TURKU, Finland -- A
bookstore with Internet access and specialty coffees and a
recording club for karaoke contests and other activities are just a
few of the features on the Freedom of the Seas.
The Royal Caribbean
International ship, which is the worlds largest cruise vessel, was
floated out of its drydock at Aker Finnyards here as a few of the
lines top-producing travel agents got a first look.
The Freedom is
scheduled to be completed at Aker in late April and will arrive in
the U.S. on May 11.
Freedoms
four-deck-high Royal Promenade will house the 120-seat Book Nook,
where passengers can buy general-interest books, sip Seattles Best
coffees and surf the Web. Another venue, Sorrentos, will serve
pizza.
And for the first
time, an onboard Ben & Jerrys ice cream parlor will include
seating for 25.
New, too, is the
On-Air Club, adjacent to the Freedoms Studio B ice rink. The club
can host karaoke competitions with green-screen technology that
projects images behind the singers.
Other programming
will include Adventure Ocean activities for teens.
At 158,000 tons and
3,634 passengers, the Freedom will surpass the Queen Mary 2 in size
and the Voyager-class ships in passenger count. Its the ships size
that allows for so many innovations.
According to Royal
Caribbean Senior Vice President of Sales Lisa Bauer, there is no
consumer resistance to this extraordinarily large
vessel.
As Liberty Travel
COO Cathy Pelaez previewed the Freedom, she said, People are
looking for smaller, more intimate experiences. But there are still
people out there looking for bigger ships and all the things they
can offer, she said.
Royal Caribbean
next week will host a big reveal at its port facilities in Bayonne,
N.J., to unveil additional Freedom onboard features.
Royal Caribbean has
been trickling out information on the Freedom since bookings opened
earlier this year.
During last weeks
visit to the ship, agents climbed up to the top-deck H20 Zone,
where the water attractions include two large whirlpools
cantilevered out beyond the sides of the ship.
Each of the
whirlpools holds up to 17 people, and the view -- from 112 feet
above the sea -- is spectacular.
Royal Caribbean
launched a link at www.royalcaribbean.com that can be used when selling
the ship. The Freedom also will be promoted with its own TV ad,
Bauer said.
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