QUEBEC — Hundreds of tiny boats swarmed and scattered like minnows in the St. Lawrence River on Tuesday as the awe-inspiring Queen Mary 2 steamed into its first Canadian port of call.

Quebecers took to kayaks, dingies, sailboats and ferries to gape at the opulent cruise ship as it arrived in Quebec City. "What a formidable sight, what an impression," said Denis Bernier from his three-metre kayak.

"Its wake also left an impression. It almost put me in the water."

As the ship docked in front of the majestic Chateau Frontenac, cheers went up and hundreds of flashbulbs popped.

"It's so beautiful, breathtaking," Francois Brassard from his sailboat. "I knew we'd see something special out here."

Thousands of admirers lined the shore along the river, crowding onto any dock along the way for a glimpse of the towering transatlantic ocean liner. Dozens of airplanes, helicopters and even a parachutist vied for airspace and a bird's eye view.

The ship was hard to miss. It dwarfed church steeples and farm silos and appeared to compete with Mont Ste-Anne, a popular ski hill near Quebec City, for control of the skyline.

Blasts from the ship's deep fog horn were heard for miles.

Julie Davis, a spokeswoman for Cunard Line, which operates the ship, said the Queen Mary 2 is the longest (340 metres), heaviest (151,400 tons) and tallest (70 metres) cruise ship in the world, although she believes there may be bigger freighters.

The ship is plush, with a teak deck and $7-million Cdn in fine art. The ship has six restaurants, 14 bars and clubs and a casino. But it is the ship's size that brought the crowd to the water and left them nearly speechless Tuesday.

"Enormous," said Ludovic Cassagne, a 37-year-old captain of a nine-metre tour boat.

Cassagne took a dozen people on a tour near the ship as it passed near Rimouski, northeast of Quebec City.

"It's astounding. Even from afar it seems large. As you get closer, it even dwarfs the surrounding countryside."

At 23 storeys high, the ship towered over the condos and office buildings near the Quebec City waterfront as it pulled in.

It carries 2,600 passengers and cost $1 billion Cdn to build.

According to Guinness World Records, which lists the ship as the world's largest passenger liner, the Queen Mary 2 is three times larger than the Titanic.

"If you golf, just imagine you arrive at hole No. 3 and the card says 345-yard hole," said Ross Gaudreault, president of the Port of Quebec.

"When you peer down the length of the hole to the little flag, that's how long this ship is. It's frigging huge."

Guinness lists the oil tanker Jahre Viking as the world's largest cargo ship at 113 metres longer.

Gaudreault's port staff prepared 25,000 hotdogs for the crowd that gathered along the dock.

Quebec City residents have a tradition of flocking to the water to admire arriving cruise ships. The port in Quebec is part of a waterfront park, allowing ship fanatics easy access to the vessels.

"You are 15 or 20 feet from the ship, there is no other place in the world where you can be so close," Gaudreault said.

"People love it."

Gaudreault is trying to boost Quebec City's cruise traffic, which he said adds about $10 to $12 million to the local economy each year.

The stop in Quebec City is part of Cunard Line's fall cruise series through Eastern Canada and New England. Heavy winds and fog prevented scheduled stops in Corner Brook, Nfld., and Sydney, N.S.

The Queen Mary 2 made its maiden voyage last January from Southampton, England, to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Two months earlier, 15 people died in a shipyard accident during construction.