Monster Royal Caribbean Genesis cruise ship announced

Royal Caribbean shook up the cruise industry today, announcing plans to build a monster 5,400-passenger ship for delivery in 2009. This Project Genesis vessel has Royal Caribbean one-upping itself, as it will be larger than the line's Freedom of the Seas, which itself won't even set sail until later this year.

The first Project Genesis ship will dwarf everything else afloat today (or currently planned for the future, for that matter), and Royal Caribbean has an option for a sister vessel. At 220,000 gross registered tons, 1,180 feet long, 154 feet wide and 240 feet high, the $1.1 billion vessel will be in a class by itself. The two nearest competitors, Freedom of the Seas and the Queen Mary 2, weigh in at a lithe 158,000 and 150,000 GRT respectively.

Royal Caribbean has yet to announce specifics about new features and guest experiences to be introduced on Project Genesis, but if experience is a guide, there will be interesting iconic hardware (like the Voyager-class rock climbing wall, and Freedom-class onboard surfing) whose details will be dribbled out to maximize publicity buzz.