IN a few days' time a part of Southampton will set sail from the city for almost certainly the last time leaving behind more than two decades of memories.

The classic cruise ship Victoria is to say farewell to her home port severing a connection which stretches back to the time when she was known as Sea Princess.

On Tuesday, October 22, at around 5pm, the 28,891-ton vessel will ease herself away from the docks and head for the Mediterranean on a one way voyage to a new career and yet another different name.

In her wake lies a chequered history but over the years this elegant ship has built up a fiercely loyal band of admirers who will be sad to see her departure.

David Dingle, managing director of P&O Cruises, operators of Victoria, said: "All fine ships reach a point when it is time to retire and it is only right to say farewell to them when they are still able to meet the standards which their passengers expect.

"In doing so we remember no0t just Victoria but all those who have served on her - the ship's companies who have brought her to life, proudly maintained her and provided the services and experiences which her passengers have cherished.''

Entering service in April 1966, the ship was first known as Kungsholm and built by the John Brown yard on the Clyde for the former Swedish-American Line.

In those days the ship had a very different profile to the one recognised by Southampton as Victoria.

She started life with two yellow funnels, the forward of which was a dummy and included for purely cosmetic reasons and featured two masts of a similar colour.

Sadly Kungsholm arrived too late to the Atlantic passenger trade, even on her maiden voyage only half her cabins were occupied and as a result, for the next nine years, her role changed to that of a cruise ship.

It was 1975 that saw the first big change in her career when Swedish-American Line, unable to continue operating at a profit and unwilling to compromise its standards, withdrew the ship and sold her to the American-based Flagship Cruises.

For the first three years all went well until she ran aground off Martinque where she was stuck for five days leaving the owners with such an enormous repair bill that it sank Flagship Cruises.

In June 1978, P&O Cruises announced it had purchased Kungsholm and was to spend £12m on a wide-ranging refit in Germany to emerge early in the following year with a new name and different look.

The forward false funnel had been removed, the aft mast had gone as well while her remaining funnel was heightened resulting in the profile so familiar today.

She also had a new name, Sea Princess, when the ship arrived in Southampton in January 1979 before repositioning to Australia where she operated for the next three years.

In early 1982 Sea Princess sailed from Sydney to Southampton, where she arrived on April 21, just 13 days after the legendary liner Canberra had sailed to join the South Atlantic Task Force for active service during the Falklands War.

The years passed by and in 1995 the ship was given her present name, Victoria, and began another era in her life.

In the summer months she undertook a programme of fly-cruises and sailings from Southampton while in the winter she headed for the sun in the Caribbean as well as round-the-world voyages.

Victoria's final voyage will last 11 nights and among the countries of call will be Gibraltar, Spain, Menorca, France, Corsica and finally Italy where she will pass into the ownership of local shipping interests and is expected to be renamed Mona Lisa.