Royal Caribbean putting Freedom-class megaship in Europe

Royal Caribbean's third 160,000-ton Freedom-class ship will cruise from Southampton, England, for its inaugural season in May 2008, the cruise line has announced.

Independence of the Seas will share world's-largest-ship honors with sisters Freedom of the Seas, already sailing from Miami, and Liberty of the Seas, to be launched this summer. They'll share the biggest-boat honors until Royal Caribbean leapfrogs itself with planned-for-2009 220,000-ton "Genesis Project" leviathan.

Needless to say, 3,634-guest Independence will be the largest ship to be homeported in Europe, and further solidifies the trend of cruise lines working to diversify their itineraries beyond the highly-competitive Caribbean.

Like its sister ships, Independence will feature adventurous features like onboard surfing, a regulation boxing ring, ice skating rink, and rock climbing wall. For example, check out photos from Freedom of the Seas. Hopefully England's legendary cool and foggy climate will break up often enough to provide some nice surfing weather.

The ship will sail alternating 14-night itineraries called "Mediterranean Treasures" and "Italian Mediterranean."