Southampton kicks off ten days of royal celebrations with the arrival of the world’s newest cruise ship today.

The 141,000-ton, Royal Princess is due to berth at the Ocean Terminal, in the city's Eastern Docks, after a voyage from the Italian shipyard where she was built.

Royal mum-to-be the Duchess of Cambridge will make her first visit to Southampton on Thursday when she becomes “Godmother” to the ship and officially names the vessel in front of hundreds of invited guests from around the globe.

Guests of Princess Cruises will embark Royal Princess on Wednesday to attend a gala dinner before a special celebrity concert under the stars and a spectacular firework display which will light up the night sky at 10.40pm.

The official dockside naming ceremony will take place in the morning of the following day.

The ship, the first in a new class of vessel designed for the increasing demands of the cruising market, will undertake two short preview voyages from Southampton before she leaves on her maiden voyage on Sunday, June 16.

With 1,780 cabins, of which 81 per cent have private balconies, Royal Princess holds 3,600 passengers and 1,346 crew.

She has a length of 1,083 feet, seven times longer than Southampton’s Civic Centre clock tower is high, and has a service speed of 22 knots.

It was back in November, 1984 when a previous ship called Royal Princess was named in Southampton by the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

After leaving Southampton Royal Princess will spend the summer cruising the Mediterranean before moving to the Caribbean for the winter.