Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas Arrives in N.Y. Harbor

A clear, sunny Saturday afternoon of November 10, set the stage for the arrival of the first passenger ship into New York Harbor following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The vessel, Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas, sailed into New York for a two-day tribute cruise for the families of the fallen firemen and police officers who were victim to the devastation at the World Trade Center. Royal Caribbean also plans to donate $50,000 to the Twin Towers Relief Fund.

The 142,000-ton Adventure of the Seas - sister ship to Voyager and Explorer of the Seas - was christened at Pier 88 and named by representatives of the New York Police Department and New York Fire Department. The vessel's godparents were Maggie McDonnell, widow of police officer Brian McDonnell; Tara Stackpole, widow of firefighter Captain Timothy Stackpole; fireman Kevin Hannafin, who lost his brother, fireman Tom Hannafin; and Sgt. Richard Lucas of the NYPD Harbor Unit, which assisted rescuers, were joined by approximately 2,000 police and firemen's family members, as well as New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Royal Caribbean's CEO Richard Fain.

Measuring 1,020 ft. (311.1 m), the vessel, which debuted into N.Y. Harbor adorned with a large American flag was led by a procession of vessels - namely NYPD patrol boat P.O. Anthony Sanchez. Also participating in the group were tugboats Margaret Moran, Java Sea, Stacey Moran, Joanne Reinauer III, Empire State, Matthew Tibbetts, Austin Reinauer, Marie J. Turecamo, Miriam Moran, Juniper and New Jersey - with Justine McAllister stationed at rear guard. Fireboats John D. McKean and John J. Harvey were positioned off Liberty Island to give Adventure of the Seas a welcome spray of red, white and blue. Tugs McAllister Sisters and Mary L. McAllister were also part of the procession, but left Adventure of the Seas to escort an ACL containership.

What is dubbed as the vessel's most striking feature, however is its breadth of 126 ft. (38.6 m) at waterline level (155 ft. (47.4 m) breadth at the bridge wings) and its height of 237 ft. (72.3 m) from keel to the top of the funnel.

This Post-Panamax size has allowed both unique designs and interior solutions to be implemented onboard Adventure of the Seas. The vessel features a four deck high horizontal promenade — the Royal Promenade — a premiere design on this ship series. Measuring approximately 394 ft. (120 m), the promenade has an 11 deck-high atrium at each end.

Scheduled to perform its first seven-day cruise on November 18 to the Southern Caribbean, Adventure of the Seas was constructed to Det Norsk Veritas classification, and was designed by a variety of architects, namely Nijal R. Eide, Tillberg Design, Wilson Butler Lodge and Tom Graboski & Associates.