As cruise ship royalty graced Tauranga's inner harbour yesterday House of Travel Mount Maunganui travel consultant Bobby Lea MacDonald was lucky enough to get a sneak peek into the life onboard.

The Queen Elizabeth, one of the world's most luxurious ocean liners sailed, into Tauranga's inner harbour at 5.45am yesterday on its first visit to Tauranga since the liner was launched in 2010.

Inside the Queen Elizabeth.

The $634million Queen Elizabeth is the third generation of Cunard Line ships dating back to the late 1930s.

Bobby Lea, who has been onboard previous cruise ships to dock in Tauranga, says the inside of the ship was 'really lovely” offering a very homely feel for the passengers and has two distinctive features compared with other ships.

'The Queen Elizabeth operates on a class system where passengers are separated by a bottom class and top class. It also has a ballroom for regular functions and events.”

Along with the ballroom, the ship features a games deck, library, nightclub, theatre, shopping mall, pools, restaurants and a casino.

The 964.5ft long, 179ft high ship cost £365million to build and houses more than 2000 passengers in 1,046 rooms.

Tauranga is beginning to become the port of call for cruise ships and this is an exciting time for the region says Bobby Lea.

'It is definitely going well. We have been very lucky in New Zealand as our ports are very easy to come into and are becoming more popular as destinations.”

The Queen Elizabeth's inaugural visit to Tauranga is the flow on effect from the Christchurch earthquake two years ago.

'They do not like going there as it is very hard for them. Hopefully the captain put in a good word about how wonderful Tauranga is and they will be back again.”

Yesterday afternoon thousands of people headed to Pilot Bay to farewell the ocean liner.

Bobby Lea, who organised a trip on the Matarua to watch the ocean liner depart as a fundraising event for Waipuna Hospice, says it was an incredible sight to see so many people.

'Just seeing how many people were around Mauao, it was packed.”

Waipuna Hospice fundraising manager Trish Rae says they were hugely privileged to have the opportunity to invite people out, at $75 per person, for cocktails and canapés while watching the special occasion.

'Everyone seemed to really enjoy it. It was a perfect evening and the harbour looked spectacular.

'It was a nice vibe and a perfect way to end the day.”

Each year Waipuna need to raise $2 million which is a huge amount and every dollar counts, says Trish.

Waipuna Hospice fundraising manager Trish Rae and House of Travel Mount Maunganui travel consultant Bobby Lea MacDonald aboard the Matarua yesterday evening

Milla Sair and Ralf Titmuss get a picture with the Queen Elizabeth.