Travelers looking for a way to go to sea without leaving land behind need look no further than Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s Project Genesis cruise ship, which when delivered in late 2009, will feature New York's Central Park.

Spanning the length of a football field on the world's biggest cruise ship, this Central Park in miniature will include lush foliage, quiet walkways, restaurants, boutiques, an art gallery and a moving bar, the world's No. 2 cruise operator said.

The park-like seeting also will offer concerts and street performances, providing the feeling of an outdoor space on a 225,000-gross ton cruise ship that will carry 5,400 passengers and sail from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.

The Central Park design is one of seven "neighborhoods" to be featured on Project Genesis, and it is the first major architectural detail to be divulged after several years of planning and secrecy. More details will be disclosed as the ship gets closer to launch, said Adam Goldstein, president of Royal Caribbean International.

"I have spent the last two years keeping this a secret even from my immediate family," Goldstein told The Associated Press in a phone interview ahead of a news conference in New York. "Our level of excitement is equaled only by our fidelity to keep it a secret until now."

Project Genesis is an ambitious undertaking by Miami-based Royal Caribbean, the world's second-largest cruise company behind Miami-based Carnival Corp. With a view of the sky, Central Park will be lined with 254 balcony staterooms and feature five eateries and two bars. One of the bars, called the Rising Tide, will ascend and descend three levels.

Project Genesis will exceed the size of Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas, which currently hold the title of the world's largest cruise ship at 160,000 gross tons each. A third Freedom Class ship, the Independence of the Seas, is set to launch in May.

Project Genesis and a sister ship are set to be launched by the end of 2010. Each Project Genesis ship will cost more than 1 billion U.S. dollars to build at Aker Yards in Turku, Finland.

(Xinhua/Agencies April 28, 2008)