MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Luxury ocean liner secrets revealed

A museum, a 6,000-book library and a conservatory will feature on Cunard's new 90,000-tonne liner Queen Victoria, it has been revealed.

The £300 million vessel, to be built in Italy, will enter passenger service in December 2007.

The arrival of the 16-deck, Southampton-based vessel will mean that Cunard will have three Queens in service at once for the first time in the company's 167-year history - the other two being the QE2 and the Queen Mary 2 (QM2).

The Queen Victoria will be able to carry more than 2,000 passengers and around 900 crew.

Featuring a three-storey grand lobby, the vessel will leave on her maiden voyage - a 10-night North European tour - on December 11, 2007. Fares will range from £999 to £8,679 per person. After that, the 964ft-long liner will depart on a 16-night cruise including stops at Lisbon, the Canary Islands and Casablanca.

The ship's museum will house Cunard artefacts and memorabilia, while the conservatory will have a central fountain and a retractable glass roof and the library will boast stained glass, leather sofas and a spiral staircase.

Other facilities include a number of restaurants, including the 130-seat Queen's Grill, the three-deck Royal Court Theatre, a two-deck ballroom, a shopping arcade, a casino and an art gallery. There will be play areas for children, health facilities and swimming pools.

There will be more than 1,000 cabins, with more than 70% of them having balconies. The accommodation includes four grand suites, two master suites and 25 penthouses. The ship is being built at the Fincantieri shipyard near Venice.

Cunard president and managing director Carol Marlow said: "Cunard has the unique distinction of owning the most famous ocean liners in the world, and I'm delighted to be able to announce this magnificent addition to our fleet. Sir Samuel Cunard himself would have been rightly proud.

"Queen Victoria will be a classically-styled Cunard Queen, offering the very best of our heritage, along with the luxury and modern day comforts our guests have come to expect. Being the second largest Cunarder ever, Queen Victoria is perhaps not about size superlatives, but rather style superlatives."