ALMOST 4,000 passengers visited Liverpool during the sun-soaked weekend as one of the largest cruise ships replaced one of the smallest at the city cruise liner terminal.

On Saturday, the liner m/v Discovery docked in time for the Armed Forces Day event at the Pier Head, providing a poignant moment for the many service veterans on board to enjoy the cruise’s maritime memories theme.

Discovery carries around 750 passengers and was built in 1971 as the Island Princess. It was one of the original two liners operated by Princess Cruises and became world famous when she featured as locations for the US TV series Love Boat, made between 1977 and 1986.

Discovery Captain Derrick Kemp, from Formby, was joined on the round-Britain cruise by his wife, Bernadette.

He said it was a very special day and supported calls for Customs facilities to be introduced at the Pier Head terminal.

“I have not sailed out of the Mersey since 1982 and bringing this cruise liner into Liverpool has been one of the most emotional days of my seafaring career,” he said.

“It's utterly ridiculous that you cannot start and end any cruises at this fabulous berth by the Liver Building.”

And yesterday the city welcomed the largest in the latest Princess Cruises fleet, the m/v Crown Princess.

Weighing in at 113,000 gross tons, Crown Princess is six times the weight of its predecessor, at 17,700 gross tons, and carries 3,100 passengers.

Among those visiting Liverpool for the first time yesterday were Ramona Gallos and Pat Chorney, from Winnepeg, Canada.

Ramona said: “We saw the two cathedrals, went to a beautiful museum and thoroughly enjoyed it.

“Being Roman Catholic, I found it very moving and was very pleasantly surprised – our expectations were exceeded.”

Managing the arrival and departure of two ships meant a busy time for staff at the cruise terminal. Angie Redhead, Liverpool cruise terminal manager, said: “The Discovery passengers are predominantly British, with an average age of 71. Then, a day later, we went to the other extreme, from the smallest ship in operation to the largest one, which is Crown Princess. This was really the test of what we can deliver.