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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 her completion she 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 her tonnage rating was estimated to range from 154,000 gt [1] to 160,000 gt, [2] her official rating by Det Norske Veritas, a Norwegian marine classification society, is 154,407 gt, [3] compared with QM2's 148,528 gt. Freedom has the highest gross tonnage of any passenger ship yet built.
[edit] Features
Rendering of the Main PoolThe 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.
[edit] Career
Freedom was docked at Blohm und Voss in Hamburg, Germany on 17 April 2006 to repair a damaged bearing in the axipod (1 of 3 main propellers) and to put on some of the finishing touches prior to her official handover to Royal Caribbean International on 24 April 2006. She then departed to Oslo, Norway on 25 April for official festivities. She then sailed for Southampton, England on 27 April and arrived at 9am on 29 April. She sailed on her first transatlantic crossing on 3 May 2006.
Freedom arrived in New York Harbor USA for her 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. She began operations out of Miami with her 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 her sister ship, M/S Silja Symphony in 1991.
[edit] Facts and figures
She has 15 lifeboats.
She is about 229 ft. longer, about 108,000 gross tons larger, and can accommodate 2,147 more passengers than RMS Titanic.
Her operating costs are $1 million per day.
She has 75,000 lightbulbs and 4,700 works of art, and uses 35,000 kg of ice daily.
The largest suite is 113 square meters, sleeps 14 people and has five flat panel TVs, a private whirlpool, a wet bar, and a Yamaha GC1 baby-grand piano.
Rooms for the maiden voyage were priced from $1,900 to $22,000 for the week. * The ship consumes approximately 28,000 pounds (12,800 kg) of fuel per hour.[4]
She is one of the only ships with 4 bow thrusters on each side with 8 bow thrusters in total.
[edit] Provisions
During a typical week long cruise, the Freedom of the Seas goes through the following amount of food:
234,000 appetizers; 105,000 meals and 300,680 desserts
20,000 lbs. of beef, including 69,000 steaks
12,000 lbs. of chicken
4,000 lbs. of seafood; 2,500 lbs. of salmon and 1,400 lbs. of lobster
65,000 lbs. of fresh vegetables and 35,000 lbs. of fresh fruits
5,800 lbs. of cheese
28,000 fresh eggs
18,000 slices of pizza
8,000 gallons of ice cream
1,500 lbs. of coffee and 1,500 gallons of milk
11,500 cans of soda; 19,200 bottles and cans of beer and 2,900 bottles of wine
