With regal grace, the crisp profile of one of the world's most exclusive and luxurious ocean liners has dominated the skyline of Table Bay Harbour for the past two days.
The famous black hull and white accommodation, typical of the Cunard line, contrasted sharply with the blues and the greys of the harbour as the ship dwarfed most others in port.
The ship is the Queen Mary 2, said to be the most magnificent ocean liner ever built.
And magnificent it certainly is. With an overall length of 1 132 feet (345m), the ship is as long as 41 typical old red London buses parked end to end down the quayside.
In fact, its length exceeds the height of the famous Empire State Building in New York, without its observation deck, and it is also 147 feet longer than the height of the Eiffel Tower.
The Queen Mary 2 has a maximum capacity of 3 056 guests, along with a crew of 1 253, and the gas turbine/ diesel electric engines push out an incredible 157 000 horsepower.
So now we know the Queen Mary 2 is big, and carries more people than populate a small Karoo town.
In addition, this is the only ship in the world with a planetarium on board.
With stars having played such an important role in navigation in the past, it is perhaps fitting that passengers on the Queen Mary 2 get a closer look at those glittering stellar guides.
For those with less of a head for ethereal heights and a greater affinity for the expanses of blue the ship has to cross, there are no fewer than five swimming pools, including the so-called "Minnows Pool" for children.
Not to be outdone by the new Cape Town Stadium, the ship has a Pavilion Pool on Deck 12, which has a retractable dome roof to allow for swimming in any weather.
And if one has a yen for shopping, you can do that too, with famous London shops such as Harrods and Hermes represented on board.
Oh, and of course do not forget about that pampered pooch in your life. The Queen Mary 2 has a special kennel programme available on all crossings between New York and Southampton, in either direction.
The programme is run by a full-time kennel master who feeds and walks the animals and cleans the ship's 12 kennels. This means more time for love and hugs between master and canine, and less of the schlep.
Agents were tight-lipped over some aspects of the ship, but one revealed that on the voyage from Durban to Cape Town, the passengers and crew consumed enough stores to require about 120 tons to be replenished in Cape Town. This was brought aboard in 20 maximum length 40-foot containers.
The ship even has an Image Gallery, where budding photographers can have their photographs processed.
The Queen Mary 2 arrived in Table Bay Harbour from Durban yesterday at about 7am, ending the second last leg of a world tour. It was due to sail again this evening on the last leg of the voyage to Southampton.
But if you want to jump aboard, the journey to Southampton won't be cheap: you can expect to pay about R25 000 per person sharing for a "budget" cabin.