Sapphire Princess, one of the world's largest and most luxurious cruise liners, will have to berth at the Kwai Chung container terminal when it arrives for a visit in April next year.
The makeshift arrangement has been put in place after the water off Ocean Terminal, Hong Kong's only berthing facility for passenger liners, was found to be not deep enough to accommodate the 113,000-tonne vessel.
The tourism industry says the embarrassing reception Hong Kong is giving to the Sapphire Princess shows the city badly needs new berthing facilities, otherwise it will miss out on visits by a new generation of super cruise liners.
Richard Willis, managing director of P&O Travel, the agent for the Sapphire Princess in Hong Kong, said the Tourism Commission had helped arrange for the luxury cruise ship to berth at Terminal 5, operated by Modern Terminals. The only other option would be to anchor the vessel out at sea, he said.
The Sapphire Princess, due to be launched in May as a sister ship to the Diamond Princess, can carry 2,670 passengers and 1,200 crew.
It will stop over in Hong Kong on April 2 next year for one day en route to other Southeast Asian destinations.