Hundreds of agents have stepped on board Saga Cruises first new-build vessel for the over-50 travel specialist.
The 999-passenger ship arrived in Dover last week from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany ahead of a two-day trade sailing.
Travel Weekly was among the first to step on board. Watch our Facebook Live tour:
The ship, which was due to sail to Bruges, suffered a “technical issue” on Tuesday night forcing it to remain in Dover.
Captain Julian Burgess later informed passengers the technical problem “had been resolved”, but that his crew were “out of hours” meaning the ship would not sail overnight as planned.
Instead, the ship will sail along the south coast on Wednesday.
Spirit of Discovery is the first vessel since P&O Cruises’ Britannia (2015) to be built specifically for the UK market and describes itself as “Britain’s first boutique hotel at sea”.
The ship will be christened by the Duchess of Cornwall on Friday at the Port of Dover quayside which will be transformed with grass into “contemporary garden party”.
Spirit of Discovery will become the first cruise ship to be named in Dover for more than a decade, and the first to be docked in the recently developed £250 million Dover Western Docks Revival.
The ship will then depart on its inaugural cruise around Britain on July 10.
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