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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Weighty Decorating at Sea

Good morning,

That's a picture of my bathroom sink above.  Not my sink at home, but my sink in my stateroom aboard Freedom of the Seas.  And, yes, that is granite.
I'll take you for a walk to see some more of the granite on board.  This is the elevator lobby near my stateroom.  Yes, that is a strip of granite behind the 10.
And, that is granite in the corner of the elevator.
I stepped out of the elevator on deck 5 where I found granite borders around the shop windows...
...and granite on the floor of the Royal Promenade.
It gets better:  this is more granite decorating the doorway of one of the shops...
...and this beautiful display is further down the Royal Promenade.
These pretty squares tie the other flooring designs together on this floating "street" more than one and a half American football fields long.
Even the planters are granite.
Until I started this journey to photograph the granite on board today I didn't realize just how much there is here.
Granite flooring is part of the artwork of the ship.
This is the floor and front of the Guest Relations desk;  the top of the desk is also granite.
More granite flooring and planters...
...and even more designs to connect to the next area.
Yes, there are other guests on board. I've been asked where the people are in some of my picture stores.  I had to laugh because I sometimes wait for quite a long time for the areas to be clear to be able to take the pictures. 
I have another series of images coming soon with plenty of people in them, but these floors are so pretty, I waited to get pictures of them without anyone or anything covering them.
I have moved to deck 4 and am now walking through the Casino Royale.
And, sure enough, there is also granite...
on the bars...
 ...and sales counters.  This one is in the Photo Gallery.
I walked back through the Centrum where the columns are also granite...
...through the entrance to the dining room where granite surrounds a lovely design in the carpet...
...into the main dining room where a table at the entrance rests on still another circle of granite.
I recognize the outer rim of granite and part of the design within the circle as Norwegian Blue Pearl Granite, mined in Norway near where my husband was born and the same granite as we have in our kitchen at home.

It was time for lunch so I stopped taking pictures, but there is much more granite on board.  This ship is elegantly beautiful.

I hope you've enjoyed my tour of the granite on board Freedom of the Seas.

Very best,
Lois

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3 comments:

Deere Driver said...

WOW! How do you stay afloat!!

Anonymous said...

So pretty!! Like all the colored designs...but how does it stay above water?? eeek...debbie

Lois Evensen said...

Good morning,

You ask very good questions. The maximum draft of the ship is 29 feet and the gross tonnage is 154,407.

The naval architects did an excellent job of designing, building, and testing the ship to be sure she is quite stable. The weight of the granite is taken into account as well as everything else on board.

The weight of supplies, fresh water (made on board), fuel, waste, etc., all change throughout any voyage so ballast evens out the weight needed for stability.

It is all so fascinating how this giant floating hotel operates.

Thank you for stopping by.

Very best,
Lois