A ship big enough to float Central Park

Central Park is moving to the ocean — sort of.

Royal Caribbean will feature an area modeled after New York's Central Park in the center of its giant Project Genesis ship when it is delivered in late 2009 as the world's largest cruise vessel.

Spanning the length of a football field, the shipboard Central Park will include lush foliage, quiet walkways, restaurants, boutiques, an art gallery and a moving bar. It also will offer concerts and street performances on the 5,400-passenger ship that will sail out of Port Everglades in Flordia.

The Central Park design is one of seven "neighborhoods" to be featured on the $1 billion Project Genesis ship, which is being built in Finland, and it is the first major architectural detail to be divulged after several years of planning and secrecy. 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 is a 225,000-gross-ton cruise ship that 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 gross ton is a measurement of carrying capacity that is equivalent to about 100 cubic feet.)