The stunt involved two ships -- or , actually , a ship and a boat : the Freedom of the Seas , a billion-dollar , 160,000-ton behemoth , which is owned by Royal Caribbean and holds the title of the Biggest Cruise Ship in the World ; and the John J. Harvey , a snub-nosed , 268-ton fireboat , which is owned by a cast of local mariners and has been chugging through the waterways around New York for more than 70 years .