Ocean Village Two, Britain's latest cruise ship, was due in Southampton today signalling the start of the busiest period in the port's illustrious history.

With its distinctive, vivid pink and orange livery, Ocean Village Two will be officially named by catwalk queen Jodie Kidd and her sister, Jemma Kidd, the celebrity make-up artist, in a dockside ceremony next Tuesday.

It's not only the colourful graphics on its hull and superstructure that make Ocean Village Two stand out from more traditional ships as the vessel, designed for passengers looking for casual, informal voyage, boasts that it is "the cruise ship for people who don't do cruises''.

Ocean Village, which will berth in the Western Docks, is set to arrive in Southampton from Bremerhaven, Germany where she has undergone a wide-ranging refit.

Over the course of the next week a total of 15 different cruise ships will visit the docks. There will be 19 individual vessel movements and in excess of 77,600 people will use the port's three passenger terminals.

On Sunday the world's largest cruise ship, Liberty of the Seas, will sail through the Solent and up Southampton Water before docking on schedule at 7am next door to Mayflower Park.

Fireworks spectacular Hundreds of spectators are expected to flock to the park to watch three spectacular firework displays beginning at 9.45pm on Sunday and Monday evenings while on Tuesday it will be staged at 9pm as Liberty of the Seas leaves for a two-night mini-cruise at 10pm.

Next Thursday at about 10am Southampton will witness a unique maritime event when Liberty of the Seas will meet up for the first time and sail past another Royal Caribbean International super-liner, Navigator of the Seas, as it begins a summer long programme of cruises from Southampton.

As the two huge vessels come alongside one another it is expected that the whistles of both ships will boom out a greeting that will echo across the city.

Other ships due in Southampton over the coming days include Queen Elizabeth 2, Millennium, Oceana, Aurora, Arcadia, Artemis, Queen Mary 2, Oriana, Constellation, Saga Rose, Saga Ruby, Boudicca and Sea Princess.

Next Tuesday alone there will be a staggering 439,363 gross tonnage of cruise ships in the port with about 40,000 passengers disembarking and joining vessels.