New Queen Elizabeth Cruise Liner To Visit The Canaries On Her Maiden Voyage

The Queen is to officially name Cunards new £400m Queen Elizabeth cruise liner in Southampton on 11th October 2010 before the ship sails on its maiden voyage, to the Canary Islands, the next day. The Queen Elizabeth's maiden voyage is a 13-night cruise to the Canaries, with fares ranging from £1,489 to £15,799 per person.

The Queen will attend the ceremony in Southampton on 11 October, The QE is seen as the successor to the QE2 which ended its life as an ocean liner in 2008 and was sold to Dubai-based property developers Nakheel. The new ship means that Cunard's fleet will again have three Queens, along with the Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria.

The Queen named the QE2 on the Clyde in 1967 and was at Southampton in 2004 to name the Queen Mary 2. Her Majesty was also present in 1938 when her mother, then Queen Elizabeth, launched the first Queen Elizabeth liner, also on the Clyde.

Peter Shanks, Cunard president and managing director, said: "We are both honoured and proud that Her Majesty will name our new liner Queen Elizabeth."

The 90,000-tonne vessel has been built at the Fincantieri shipyard near Trieste in Italy.

Queen Elizabeth - or just QE as the ship is already being called - is one foot longer and one foot wider than the QE2. But with 16 decks, it is much taller, view the BBC news clip of the new ship.