A cruise ship bigger than the Queen Mary II? Sounds impossible. But at a quarter mile long and 18 stories high, weighing in at 160,000 tons, Royal Caribbeans new Freedom of the Seas became the largest passenger ship in the world when she launched. Now you can see for yourself how this ship came to life on the Discovery Channel special Ultimate Cruise Ship: Building Freedom of the Seas. The Discovery Channel special will take you behind the scenes to showcase the process of building the worlds largest ocean liner.
View Freedom of the seas. Video hosted on Guba. M.S. Freedom of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship and the name ship of its class. The world's largest passenger vessel, it can accommodate over 4,300 passengers on its fifteen passenger decks, served by over 1300 crew. It and its two sister ships will keep the title of the largest passenger ships ever built until construction of the Genesis class ships in 2009, also owned by Royal Caribbean International.
The Freedom of the Seas was built at the Aker Yards drydock in Turku, Finland which also is building the other ships of the Freedom Class. Upon its completion it became the largest passenger ship ever built, taking that honor from Cunard's Queen Mary 2.
Freedom is 2.4 meters narrower than QM2 at the waterline, 6 meters shorter, and has 1.5 meters less draft. Freedom however is the larger ship in gross tonnage. While its tonnage rating was estimated to range from 154,000 gt to 160,000 gt, its official rating by Det Norske Veritas, a Norwegian marine classification society, is 154,407 gt, compared with QM2's 148,528 gt. Freedom has the highest gross tonnage of any passenger ship yet built.
The ship features three swimming areas: an interactive water park, a dedicated adult pool and the main pool. There are 2 whirlpools cantilevered out from the ship's sides, the Royal Promenade sports, a coffee shop, Sorrento's Pizzeria, a Ben and Jerry's ice-cream shop, Vintage's winery, the Bull and Bear Irish pub, and many Duty-free shops. The 13th deck features a sports area with amenities such as a rock climbing wall, the FlowRider (an onboard wave generator for surfing), a miniature golf course and a full size basketball court. Other items include an ice skating rink, a casino, a Johnny Rockets, Wi-Fi capabilities throughout the ship, flat panel televisions in all staterooms, and cell phone connectivity.
Freedom was docked at Blohm und Voss in Hamburg, Germany on 17 April 2006 to repair a damaged bearing in one of the three Azipod propulsion units and to put on some of the finishing touches prior to its official handover to Royal Caribbean International on 24 April 2006. It then departed to Oslo, Norway on 25 April for official festivities. It then sailed for Southampton, England on 27 April and arrived at 9am on 29 April. It sailed on its first transatlantic crossing on 3 May 2006.
Freedom arrived in New York Harbor USA for its official naming ceremony on 12 May 2006 which was broadcast live on NBC's The Today Show from Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey (the ship's official New York berth), and thereafter travelled to Boston for the weekend of May 19-22. It began operations out of Miami with its first cruise and maiden voyage on June 4, sailing to western Caribbean locations in Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica as well as Labadee, in Haiti, one of Royal Caribbean's private resorts. The added width of the ship is utilized by the interior promenade extending through the upper decks of the ships. This gives all upper level cabins a window, either to the port or starboard side or inwards to the promenade. This design was first used in the cruiseferry M/S Silja Serenade in 1990 and its twin ship, M/S Silja Symphony in 1991.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
