http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23250395-29277,00.html

LUXURY cruise ship Queen Victoria has arrived in Melbourne, the first Australian port of call on her maiden around-the-world voyage.

The Cunard liner - sister ship of Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2 - docked on schedule at 7am (AEDT) at Melbourne's Station Pier.

The 294m vessel, which was launched in the UK in December, boasts 1,000 staterooms and the first two-storey library at sea, reflecting Cunard's rich traditions and heritage.

The 90,000-tonne Victoria is also the youngest cruise liner ever to visit Australia and the 44th cruise ship to call at Melbourne so far this summer.

"It's appropriate that Victoria should be the ship's first port-of-call in Australia," Port of Melbourne Corporation chief executive Stephen Bradford said.

"I am sure she will capture the imagination of all onlookers."

Two storey library on a ship...sigh... :wub:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23267816-29277,00.html - I do wish they'd refer to the ships as "she" not "it".

SYDNEY Harbour has been packed thick with people jostling for the best vantage point to watch two massive ships pass by each other.

The super-liners Queen Victoria and QE 2 have been berthed in Sydney over the weekend, met each other on the harbour for the first time tonight.

The ships passed each other between Garden Island and Fort Denison. Huge numbers of people lined harbour vantage points or ventured onto the water in small craft to savour the spectacle.

The Queen Victoria is on its way to Brisbane, while the QE 2 is taking her sister ship's place in a berth at Circular Quay.

The QE 2 is on its last round-the-world cruise before heading to a new life as a floating hotel in Dubai.

The Cunard ship, launched at Clydebank in Scotland by the Queen in 1967, entered Sydney harbour at dawn and berthed at 7am. It will be decomissioned in November.

The Queen Victoria arrived in Sydney early yesterday.

Stretching 294m in length, the 90,000-tonne ship is the second largest in the Cunard fleet and the newest liner ever to visit Australia.

The royal rendezvous came almost a year to the day after the QE2 and the Queen Mary 2 passed each other in Sydney Harbour.

That historic event brought traffic chaos to Sydney when hundreds of thousands descended on the CBD to get a glimpse of the two ships.

beer:

The cricket and soccer probably had something to do with it as well!