­ The ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is due to be decommissioned from service in 2008.  The vessel's owner, Cunard Lines, says it expects demand to be high for tickets on the ship's last scheduled voyage before it leaves for Dubai where it will converted into a floating hotel and museum.

"Many fans will take the opportunity to travel on board for the last time. We're expecting a run on tickets," says Ingo Thiel, spokesman for Cunard in Hamburg.

When the QE2 docks in Dubai it will have put 41 years of service at sea behind it.

The ship's travel schedule for 2008 has been left largely unchanged except for new routes that have been added to the last two voyages. They can be booked as a farewell voyage from late June, according to Thiel.

But before the QE2 finally leaves service, Cunard are planning a transatlantic voyage together with the latest ship to join the fleet.

On January 6, both vessels will leave Southampton for New York. The QE2 and the Queen Victoria will then cross the Atlantic in sight of each other at a distance of about 400 metres.

Berths on board the QE2 for this voyage ­ as well as on the Christmas and New Year's voyages - are already in short supply.

Tickets are sold out for the eight-day voyage around Britain and Ireland which is taking place in September 2007 to commemorate the vessel's 40th anniversary.

The QE2 leaves the German port of Hamburg for the last time on December 10. Thiel says a farewell party has been planned for the event.

After docking in Dubai the QE2 will undergo renovation work. It's due to open as a hotel, museum and shopping centre in 2009.

Exhibition space on board the vessel will be dedicated to the ship's ocean-going history. The QE2 crossed the Atlantic 800 times and circumnavigated the globe 25 times.

The QE2 will be berthed at The Palm Jumeirah, an artificial island in the Persian Gulf built in the shape of a huge palm tree.