WHAT is 63,524 tons, red, pink, orange and white? For the next few days the answer is going to cause quite a stir in Southampton.

Over the years the city has seen ships of all shapes and sizes come and go, but none have looked like Ocean Village, the UK's latest superliner that caused many people to stand and stare as she made her way up Southampton Water, flanked by tugs spraying water jets high into the air.

Also turning heads will be the showbusiness personality rarely out of the headlines, Ulrika Jonsson, when she arrives in Southampton to name the ship in a glittering dockside ceremony.

Ocean Village is the first in a new breed of holiday ship and boasts of tearing up the old rule book when it comes to enjoying life at sea.

Even its appearance is radically different and is designed to stand out in the fiercely competitive cruising industry as companies battle for the biggest number of passengers.

Startling red, orange and pink motifs are blazoned across the vessel and brightly coloured artwork covers the hull and funnel while the slogan "See more, do more, be more'' is written along the side of the ship.

Formerly better known in Southampton as the more sedate P&O Cruises ship Arcadia, the vessel has undergone a complete makeover in Germany ready for her new career in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

Before leaving Southampton the ship will be officially named by Ulrika in front of 1,000 guests attending a gala celebration culminating in a huge fireworks display that will light up the sky over the port next Monday.

A spokesman for the ship said: "Ocean Village is a new casual concept.

"She offers cruises for people who don't do cruises.

"Formal dress, restrictive mealtimes, ballroom dancing and sherry with the captain are off the agenda on this ship.''

Ocean Village, which will be berthed at the Mayflower Terminal in the city's Western Docks while the crew prepare for the naming ceremony, will undertake a summer season in the Mediterranean before being repositioned to the Caribbean in the winter.