It will be fingers crossed that the world's newest cruise ship arrives in Southampton without incident tomorrow as her departure from Germany indirectly led to millions of homes across Western Europe to be plunged into darkness.

Norwegian Pearl, with her highly distinctive and colourful paintwork on her hull, is due along side 38/9 berth in the city's Eastern Docks at about 9am tomorrow for a brief stay. A computer-generated image of the ship is shown above.

It was when the cruise ship left the German yard, where she was built, that a fault in the local power grid sparked off a chain reaction of electricity blackouts. It lasted for up to 90 minutes in some areas, halting trains and affecting households from northern Germany to as far south as Morocco.

The German authorities said the problem may have arisen when a 380,000-volt line was turned off to allow the ship to pass underneath a bridge.

The ship, operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, can carry up to 2,400 passengers and 1,000 crew.

She will host a series of showcase events highlighting many of the vessel's facilities which include ten restaurants, top-of-the-range accommodation in private courtyard villas that even have their own butler, the Stardust Theatre spread over three decks, a champagne bar, cigar club and a casino.

As guests arrive they will be entertained by a 60-strong choir of local singers and a brass band made up of musicians from in and around Southampton.

In the evening the ship will be the venue for a lavish gala dinner and a programme of inaugural celebrations before Norwegian leaves Southampton for her base in the US on Saturday.