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Harmony Of The Seas is a 1,188 foot and 227,000-ton cruise ship - the newest and biggest the world has ever seen Worth £800m, it boasts the Ultimate Abyss - the tallest slide at sea - as well as seven separate ‘neighbourhoods’ Stood on its stern the ship would soar above the Shard, the Eiffel Tower and the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai It is 330ft longer than the Titanic, and can carry a human cargo of 8,880 including 2,100 crew from 77 countries The largest cruise ship in the world – measuring more than four football pitches in length with a maximum capacity for 6,780 passengers – has docked in Southampton for final preparations before its maiden voyage. A small crowd of well-wishers, including some dressed in their pyjamas, welcomed the £800million Harmony of the Seas as it arrived just after dawn today, but tens of thousands of people are expected to visit the coastal city this week to catch a glimpse of the gigantic vessel before it carries paying customers for the first time. After sailing from a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, and spending the day yesterday cruising the English Channel, Harmony of the Seas sailed up Southampton Water and arrived at Southampton shortly after 6:15am. It will depart on a short cruise on Sunday – a four-day taster voyage to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands – and on 29 May will make its maiden voyage to Barcelona, where it will be based for 34 seven-night tours of the western Mediterranean this summer. It will sail between Florida and the Caribbean this winter. Royal Caribbean International’s 18-deck ship has set new records for length (1,1188ft), gross tonnage (227,000), width (215.5ft), passenger capacity (5,479 at double occupancy or a maximum of 6,780) and staterooms (2,747). With a crew of 2,100 from 77 countries, the floating city boasts seven 'neighbourhoods', a 10-storey slide that is the tallest at sea, 23 swimming pools, 20 dining venues, 52 trees, surf simulators, robot bartenders, a casino and climbing walls. What on earth will these cruise ship companies conjure up next? Not so long ago, they were busy launching floating cities with an improbable number of pubs, restaurants, swimming pools and even adventure playgrounds. Then along came theme parks, shopping malls, surf simulators, aqua theatres, robotic barmen, zip lines and faux forests with canned birdsong. Now? Well, I am standing on a glass platform on Deck 17 of the newest and biggest cruise ship the world has ever seen — and I’m about to crawl into a stainless steel tube and hurtle down the tallest slide at sea, arriving (hopefully) on the boardwalk 100 ft below. Royal Caribbean has invited me to be the first member of the public to experience the Ultimate Abyss before the 1,188 ft cruise ship Harmony Of The Seas is due to dock at 5.30am today at Southampton in preparation for her maiden voyage next week. Tens of thousands watched from the shore and from a multitude of little boats as she left Saint-Nazaire in Brittany yesterday. The ship’s three pilots have been trained on simulators to cope with the job of manoeuvring her into port. ‘All set?’ shouts the slide’s German project manager, Dr Stephan Spiller. ‘Absolutely!’ I shout back with bravado. It reminds me of the scene in the movie Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid when, just before the two outlaws leap off a cliff into a swirling river, Sundance (Robert Redford) turns to Butch (Paul Newman) and says: ‘I can’t swim.’ For me, it’s: ‘I can’t do heights.’ No matter, I tell myself. Just enjoy the views across the Loire in Saint- Nazaire, where the ship has been built, and marvel at the engineering of this 227,000-ton sea monster. The Ultimate Abyss takes the form of a ferocious anglerfish with a huge dorsal fin and two spindly bodies.