MS Freedom of the Seas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the ship. For the concept in international law and admiralty law, see Freedom of the seas.

General Characteristics
M/S Freedom of the Seas


Built:	Aker Finnyards (Turku, Finland)
Ordered:	September 2003
Laid down:	November 9, 2004
Float out:	August 19, 2005
Christened:	May 12, 2006 at Bayonne, NJ on New York Harbor
Maiden Voyage:	4 June 2006 (Caribbean)
Status:	in service
Tonnage:	154,407 Gross Tons
Draft:	28 feet or 8.5 meters
Length:	338.77 m (1,111.5 ft) overall, 303.21 m (994.82 ft) between perpendiculars.
Beam:	38.6 m (126.65 ft) waterline, 56.0 m (183.7 ft) extreme (bridge wings)
Height:	63.7 m (15 Decks High)
Power:	Six Wartsila 46 V12 diesels each rated at 12.6 MW (~17,000hp) driving electric generators at 514 rpms.
Propulsion:	Three ABB Azipod podded electric propulsion units, two of them azimuthing, one fixed. 4 additional bow thrusters.
Speed:	21.6 knots (40 km/h)
Complement:	4,370 passengers; 1,360 crew
Cost:	About US $947,000,000 (~750m Euro or GB£520m)
Registry:	Bahamas

M/S Freedom of the Seas is a Royal Caribbean International cruise ship and the name ship of her class. The world's largest passenger vessel, she can accommodate over 4,300 passengers on her fifteen passenger decks, served by over 1300 crew. She and her sisters 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.

1 Construction
2 Features
3 Career
4 Facts and figures
5 Gallery
6 External links

[edit] Construction

The ship under construction at Aker Finnyards in Turku.

The Freedom of the Seas was built at the Aker Finnyards 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

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.

[edit] Career

Freedom was docked at Blohm und Voss in Hamburg, Germany on 17 April 2006 for final 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 and her sister ship in 1990.

In 2009 Freedom and her sister ships are expected to be surpassed as the world's largest passenger ships by her owner's new Genesis class of ships.

[edit] Facts and figures

She has 30 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 hosted her first all gay cruise on January 26, 2007.
She has 750,000 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, and a wet bar.
Rooms for the maiden voyage were priced from $1,900 to $22,000 for the week. As routine service continues, starting room rates are expected to descend as low as $700 for cruises scheduled in the autumn of 2007.
The ship consumes approximately 28,000 gallons of fuel per hour.

[edit] Gallery

Freedom of the Seas cruising the river Elbe in Germany	Freedom of the Seas going to dock in Hamburg	Freedom of the Seas – Hamburg Cruise Center – April 24, 2006	Freedom of the Seas in Oslo, April 26, 2006
Freedom of the Seas Labadee, Haiti July 21, 2006	Freedom of the Seas in Cozumel, Mexico July 17, 2006	H2OZone (children's pool) aboard Freedom of the Seas	Artist's Rendering of the Main Pool
Royal Promenade aboard Freedom of the Seas	The Flowrider aboard Freedom of the Seas	Freedom of the Seas as it leaves Port of Miami, 12/31/06.	Freedom of the Seas in Hamburg Harbor