Madrid, 15 February 2010. Royal Caribbean International has announced the deployment of Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas to Barcelona next year.  Liberty of the Seas will be the world’s largest and most innovative cruise ship to be based in the Mediterranean Sea in 2011.

The cruise ship sector in Spain continues to grow at an annual rate of between eight and 10 percent with huge investment in the destination by cruise ship operators a major influencing factor. The Royal Caribbean International Spanish office predicts a 60 percent growth in guest volume in 2010 from Spain, compared with a growth of 30 percent in 2009.

Belén Wangüemert, Managing Director of Royal Caribbean Cruises Espana commented: “We are proud to continue our commitment to the Spanish market, as well as bringing in new ships, we have also significantly increased our staff in Spain so that we can achieve a growth of 60 percent, allowing us to offer almost 100,000 berths. The arrival of Liberty of the Seas in 2011 will consolidate our position as one of the top brands in the market.”

Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas was launched in May 2007 and is one of Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom-class cruise ships. The Freedom-class ships were the world’s largest until Royal Caribbean International launched Oasis of the Seas in November 2009. Liberty of the Seas has a capacity of 3,634 guests, double occupancy, and 1,365 crewmembers. Onboard guests can choose from the FlowRider (the first wave pool for surfing onboard a ship), a rock-climbing wall and ice-skating rink, to a full service spa and the Casino Royal.

Itineraries for the seven-night cruise will be announced in March 2010 when bookings are opened to the public.