The maiden trip of
Cunard Cruise's new Queen Elizabeth ocean liner has become the fastest selling voyage in the cruise line's history.
It took just over 29 minutes for the voyage to sell out, beating the record of 36 minutes set in June 2007 for the final sailing of the QE2.
Meanwhile, more than half of the passenger places for the remainder of the maiden season were snapped up within 90 minutes.
Carol Marlow, president and managing director of Cunard, said that bookings had been particularly strong from people in the UK, the US and Germany.
"This is an impressive record set by what will be an impressive ship and speaks volumes for the Cunard brand as well as for the resilience of the cruise sector," she commented.
Cunard's fleet also consists of the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Victoria.
Written by Mike Cotgreave