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MS Freedom of the Seas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| M.S. Freedom of the Seas | |
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| Built: | Aker Yards (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 |
| General Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| 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 (209 feet and 15 Decks High) |
| Power: | Six Wärtsilä 46 V12 diesels each rated at 12.6 MW (~17,000hp) driving electric generators at 514 rpm. |
| 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 - total 5,730 people on board |
| Cost: | US $~800,000,000 (~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 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.
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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 [1] to 160,000 gt, [2] its 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.
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.
- 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 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.
- The amount of fuel this ship consumes in one hour could refill a 13 gallon tank in a car at one tank a week for over six years.
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
- Aker Yards, Finland
- Freedom of the Seas Official Website
- Freedom of the Seas UK Official Website
- Royal Caribbean's Official Website
- Royal Caribbean's Official UK Website
- BBC News "Final polish at Germany's Blohm and Voss shipyard"
- Aftenposten Norway "World's largest cruise ship in Oslo"
- BBC News "Massive cruise ship arrives in UK"
- BBC News "Huge cruise ship leaves UK shores"
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Queen Mary 2 |
World's largest passenger ship 2006 – present |
Incumbent |