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Carnival to launch Freedom with inaugural Mediterranean sailing

Carnival Cruise Lines' 110,000-ton Carnival Freedom will operate a nine-day inaugural cruise in March 2007 featuring visits to five ports in Italy, Greece, Croatia and Turkey.

The cruise starts with a March 5 overnight call in Venice and includes daylong stops in Dubrovnik, Croatia; Athens and Rhodes, Greece; Izmir, Turkey; and Naples, Italy. The cruise ends in Civitavecchia, Italy, on March 14. Prices for the nine-day cruise begin at $699 per person, double.

The 2,974-passenger vessel will kick off its regular schedule March 14 and offer 12-day Mediterranean and Mediterranean/Greek Isles cruises from Civitavecchia through Oct. 16, 2007.

A 14-day transatlantic crossing will depart Civitavecchia on Oct. 28, bringing the vessel to Miami Nov. 11, where the ship will then begin year-round service from Miami with seven-day cruises alternating weekly to the eastern and western Caribbean on Nov. 17. Prior to the start-up of this program, the Carnival Freedom will operate a one-time, four-day western Caribbean cruise from Miami Nov. 12.

The Carnival Freedom currently is under construction at Fincantieri's shipyard in Marghera, Italy.

The reporter who wrote this article, is Kristin O'Meara Hillmann at travel weekly.

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