It's not an easy first day at work but the 'conveyance', as it's officially known, is a rite of passage for this ship.

The Celebrity Eclipse sailed down the River Ems in Germany and in a nerve-wracking manoeuvre managed to squeeze through the shipyard entrance.

She and her sister ships Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Solstice are the largest ever to sail down the German river.

Next the ship will have to squeeze through canal boat locks and roads, railways and aqueducts as part of a 42km journey into the North Sea before heading to Southampton in April.

The 42km journey along the River Ems from the inland Meryer Werft ship yard in Papenburg, Germany, to Emshaven in the Netherlands will take between 12 and 15 hours.

Due to the shallow waters and tight turns, the ship's speed cannot exceed 4km per hour.