Portland's cruise ship season will begin next week when the Explorer of the Seas docks at the Portland Ocean Terminal on July 9, city officials announced.

The Royal Caribbean International ship is 1,020 feet long, weighs 138,000 tons, carries 3,114 passengers and has a cruising speed of 23.7 knots.

The Explorer carries more passengers than any of the more than 30 other cruise ships scheduled to dock in Portland this season.

The ship will start its nine-day sail from Cape Liberty, N.J., head north to Bar Harbor, visit Portland from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on July 9 and disembark in Boston.