Service history
The ship docked at Blohm und Voss in Hamburg, Germany, on 17 April 2006 to repair a damaged bearing in one of the three Azipod propulsion units and some minor modifications prior to her official handover to Royal Caribbean International on 24 April 2006. She then visited Oslo, Norway, before sailing for Southampton, England. The ship sailed on its first transatlantic crossing on 3 May 2006.
Freedom of the Seas arrived in New York Harbor, United States, for her official naming ceremony on 12 May 2006 which was broadcast live on NBC's The Today Show from Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey (the ship's official New York berth), and thereafter traveled to Boston for the weekend of 19–22 May. The ship's godmother was selected as Katherine Louise Calder, a Portland, Oregon foster care provider.[11] She began operations out of Miami with her first cruise and maiden voyage on 4 June, sailing to western Caribbean locations.
On 4 May 2009, Freedom of the Seas moved her home port from the Port of Miami-Dade to Port Canaveral. The ship underwent her first dry dock refurbishment in March 2011.[12] In January 2015, the ship underwent another 24-day dry dock. During the dry dock some new interior passenger cabins were added.[13] On 22 July 2015, a fire started in a mechanical area of the ship around 9:15 AM when the ship was en route from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Falmouth, Jamaica. All passengers were sent to their muster stations, and one crew member sustained first degree burns. The fire was extinguished after an hour and a half, and the ship was able to continue on its planned itinerary.[14]
In winter 2016, Freedom of the Seas repositioned to Port Everglades, from where she undertook cruises in the Caribbean.[15] After homeporting in Barcelona in the spring and summer of 2017, Freedom of the Seas returned to Port Everglades. In May 2018, she commenced sailing Southern Caribbean sailings out of San Juan, Puerto Rico until April 2021. On 7 July 2019, an 18-month old child died after falling through an open window on the 11th deck while the ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Her grandfather had placed her on a railing and lost his grip while holding her.[16] The grandfather claimed that he was colourblind and did not notice that the window was open,[17] but the cruise line released security camera footage that they claim shows him leaning out the window shortly before lifting the toddler up to it.[18] On 11 December 2019, the child's parents sued Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. over the death of their daughter, alleging that the company was negligent for not properly securing the windows.[19] The grandfather pled guilty to a charge of negligent homicide on 25 February, and was placed on probation for 3 years as part of a plea deal.
Freedom of the Seas underwent a $116 million dry dock in early 2020.[22]
