Pinoys dominate crew of largest cruise ship

SOUTHAMPTON, England – Twice as tall as the Statue of Liberty in New York and wider than the White House, the world’s biggest cruise ship, the Freedom of the Seas, set sail amidst a burst of fireworks from this legendary port last week with a crew dominated by Filipinos. It made sea transport history and Filipinos, according to the Freedom’s captain, William Wright, made the historic voyage possible.

"Filipinos are the best of the best!" declared Wright, 49, at an open forum during the ship’s inaugural preview cruise. Built over a period of almost four years for a whopping $800 million, the Freedom displaces the 150,000-ton Queen Mary 2 as the world’s largest cruise ship.

The captain’s unabashed admiration for Filipino seafarers was received with resounding applause by the international media and other guests, all of whom had been taken care of, directly or indirectly, by 500 Filipino crew members on board. Earlier, a journalist had remarked during the open forum at the ship’s Arcadia theater that the passengers were in good hands because of the predominantly Filipino crew.

"Filipinos are excellent seafarers, engineers and quartermasters," agreed Wright, who also revealed that the 160,000-ton Freedom boasts the same navigational technology as the US Navy.

Wright, one of the most respected sea masters in the shipping industry, was in Manila last November to receive a citation from President Arroyo for the contribution of his company, the Royal Caribbean International (RCI), to the welfare of Filipino seafarers.

Thirty five percent of the ship’s 1,401 crew members are Filipino, from the control deck, to the engine room, to the entertainment areas, even the spa! Royal Caribbean International, an American company which owns Freedom of the Seas, employs a total of 10,000 Filipinos in its 20 cruise ships around the world.

"Filipinos constitute the biggest number of employees from a single country on this ship," says RCI president Adam Goldstein. There are a total of 107 countries represented on the ship, which will debut commercially from Miami to the Caribbean only in June this year.

The Freedom, which can accommodate as many as 4,375 guests, produces 78,000 pounds of ice cubes and generates 476,000 gallons of fresh water a day.

At 160,000 tons, it weighs more than 80,000 cars or 32,000 adult elephants. When measured from the waterline to the top of its funnel, it stands 208 feet tall, twice the height of the Statue of Liberty. If made to stand upright on its bow, it would trump both New York’s Chrysler building (1,046 ft.) and the Eiffel Tower in Paris (986 ft). According to Royal Caribbean, the Freedom, which spans 1,112 feet, is wider than the White House and longer than 37 double-decker buses.

The Freedom, which is lit up by 750,000 light bulbs at night, has a shopping and entertainment boulevard that spans the length of an entire football field. Fourteen-stories high, the ship also boasts a Broadway-style theater, a skating rink, a chapel, a casino, a water park, a 43 x 44 ft. wall for rock climbing, a basketball court, 10 restaurants and 16 bars and lounges. Of the 365 members of the dining room staff, 142 are Filipino. The highest ranking Filipino in the Food and Beverage department is assistant maitre’d Greg Gutierrez.

According to some of the waiters, most of whom are alumni of Manila’s five-star hotels, they can make as much as $1,800 a month in tips alone. The London-trained Filipina masseuses at the ship’s spa, where treatments cost an average of $200 an hour, can make from $3,000 to $4,000 a month in tips.

Most of the Filipino crew members are on an eight-month contract, renewable after a vacation. Their quarters below deck are said to include a gym and other recreational facilities as well.

Royal Caribbean is represented in the Philippines by Arpan Air, sister company of Baron Travel, headed by president and CEO Marilen Yaptanco. For the historic two-day inaugural preview cruise, four Filipino journalists, including this writer and Kathy Moran of The STAR’s Lifestyle section, were flown to London by Air France-KLM.