The luxury liner Queen Elizabeth, or QE3, named after Britain's current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, pulled into Yokohama Sunday night to make its maiden call to Japan.

Passengers disembarked from the ship to explore the city Monday. The cruise ship was scheduled to depart for Kobe in the evening.

The 90,400-ton vessel, which was launched in autumn 2010 as the third ship in Cunard's fleet — Britain's most famous cruising line — replaced the world-famous QE2, also named the Queen Elizabeth. It is capable of carrying up to 2,092 passengers.