Giant Cruise Liner Sets Sail

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

05 May 2006

The largest cruise liner yet built, the 160,000-tonne Freedom of the Seas, set sail from Southampton on Wednesday bound for its official naming ceremony in New York.

The Finnish-built ship has 15 decks with more than 1,800 state-rooms for up to 4,375 passengers, and is 339 m (1,112 ft) long. Freedom's facilities include a family water park, a full-size boxing ring and an onboard surfing pool with its own wave machine which simulates surfing a 10-foot-high ocean wave moving at 20 mph. No sharks, promise!

The giant ship belongs to the Miami-based Royal Caribbean shipping line, which plans a high-profile launch from the Cape Liberty Cruise Port. Freedom will initially cruise to Mexico, Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

Cruising is a booming industry. According to the New York-based Cruise Lines International Association, the number of people who took cruises in the first nine months of 2005 increased 6% from a year earlier to 8.35 million.

Freedom won't be the world's biggest liner for long, though. Royal Caribbean is planning a 220,000-tonne behemoth for 2009, code-named Genesis, which will carry up to 5,400 people and be 1,180 feet long.

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