Feb 05, Colombo: The luxury ocean liner Queen Mary 2, one of the world's largest and most expensive cruise ships, arrived at Sri Lanka's Colombo Port Monday.

Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, in a brief ceremony welcomed the vessel with traditional Kandyan dancers.

The luxury liner is carrying over 2,300 passengers from USA, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada with over 1,000 crew members, the Bureau said.

The local excursion tour operator, Gemini Tours and Travels, has taken the tourists on a prearranged tour to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and Kandy and a Colombo City tour.

The ship was scheduled to set sail by 11 p.m. today and is currently underway from Colombo to Langkawi, Malaysia.

Queen Mary 2 is Britain's Cunard Cruise Line's flagship ocean liner. The ship with 14 decks and 1,300 luxury rooms consists of spas, state-of-the-art swimming pools, an auditorium, theater, a gym, casinos, and the only Planetarium at sea.

It has set sail from Southampton, UK on the 10th of January on a tour to New Zealand. The vessel was berthed at Cochin, India, before resuming its journey to Colombo.

According to the Sri Lanka Port Authority officials, more than 27 such luxury carriers had already been scheduled to call at Colombo Port this year.

Sri Lanka welcomed over one million tourists in last year and targets 1.2 million arrivals this year.