With only 15 weeks until delivery, Royal Caribbean International’s newest ship, Independence of the Seas, took to the seas for the first time on Friday 11th January having reached an 85% complete build status.
The ship, currently under construction in Turku, Finland at the Aker Yard ship yard, will be the third ship in the cruise line’s world record-breaking Freedom-class of ships.
Large sections of Independence of the Seas are nearing completion as an army of over 1,700 workers is currently working in temperatures several degrees below zero with snow forecast. Areas of the ship currently being worked on include the main dining room, the theatre and the upper deck pool area. The ship will be delivered to Royal Caribbean International in late April 2008, two weeks ahead of schedule.
She will arrive in Southampton in April 2008 for inaugural celebrations in the UK before becoming the first ever newbuild ship in the Royal Caribbean International fleet to be based in Europe.
Royal Caribbean International has also announced that Independence of the Seas will becoming into service two weeks earlier due to works being completed ahead of schedule, meaning an additional two sailings are now available on board the new ship from the beginning of May 2008. The new sailings including a four night Cork cruise that departs on 2nd May, sailing from Southampton to Cork and back to Southampton from £449 per person (based on two sharing an inside cabin), and an 11 night Canary Islands cruise that departs on 6th May, calling at Madeira (Portugal), Tenerife (Canary Islands), Gran Canaria (Canary Islands), Lanzarote (Canary Islands), Lisbon (Portugal) and Vigo (Spain) from £897 per person (based on two sharing an inside cabin).
Activities onboard Independence of the Seas will include the popular innovations already found on her sister-ships, Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas, including the FlowRider surf simulator; the wet and wild H20 Zone children’s water park; cantilevered whirlpools suspended 112 feet above the ocean; an ice-skating rink; a boxing ring; and the 1,215-square-foot Presidential Family Suite, which sleeps up to 14 people.
Find out more about the Independence of the Seas with Hays Travel Cruise - the cruise experts
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