[cmeisenzahl]

World's Largest Passenger Ship Christened

"Wielding a scissors, a woman who helped raise more than 400 foster children over 27 years snipped a ribbon to christen the world's largest cruise ship Friday while it docked near the Statue of Liberty.

"I name this ship the 'Freedom of the Sea.' May God bless her, Royal Caribbean and all who sail upon her," 56-year-old Katherine Louise Calder said in the ceremony televised live on NBC's "Today."

She then cut the ribbon to release a giant bottle containing the equivalent of 34 bottles of champagne.

Viewers of "Today" voted to select her as "godmother" of the Freedom of the Seas, and she is staying on the ship with family members.

"I feel very honored and just kind of floating around," said Calder, who cares for hundreds of special needs children and works as an adoption advocate in the Portland, Ore., area. "I don't think my feet have touched the ground since I got onboard."

The ship is so immense that even its captain hadn't finished exploring it earlier this week.

"I'm still discovering things," Bill Wright said Thursday as he walked around the bridge of the newly built ship while it was docked in Bayonne.

Freedom of the Seas, which arrived this week in New York Harbor from Southampton, Britain, is 237 feet tall and 1,112 feet long with 15 passenger decks.

Standing upright on its bow, it would be taller than the Eiffel Tower. The ship comes in at 160,000 gross registered tons, a standard measurement of carrying capacity that is about 100 cubic feet for each ton.

Built by Norwegian shipbuilder Aker Yards ASA, the ship cost $800 million and can carry more than 4,000 passengers. The world's previous largest ship, the Queen Mary 2, can carry about 3,000 people and is 151,400 gross registered tons. The Titanic's gross registered tonnage was 46,329.

If you want to sail on the new ship, it won't be cheap.

Prices for seven-day voyages range from $1,900 per couple for an interior room during the low season to nearly $2,500 for the same-size cabin with a balcony during high season, said Cindy Dangel, an on- board sales manager.

A deluxe room that sleeps 14 and costs $22,000 during peak season is booked until 2008, she said.

A three-level dining room seats 2,140. There are more than 2,000 deck chairs and an ice-skating rink. The fitness center measures 9,700 square feet and includes a boxing ring. The spa provides luxuries from teeth whitening to massages and a 13th-floor deck offers a rock climbing wall and a big wave pool with simulated surfing. "
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/12/D8HIEF100.html

Many pics here:
http://www.cruisenewsdaily.com/s-rfreedom.html

http://www.freedomoftheseas.com/

[analogika]

She came over to Hamburg for the finishing touches a couple of weeks ago, docking into Blohm & Voss drydock No 17, right across the Elbe river from where I live.

For a couple of days, I got the full view every time I walked down the ramp to my parking space, until she set sail on her maiden (passenger) voyage to Oslo (from there to Southhampton and NYC, where she was now christened).

She is absurdly huge.

And the QM2's horn sounds far nicer.

[analogika]

Oh, and P.S.: "Freedom of the Seas" is definitely a contender for most moronic ship names ever.

[Doofy]

can carry more than 4,000 passengers

A three-level dining room seats 2,140

I can think of no better way of spending my vacation than to be trapped in a tin box with 4,000 other people and trough out with 2,139 of them.

I'll carry on saving for the Benetti, thanks.

[Spliffdaddy]

Originally Posted by Doofy

I can think of no better way of spending my vacation than to be trapped in a tin box with 4,000 other people and trough out with 2,139 of them.

I'll carry on saving for the Benetti, thanks.

Ah, but fully half of those passengers are single women.

I admit to being addicted to cruising. While I was reluctant to go on my first cruise, it turned out to be a huge amount of fun. There are almost no single men on cruise ships. Half the folks are couples - and most of the other half are single women.

You'd think that 3 or 4 thousand people on a ship would make things crowded, but actually there are plenty of places you can escape from people - those ships are biig.

[residentEvil]

I cruise often; at least once a year. However, I'm taking the next 3 years off and saving for this cruise:

http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/index.shtml

Here is the detail of the particular cruise I will be taking:
Great Antarctic Explorers: Discovering the Far South

http://www.polarcruises.com/tour.cfm...amp;tour_id=51

[production_coordinator]

There are so many fantastic little ships around that I would much rather have the personal touch...

...also, when you arrive to any destination on any such ship, get ready to be bombarded with every local trolling for your business. I would much rather be on the ship that holds 200... leaving as that monster shows up.

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by residentEvil

I cruise often; at least once a year. However, I'm taking the next 3 years off and saving for this cruise:

http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/index.shtml

Here is the detail of the particular cruise I will be taking:
Great Antarctic Explorers: Discovering the Far South

http://www.polarcruises.com/tour.cfm...amp;tour_id=51

I've been trying to get on this one...

Similar to your trip:
http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/528.html

My (hopefully) next trip:
http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/499.html

My company does this type of travel for other companies... so I get to take one trip a year as a perk.

[residentEvil]

Very nice...the trip and the perk. The train trip looks awesome too. While not as cool, I will be doing Xmas in November via the Canadian Rockies/Polar Express train in 2007 up in BC Canada. That should be fun.

http://www.countrytours.com/Tours_Ca...e=&OrgURL=

[production_coordinator]

Originally Posted by residentEvil

Very nice...the trip and the perk. The train trip looks awesome too. While not as cool, I will be doing Xmas in November via the Canadian Rockies/Polar Express train in 2007 up in BC Canada. That should be fun.

http://www.countrytours.com/Tours_Ca...e=&OrgURL=

We were going to do that trip, but it didn't work out financially (too many people doing it for too little profit). It's an amazing train trip. If you are a "train nut" (which I am)... it would be amazing.

I'm also trying to get on a China train trip in a steam locomotive.

[ghporter]

Freedom is (right now, anyway) MUCH too large for my tastes. We sail out of Galveston on Rhapsody of the Seas. She's big enough (2400 passengers) and fast enough (22 knots!!), and sails from a port I can drive to. Plus the crew is always great! We're sailing on Jan 7, in fact.