Indonesia & Royal Caribbean: USA TODAY exclusive: Future Royal Caribbean ships will boast a 'Central Park'

What mind-blowing innovation does Royal Caribbean plan for its next ship?

The Cruise World has been abuzz over the question for more than a year, and now it finally has an answer: A massive "Central Park" at the center of the vessel that boasts soaring trees, live grass and outdoor restaurants.

The new area, which Royal Caribbean plans to announce this afternoon at a press conference in New York, will be the central feature of the line's so-called Project Genesis ships launching in 2009 and 2010.

"This is very different from anything on any of our ships," the line's executive president, Harri Kulovaara, tells USA TODAY in an exclusive interview. "This is going to have real gardens, grass and trees. It has taken a lot of engineering."

Indeed, even for Royal Caribbean, a longtime leader in cruise ship innovation, it's an unprecedented undertaking. Billed as a "town square" for the coming ships, the new Central Park areas will take the place of the Royal Promenades found on the line's latest vessels. But they'll be twice as wide as the Royal Promenades and soar nearly twice as high -- a feat of engineering unthinkable just a few years ago.

Still, perhaps the biggest talker of the day is the fact that the entire Central Park area, which will run the length of a football field down the center of the ship and be lined with five decks of cabins, will be open to the air six decks above.

In other words, if it's raining outside of the ship, it'll be raining in the ship's Central Park, too.

"We have done a tremendous amount of work in studying the micro-climate, including the wind conditions and the heat conditions," says Kulovaara, noting that the ship will sail year-round in the generally pleasant air of the Caribbean. "We have drainage systems so we easily can handle a tropical rainfall and an irrigation systems for all the trees and plants."

Another big talker is that the 254 cabins overlooking the park will have balconies, allowing passengers to sit outside at night and people watch. The Royal Promenades on earlier Royal Caribbean ships are lined with three decks of cabins but do not have balconies.

Kulovaara notes that passengers on the top pool decks of the ship also will be able to look down into the Central Park area from a bridge above.

Kulovaara tells USA TODAY that the Central Park is designed to be a peaceful place for passengers to hang out during the day, noting that there will be quiet reading corners, a sculpture garden and an area for playing chess. But at night the park will morph into an active gathering space for alfresco dining and entertainment that will include outdoor concerts and street performances.

In a sign that Royal Caribbean plans to shake up its traditional dining system onboard ships, Kulovaara says the park will be surrounded by "five or six" restaurants with indoor and outdoor seating that will range from an elegant fine dining venue called 150 Central Park to casual chic eateries such as the Central Park Café.

Other dining choices that Royal Caribbean will announce today include an Italian restaurant called Giovanni’s Table, a Vintages wine bar (pictured above) and Royal Caribbean’s signature Chops Grille steakhouse. There also will be several bars scattered throughout the Park, including what's billed as the first moving bar at sea. Called Rising Tide, it will slowly glide up-and-down three decks, from the base level of the Central Park downward into lower areas of the ship (see illustration below; click on the image to make it bigger). A range of stores are planned, too.

The 225,000-ton Project Genesis ships, now under construction in Turku, Finland, will be the largest cruise vessels ever built. Nearly 50% larger than the current record holders, Royal Caribbean's Freedom class ships, they'll have room for 5,400 passengers at double occupancy.

Royal Caribbean long has been an innovator in cruise ship design, unveiling the first atriums at sea in the 1980s and the first indoor promenade in 1999. Other firsts include rock climbing walls, ice skating rinks and, most recently, a pool for surfing. The gigantic size of the coming Genesis ships has led to speculation that the line planned more ground-breaking new features, but until now the line has been mum on its plans for the ships.

Royal Caribbean says the Central Park area is one of seven "neighborhoods" that the line plans for the ships, part of a new strategy to divide up passengers based on their personal tastes and interests. The line will unveil other neighborhoods over the next year.