Mayoral welcome for luxury liner

A cake in the shape of the liner will be presented to the captain

About 1,000 US citizens were being given a mayoral welcome when their cruise ship berthed in Liverpool.

They are passengers on the 68,000-tonne Crystal Serenity, a five-star liner arriving at the docks on Saturday.

The Lord Mayor, councillor Joan Lang, was due to welcome the captain, crew and passengers as they disembarked to take organised tours of the city.

The Liverpool Culture Company said The Beatles were likely to be high on the agenda for their visit.

'Beautiful ship'

As well as the Mayor, passengers were welcomed by Capital of Culture volunteers and given postcards to send back to the US.

Mrs Lang said: "With more than 1,000 passengers and hundreds of crew members visiting Liverpool, we want to give them the best possible welcome.

"The Crystal Serenity is a beautiful ship and it is great to see large vessels like this heading back into the Mersey.

"We hope that everyone remembers their short stay in Liverpool and returns with their family and friends."

Mrs Lang was due to present the captain with a cake in the shape of the vessel.