HUNDREDS of people from west Cornwall, enjoying the last few days of the Christmas holiday, had a treat when arriving in Falmouth on Saturday.

The £550 million Cunard super-liner Queen Mary 2, the world's largest liner, due to be officially named by the Queen this week, anchored in Falmouth Bay. She was there to carry out lifeboat drills on the second of three two-day shake-down cruises before the naming ceremony.

Shrouded by mist, the 1,132ft long mighty Cunarder looked impressive from the shore. On board was Captain Paul Wright - the man who will take over command from Commodore Ronald Warwick after the ship's maiden voyage - who lives at Malpas, near Truro.

Capt Wright gave the Packet an exclusive interview when David Barnicoat, pilot and Falmouth Packet shipping correspondent, boarded the ship with colleague Phil Bush. They presented Capt Wright with a commemorative plaque to mark the ship's historic visit to Cornish shores.

"Our thanks to the port authority for this plaque which we will hang with pride on the bulkhead to remind us. And a big thank you to everyone concerned who accommodated us at short notice. The lifeboat and safety drills went according to plan," said Capt Wright. During the visit he also managed to go ashore in one of the liner's high-tech tenders, for shopping and have a pasty.

The 54-year-old captain, who spent 10 years living in Cornwall in his 20s, has lived at Malpas for four years and has a waterside apartment on the banks of the river. He spent the past four years in command of the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2 before joining the QM 2 in the builder's yard in France in November 2003. "This is a superb ship and we are all immensely proud to sail on this futuristic liner," he said.

Falmouth pilot Capt Gordon Kent had the unique honour of piloting Cunard's 150,000 tonne flagship into her anchorage south west of Pendennis Point. It was an immense privilege to welcome the liner just before she embarked on her maiden voyage from Southampton, he said. "I came on duty at 0800 hours on Saturday and an hour later I was on the bridge of the world's most talked about ship."

David Barnicoat and Phil Bush joined Paul Wright on the bridge for the liner's departure and found themselves surrounded by banks of computerised displays on the space age bridge.

The liner will take 2,620 passengers from Southampton to Funchal, the Canaries, Barbados and Fort Lauderdale in the USA on her maiden voyage.

As the huge vessel moved away from the shore, hundreds of people lined Pendennis Point and the seafront.