filed and their images merged into pre-exisiting film scenes, using technology similar to that used in the film Forrest Gump
• A wedding chapel