Southampton's 2004 cruise season has started to gather pace as the docks prepares for what will be the busiest year in recent times for this vital sector of port trade.

Over the coming months it is expected about half a million people will converge on the port's three passenger terminals as the docks handles at least 210 separate cruise ship calls, more than all the other UK ports put together.

This is not only good news for the port but also for the wider region, as it is estimated that every Southampton based cruise ship contributes up to £40m a year to the local economy.

The last few days saw the return of P&O Cruises' two superliners, the 76,152 ton Aurora and the 69,153 ton Oriana, at the start of their new programme of voyages while Caronia, now in her last year as part of Cunard's fleet before being acquired by Saga in the autumn, and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines' Black Prince have also called at the port.

Later this month on Saturday, April 24 Oriana is set to temporarily come out of service until Saturday, May 8 while she undergoes a period of refit at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Next Monday there will be intense activity around 38/9 berth in the city's Easter Docks for the return of the 151,400 ton Queen Mary 2 after her inaugural season in the Caribbean and South America.

She will leave later that day for a sell-out, short four-night cruise to the Channel Islands before undertaking her maiden westbound Atlantic crossing from Southampton to New York on Friday, April 16.

Queen Elizabeth 2 will complete the last leg of her present round-the-world voyage when she also leaves Southampton for New York on Monday, April 19.

Huge crowds are expected all along Southampton Water on the morning of Saturday, May 1 when, for the first time, both QM2 and QE2 arrive in the port of Southampton together.

Tuesday, April 13 is the date for the arrival of P&O Cruises' adults-only vessel, Adonia at the end of her first circumnavigation before she leaves again the same day for a 13-night cruise to the Canary Islands. P&O Cruises' fourth Southampton based ship, Oceana, is not back in port until Friday, May 7 when she arrives after an Atlantic crossing from the Caribbean where she spent last winter.

That day will be a hectic time for the port as Royal Caribbean International's brand new cruise ship, Jewel of the Seas is to be officially named in a glittering quayside ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth II Terminal in the Eastern Docks.

Among the other ships booked to call at Southampton this year are Black Watch, Saga Rose, Sundream, Crystal Serenity, Royal Princess, The World, Van Gogh, Marco Polo, Silver Cloud, Discovery and Saga Pearl.