Do you come here often?

Two, as the old saying goes, is company – and three is usually considered a crowd.

But then, when the crowd in question is formed by a trio of glamorous cruise ships lined up at the same dock, few people are likely to complain about the relative lack of space.

And that has been the case in Lisbon today, with three of the world’s most famous ocean-going liners getting together for a rare family portrait.

Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth – the three foremost vessels sailing for cruise line Cunard – are moored in the Portuguese capital.

The threesome last met up in June 2012, when they turned up en mass in Southampton to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a display of unity. They also managed to synchronise diaries in January 2011, appearing together in front of the Statue of Liberty – after Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth had sailed across the Atlantic in tandem to meet their sibling alongside New York’s most fabled landmark. Although close relations, the ships have distinct differences.

Queen Mary 2 is the matriarch of the group – and the biggest.

Launched in March 2003, she is capable of holding up to 2620 passengers, and is the largest vessel ever to have been built for Cunard.

She is also four years older than her nearest relative Queen Victoria, who was completed in January 2007, and is smaller than the QM2, with a capacity of 2014 people.

Constructed, effectively, as a replacement for her near-namesake Queen Elizabeth 2 (the QE2) – the grand dame of the seas who was retired in 2008 – she first sailed in January 2010, and is able to transport 2092 holidaymakers.

The big question, of course, is when this happy triptych will meet again.

The answer, simply, is ‘this week’.

Although all three arrived in Lisbon from separate locations – the QM2 from Rome’s Civitavecchia port, Queen Victoria from Tenerife, Queen Elizabeth from Palma de Mallorca – they are all scheduled to sail for home later this afternoon.

And all three will pull into Southampton on Friday for another family snapshot.

Will you be there ?