Ally

Dubai: The second largest cruise ship will make its maiden call at Dubai next year.

Cunard Line has revealed that the Queen Mary 2 will arrive at Dubai on March 11.

The visit comes as part of QM2's first world cruise and follows several calls in Dubai of her much smaller and older sistership, the QE2.

Eric Flounders, a spokes-man for Cunard, told Gulf News by telephone from London that he expected the visit to create quite a buzz.

"It's very exciting for the ship to be coming to Dubai for the first time. She will arrive in the morning and leave in the afternoon," he said, adding that passengers will get the chance to leave the ship and see the local sights.

QM2's world cruise is an 11-week extravaganza for which tickets can cost more than £175,000 (Dh1.22 million). She is sailing into Dubai after stopping at Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Kochi, and will continue on to Alexandria, Athens, Rome and Le Havre before reaching her home port of Southampton on England's south coast.

(Cunard/GulfNews)

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10/10/2009 - Costa Classica - Grand Oriental Cruise - Shanghai, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Kobe, Naha, Keelung and Hong Kong - 16 Nights Cruising in: 274 day(s), 7 hour(s), 40 minute(s)