IF YOU fancy a cruise but don’t want to feel cramped, you will love the Freedom of the Seas. Owned by Royal Caribbean International, the new boat is the world’s largest cruise ship and will have its US debut in New York on May 10.
The 160,000-gross-registered-ton Freedom of the Seas weighs more than 80,000 cars or 32,000 adult elephants and would trump New York’s famed Chrysler building (1,046 feet) and Paris’s Eiffel Tower (986 feet) if it stood upright on its bow. The width of 185 feet means the ship is wider than the White House is long (168 feet). When measured from the waterline to the top of the funnel, Freedom of the Seas is 208 feet tall, around the same height as two Statues of Liberty, placed head to toe.
Among the novel attractions on the vessel are a surf park and cantilevered whirlpools suspended 112 feet above the ocean, a full-size boxing ring and a 14-person family suite.
The ship, which Royal Caribbean said can hold 3,634 guests at double occupancy, is the first in Royal Caribbean’s new Freedom class. Among its planned voyages are seven-night western Caribbean itineraries from Miami calling in Cozumel, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Montego Bay, Jamaica; and Royal Caribbean’s private destination, Labadee, Hispaniola.
