''Liberty of the Seas'' is a

Royal Caribbean International Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997. Based in Miami, Flo ...

which entered regular service in May 2007. It was initially announced that she would be called ''Endeavour of the Seas'', however this name was later changed. The 15-deck ship accommodates 3,634 passengers served by 1,360 crew. She was built in 18 months at the Aker Finnyards Turku Shipyard,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, where her sister ship, , was also built. Initially built at , she joined her sister ship, ''Freedom of the Seas'', as the largest cruise ships and passenger vessels then ever built. She is long, wide, and cruises at . ''Liberty of the Seas'' is the second of the ''Freedom''-class vessels. A third ship, '' Independence of the Seas'', was delivered in April 2008. In 2009, the first in a new of ships measuring 220,000 gross tons displaced the ''Freedom'' class as the world's largest passenger ships.

History

On April 19, 2007, ''Liberty of the Seas'' was delivered to parent company

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd Royal Caribbean Group, formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is a global cruise holding company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida, United States. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival C ...

.Royal Caribbean International :: Royal Caribbean Takes Delivery of Liberty of the Seas
On April 22, 2007 she made her first port of call

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, on a promotional visit. She arrived at

Cape Liberty Cruise Port The Cape Liberty Cruise Port is one of three trans-Atlantic passenger terminals in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located in Bayonne, New Jersey at the north side of the long pier of the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor, a former military ...

on May 3, 2007. On May 18, 2007, the ship was christened by

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

-based

travel agent A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destinati ...

Donnalea Madeley, who, along with her husband, is also the founder of the charity Hands Across the Nations. In January 2011, ''Liberty of the Seas'' underwent renovations which included an outdoor video screen in the main pool area. Later in 2011, ''Liberty of the Seas'' completed her first transatlantic

repositioning cruise A repositioning cruise (repo cruise) is a cruise in which the embarkation port and the disembarkation port are different. This is a less common type of cruise; in the majority of cruises the ship's final destination is the same as the starting po ...

, moving from

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

to being home-ported in Barcelona, Spain. She stayed in Europe for the summer and part of fall, and then returned to Miami. Until 2015, ''Liberty of the Seas'' spent summers in Europe and winters in either

Port of Miami The Port of Miami, styled as "PortMiami" but formally the Dante B. Fascell Port of Miami, is a major seaport located in Biscayne Bay at the mouth of the Miami River in Miami, Florida. It is the largest passenger port in the world, and one of the ...

or Port Everglades in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. In 2015, ''Liberty of the Seas'' repositioned to

in Bayonne, New Jersey from May to November, after which she repositioned to Galveston, Texas. In February 2016, ''Liberty of the Seas'' again underwent renovations, adding additional cabins atop the front of the ship, introducing new restaurants, and making enhancements to the pool deck. After the enhancements, ''Liberty of the Seas'' was , making her larger than the other two ''Freedom''-class ships, and the eleventh largest cruise ship in the world, beating by 16 GT.

Incidents

On 2 April 2020, it was reported that two crew members had tested positive for coronavirus.Two Liberty of the Seas crew member test positive to COVID-19
Crew Center 2 April 2020 One was asymptomatic, and remained in

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

on board the ship, while the other, who showed visible symptoms, disembarked and was sent to a hospital in Galveston. On 15 April 2020, after the ship was anchored on the coast of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, it returned and docked in

Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Ga ...

Facilities

''Liberty of the Seas'' has extensive sports facilities including the FlowRider onboard wave generator for surfing, an interactive water play area for children, a full-sized volleyball / basketball court, an ice skating rink, and a large fitness center. There are also two whirlpools that are

cantilevered A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...

and project out from the sides of the ship to provide unimpeded views of the sea below and a modular conference center for business meetings. Among other dining facilities there is a three level formal dining room. A refurbishment in 2016 added a

water slide A water slide (also referred to as a flume, or water chute) is a type of slide designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use at water parks. Water slides differ in their riding method and therefore size. Some slides require riders to s ...

complex, featuring two racing slides and a boomerang-style slide, and a children only water play area, featuring smaller water slides. Many of the ship's interiors were extensively decorated by muralist Clarissa Parish.www.clarissaparish.com
Retrieved January 2012

References

External links

official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty Of The Seas Ships of Royal Caribbean International Ships built in Turku Cruise ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic