Freedom of the Seas christened in New York

The world's largest cruise ship, Freedom of the Seas, arrived Wednesday morning in New York Harbor from Southampton, England, and was christened on Friday morning in a ceremony televised live on NBC's Today show.

Instead of the usual route of choosing a celebrity Godmother for the ship, Royal Caribbean let the Today show choose the country's "best mother," Katherine Calder, foster mom for more than 400 kids. She had the honor of cutting the ribbon that broke a mega champagne bottle across the ship's bow, and pronouncing the timeless prayer, "I name this ship Freedom of the Seas. May God bless this ship and all who sail on her."

Freedom offers many firsts on her resume besides size: the first onboard surfing at sea, the first boxing ring at sea, and the first hot tubs cantilevered over the side of the ship more than 100 feet in the air. Talk about a view! These features are in addition to Royal Caribbean's innovations on earlier ships--that you'll also find here--such as the enormous mall-like Royal Promenade, the iconic rock-climbing wall and Studio B ice-skating rink.

Freedom begins her public cruise career on June 4, with 7-night Western Caribbean cruises from Miami that are available at this moment starting at $864 per person, double occupancy.

We'll be checking out Freedom firsthand later in May and will report back with a full slew of photos and observations.