Image by Flickr user niveK woodsImage by 20080924mercury.jpg The ship can hold 1,886, is 866 feet long, and was inaugurated in 1997.

After it was announced the Charleston-regular Norwegian Majesty was being sold to a foreign operator there was much concern over who could fill the void. So there was much relief on Monday when Celebrity Cruises announced the Celebrity Mercury would start calling on Charleston.

Flickr user luvjnxBut the ship, though 400 rooms larger the the Norwegian, will only visit Charleston four times from November 2009 to February 2010. Whereas the Norwegian plans to visit Charleston 21 times before in 2009 before it is sold.

Though cruise ships are a very small amount of local port business and tourism, they are though vital as they are often first-time visitors that tend to visit more the classic tourist attractions.

The Post and Courier has done much more reporting on the ship deal.