CUNARD Line is to spend £12m on soft furnishings and £7.5m on technical work during a refit of its flagship QE2 later this year.
The work will take place between November 12 and December 11, just before the QE2 departs on a millennium cruise from Southampton to the Caribbean, via New York.
A Cunard spokesman said it wanted to operate the QE2 for another 15-20 years, although it is developing plans for a new ship, Queen Mary, and another possible sister ship, for 2005.