All eyes were out to sea on Sunday morning and into the afternoon as the silhouette on the horizon gradually became bigger and clearer until the 20-storey-high US aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, had arrived at the Port of Brisbane.

The 300-metre vessel, with 3000 sailors on board, reached the port about noon, and sailors were expected to disembark and be taken into the CBD by a fleet of waiting buses and taxis.

Crowds watch the USS Ronald Reagan dock at the Port of Brisbane on Sunday. Credit:Darren England/AAP

Brisbane Greeters, with information packs and maps of the river city, waited for the sailors to appear at the Grain Wharf, which was also used by the USS George Washington two years ago during Exercise Talisman Sabre.