A Roving Resort on the High Seas

Feb. 6, 2006 — -- It's more than a McMansion on the seas, it's a floating city and it's the latest and biggest entry into cruise lines' attempts to offer a megaship experience.

"People won't leave the ship," said Linda Coffman, author of "The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises" and producer of Cruisediva.com.

Royal Caribbean International has ordered the world's largest and most expensive cruise ship -- dubbed Project Genesis -- which is expected to hit the high seas in 2009. The $1.24 billion ship will hold up to 6,400 passengers and marks the latest and biggest entry into the trend of supersizing ships. It's the kind of megavessel that tends to offer passengers everything.

"Oh my gosh, I thought it was somebody pulling an enormous practical joke when I first heard about it," Coffman said. "For one thing, Carnival has had a similar project on the back burner essentially, unsure of its practicality."

Carnival, the largest cruise operator, has studied building a ship about the same size, but its Pinnacle project is "on the back burner" because of its prohibitively high price, spokesman Tim Gallagher said.

For the cruise industry, the biggest growing trend is megaships catering to families and adventurers who want to rock climb while onboard -- not sit back and watch a bland musical reproduction on a dark deck.

"There used to be this idea that a cruise ship was just full of old people playing shuffleboard but that has really changed," Coffman said. "The industry has made that change. So younger people are populating the ships and really changing the industry."

Project Genesis will be 1,180 feet long, 154 feet wide at water level, and 240 feet high.

Aker Yards of Finland has won the building contract. The vessel will include an unrivaled selection of activities, which are still to be confirmed.

Another Royal Caribbean vessel, Freedom of the Seas, will shortly borrow the title of world's largest passenger cruiser until Project Genesis emerges. The Freedom of the Seas holds 3,600 passengers and is expected to sail in June. It has an ice-skating rink, rock-climbing wall and an onboard surfing system. Passengers will also have access to a water park, promenade and a casino.