Giant luxury cruise ship turns heads in Sydney

The arrival of the Diamond Princess cruise ship on Sydney Harbour is expected to draw interest not seen since the Queen Mary and the QE2 sailed through the heads almost a year ago.

Road closures and clearways will be in place in Sydney today to cope with large crowds for the one-day visit of the luxury cruise ship.

In February last year Sydney buckled under gridlock when thousands poured into the city to witness the historic Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liners dock at Circular Quay.

The Diamond Princess arrived at Circular Quay at 4.30am and will depart Sydney Harbour at 9pm, heading to New Zealand.

Anticipating potential traffic chaos from Sydneysiders wanting to catch a glimpse of the ship, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) has restricted vehicle access in the city until 10pm tonight.

The cruise liner is 63 metres tall, weighs 116,000 tonnes and has a capacity for almost 2700 passengers.

It's two and a half times bigger than the Titanic and too tall to sail under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

It has a nine-hole putting course, jogging track, five swimming pools and 10 restaurants and cafes.