MS Freedom of the Seas

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MS Freedom of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the namesake of Royal Caribbean's Template:Sclass, and can accommodate 3,634 passengers and 1,300 crew[1] on fifteen passenger decks. The vessel also has 4 crew decks below the waterline. Freedom of the Seas was the largest passenger ship ever built (by gross tonnage) from 2006 until construction of her sister ship, Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". in 2007.

Construction and design

File:Freedom of the seas construction.jpg
Freedom of the Seas under construction at Turku Shipyard in Turku, Finland on 23 February 2006

Freedom of the Seas was built at the Aker Yards Turku Shipyard, Finland, which built the ships of the Template:Sclass as well as the other ships of the Freedom class. Upon her completion in 2006, she became the largest passenger ship ever built, taking the record from Template:RMS (QM2), an ocean liner.

Freedom of the Seas is Template:Convert narrower than QM2 at the waterline, Template:Convert shorter, has Template:Convert less draft, is Template:Convert less tall and Template:Convert slower. Freedom of the Seas however is the larger ship in terms of gross tonnage. Its gross tonnage as verified by Det Norske Veritas, a Norwegian marine classification society, was Template:GT,[2] compared with QM2Template:'s Template:GT.[3][4] Freedom of the Seas had the highest gross tonnage of any passenger ship yet built until the 2007 completion of Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters"..

The ship has four bow thrusters.[5] When at sea Freedom of the Seas consumes approximately Template:Cvt of fuel per hour.[6]

Facilities

The ship has an interior promenade Template:Convert long called the "Royal Promenade".[7]

The ship has three swimming areas: an interactive water park, a dedicated adult pool, and the main pool. Deck 13 has a sports area with a rock climbing wall, the FlowRider surf simulator, a miniature golf course and a full size basketball court. Other items include an ice skating rink, a casino and a three-deck-high broadway-style theater. Many of the ship's interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish.[8]

Service history

The ship 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 some minor modifications prior to her official handover to Royal Caribbean International on 24 April 2006. She then visited Oslo, Norway, before sailing for Southampton, England. The ship sailed on its first transatlantic crossing on 3 May 2006.

File:Freedom of the Seas Oslo 26 april 2006.jpg
Freedom of the Seas at Oslo, Norway, on 26 April 2006

Freedom of the Seas arrived in New York Harbor, United States, 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 traveled to Boston for the weekend of 19–22 May. The ship's godmother was selected as Katherine Louise Calder, a Portland, Oregon foster care provider.[9] She began operations out of Miami with her first cruise and maiden voyage on 4 June, sailing to western Caribbean locations.

On 4 May 2009, Freedom of the Seas moved her home port from the Port of Miami-Dade to Port Canaveral. The ship underwent her first dry dock refurbishment in March 2011.[10] In January 2015, the ship underwent another 24-day dry dock. During the dry dock some new interior passenger cabins were added.[11] On 22 July 2015, a fire started in a mechanical area of the ship around 9:15 AM when the ship was en route from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Falmouth, Jamaica. All passengers were sent to their muster stations, and one crew member sustained first degree burns. The fire was extinguished after an hour and a half, and the ship was able to continue on its planned itinerary.[12]

File:MS Freedom of the Seas, Port Canaveral, Florida.jpg
Freedom of the Seas in Port Canaveral, Florida in 2016, after her 2015 refurbishment

In winter 2016, Freedom of the Seas repositioned to Port Everglades, from where she undertook cruises in the Caribbean.[13] After homeporting in Barcelona in the spring and summer of 2017, Freedom of the Seas returned to Port Everglades. In May 2018, she commenced sailing Southern Caribbean sailings out of San Juan, Puerto Rico until April 2021. On 7 July 2019, an 18-month old child died after falling through an open window on the 11th deck while the ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her grandfather had placed her on a railing and lost his grip while holding her.[14] The grandfather claimed that he was colourblind and did not notice that the window was open,[15] but the cruise line released security camera footage that they claim shows him leaning out the window shortly before lifting the toddler up to it.[16] On 11 December 2019, the child's parents sued Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. over the death of their daughter, alleging that the company was negligent for not properly securing the windows.[17]Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The grandfather pled guilty to a charge of negligent homicide on 25 February, and was placed on probation.[18]

Freedom of the Seas underwent a $116 million dry dock in early 2020.[19]

File:Carnival Venezia (ship, 2019) & Freedom of the Seas (ship, 2006) (3).jpg
Freedom of the Seas docked next to Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". at George Town, Grand Cayman on 24 April 2025
File:Freedom of the Seas (ship, 2006) and Adventure of the Seas (ship, 2001) in Grand Cayman (2).jpg
Freedom of the Seas with Script error: No such module "WPSHIPS utilities".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". anchored together at George Town on 28 April 2025

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Largest passenger ships Template:Royal Caribbean Cruise International Ships

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named FreedomFacts
  2. ↑ Template:Cite ship register
  3. ↑ United States Coast Guard Maritime Information Exchange, Queen Mary 2 Template:Webarchive, Retrieved 26 March 2012
  4. ↑ Queen Mary 2, inquiry for IMO 924106, Ships in Class (registration required). Lloyd's Register. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ www.clarissaparish.com Template:Webarchive Retrieved January 2012
  9. ↑ https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1526 Calder
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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