<Tr> <Td> Capacity: </Td> <Td> 4,370 passengers </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Crew: </Td> <Td> 1,360 </Td> </Tr> <P> MS Independence of the Seas is a Freedom - class cruise ship operated by the Royal Caribbean cruise line that entered service in April 2008 . The 15 - deck ship can accommodate 4,370 passengers and is served by 1,360 crew . She was built in the Aker Finnyards Turku Shipyard, Finland, builder of Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas, her sister ships of the Freedom class . At 154,407 GT, she joined Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas as the largest cruise ships and passenger vessels yet built . She is 1,112 feet (339 m) long, and typically cruises at 21.6 knots (40.0 km / h; 24.9 mph). The vessel operates from Fort Lauderdale, Florida during the Fall and Winter months and Southampton, England during the Spring and Summer months . </P> <P> Independence of the Seas is the third of the Freedom - class vessels . In October 2009, Oasis of the Seas, the first ship in the Oasis class, displaced the Freedom class as the world's largest passenger ship . </P>

Number of passengers on independence of the seas