A U.S. luxury cruise ship carrying 710 gay men will call at a Busan port later this month, officials at Busan Port Authority said yesterday.

Carrying 710 homosexual men, the Azamara Quest, a 30,277-ton six-star cruise ship, will arrive in Busan at 7 a.m. on March 22, they said.

A U.S. travel agency reportedly bought all 710 passenger spots on the ship exclusively for gay men for an 11-day travel program that will take them to Shanghai, Busan, Hiroshima, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

After the ship arrives in Busan, passengers are expected to tour the downtown of the country's second largest city or Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province which is famed for an array of cultural and historical tourist attractions.

The ship is set to leave at 5 p.m. for Hiroshima.

The deluxe cruise liner belongs to Azamara Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises. It boasts a variety of on-board amenities, including a casino, a martini bar, a cyber cafe, a buffet restaurant, a cinema and a swimming pool.

The Azamara Quest carries about 710 passengers plus 355 crew members. Due to its small size, it is well-known for being able to call at a variety of the lesser visited ports around the world, officials said.