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​Freedom of the Seas captain interview

INSIDE VIEW:

TALKING WITH CAPTAIN ESPEN BEEN
OF
​FREEDOM OF THE
​SEAS

By

Richard H. Wagner

 Captain Espen Been is no stranger to big ships. He started his career on large oil tankers. In 1996, he switched to Royal Caribbean's Sovereign of the Seas, then one of the world's largest cruise ships. Since then, he has served on a number of Royal Caribbean ships and now has command of Freedom of the Seas, which although no longer the world's largest is still a very large ship. We spoke with him on the bridge of Freedom to get his assessment of where Freedom is today.

To put Freedom in her proper perspective, you have to start with Royal Caribbean's Voyager class. Captain Been was part of the team that brought out the Voyager class ships. He then returned to the shipyard in Finland to bring out the second ship in the Freedom class, Liberty of the Seas.

“The Voyager class and Freedom class are technically the same ship. Engine rooms, propulsion systems, thrusters are the same. But [the Freedom class ships] are 28.5 meters longer than the Voyager class. There are more people on board.”

Liberty is, of course, a sister ship to Freedom of the Seas. “When they built these ships, they built three of them. I think the plan was to build more but that did not happen. These are very nice ships.”

“Freedom of the Seas is still a big ship, a very big ship. It is a size of ship that fits all markets pretty well - - the Caribbean, the East Coast or if you are going to Europe, north and south, and China Of course, depending upon the port size, big ships have their limits.”

“It has all the amenities. It is roomy. You get the feeling of being aboard a ship. It is a very friendly crew aboard. What makes the ship is the crew aboard, the environment and the life aboard.”

Therefore, keeping the crew happy is a major priority. “It all starts with the management. So we need to have good managers. We work with the managers to be respectful and to communicate with the crew in the proper way. The crew has to have a comfortable environment. They feel comfortable being here, they feel looked after. Also, we arrange some gatherings and parties for them. They get some time off. We respect them.”

It is also important for the captain to have a visible presence with the passengers. However, Captain Been approaches this role in a low-key, personal way rather than a flamboyant manner. “I walk around and talk to the people, talk to my crew. It is part of my job.”

This low-key approach reflects Captain Been's approach to managing the ship. 

“As the captain, you are head of operations.  It is a little like a military organization, a ship. It is not a flat organization but a triangle. There are a lot of soldiers, a thin layer of mangers.  Very often the final questions end up on my table."

"But we work together, the executive team - - me, the hotel director, the staff captain and the chief engineer. We work onboard very closely and we solve problems together.  We work together and make decisions together as a team. It is all about us here, not about me.”

​Freedom of the Seas is now in her second decade of service. However, she remains a popular ship in good condition. “These ships are good to go. They cost almost a billion dollars when they came out. A lot of money.”

“On the bridge here we have the latest equipment more or less. Not as fancy as they have aboard the Oasis and the Quantum but we have a very nice bridge here. Nothing to complain about. Technically and propulsion-wise, [Freedom is doing] very, very well.

Royal Caribbean has a revitalization program in which its ships are receiving new features when they go in for their regularly scheduled dry dock sessions. However, Freedom missed her last regularly-scheduled dry dock session.

We were supposed to have a revitalization in January {2016]. But there was a bearing problem in the fixipod. [The fixipod is one of three pods that propel the ship]. So we had an emergency dry dock one year before to work on the pods. We had a dry dock rather than the revitalization.”

Even though she did not receive the full revitalization, new features were added to the ship during the emergency dry dock. For example, new cabins were added on Deck 12 near the ship's spa.

Another change was the addition of a new specialty restaurant. “Sabor happened during the dry dock. They took the Crypt, the [two deck high] disco, and installed the Sabor on one deck and new cabins underneath. That area is like a new ship, a new design. The same as on the cabins on Deck 12.”

Work to maintain and improve the ship continued after the ship left the dry dock. “Throughout the year, we have refurbishment. We change carpets, we do projects. Last year, we built the Next Cruise Office. There is always maintenance going on aboard.”

All this will prepare Freedom for a new chapter in her life. “This ship has been in the Caribbean since she came out. [This] year, for the very first time, we are going to Europe with this ship.”

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