SOUTHAMPTON-BASED Princess Cruises, part of the massive Carnival group, has announced details of its first ship built exclusively for the Chinese market.

Majestic Princess, which will be based in Shanghai, will be able to carry 3,560 passengers.

It will also bear the Chinese name Shèngshì Gōngzhǔ Hào which translates as “Grand World” or “Grand Spirit”.

Her design includes “Movies Under the Stars” (the largest outdoor screen at sea), a multi-level piazza style atrium, a glass-floor walkway which extends eight metres beyond the edge of the ship and restaurants serving food from Italy, France, North and South America, Southeast Asia, Japan and China.

The ship, believed to cost more than $730 million, is under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Monfalcone, Italy and was launched in February.

Majestic Princess will make her inaugural voyage on April 4, 2017, a five-day Adriatic Sea cruise round trip from Rome with stops in Kotor and Corfu.

The ship will sail the Mediterranean for six weeks following her maiden cruise and this will be the only chance people from the UK will have to travel aboard the new ship before it heads east.

Once in Shanghai the ship will only take bookings from China.

The Royal-class ship is a sister to Regal Princess and Royal Princess but has several new features aimed at its Chinese passengers including additional gaming facilities and a “megadome” over the top deck pool area – normally open to the skies – as the Chinese are not big fans of sunbathing.

Majestic Princess will be home to more than 1,100 square metres of luxury boutiques including top designer brand stores like Cartier, Burberry and Gucci.

Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, said: “With the debut of Majestic Princess, first in Europe and then in China we invite guests to indulge in a world-class experience that allows them to completely relax, unwind and ultimately ‘come back new’.”

It’s believed China has the potential to become the world’s largest cruise market.

According to the Maritime Executive 52 cruises ships will operate in Asia during 2016.

The number of cruise passengers from mainland China grew by 79 percent annually between 2012 and 2014 to 697,000 and Zheng Weihang, Executive Vice President of the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association (CCYIA) has said: “I expect this number to reach 2.5 million by the year 2020, 4.5 million by 2025 and seven million by 2030.”