The newest ship in the Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL ) fleet, set to start sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., by the end of next year, is raising the bar in architecture. Whereas most ships are centered by multilevel atriums that feature a handful of shops and watering holes, Royal Caribbean's boat will feature an open air urban park the length of a football field.
Central Park may not resemble the actual Central Park in New York City, but it will feature gardens and winding pathways in an open-air setting, watched over by hundreds of balconies from passenger berths.
This doesn't mean that Royal is simply re-creating a landlubber experience. One key Central Park feature will be a moving bar that ascends and descends, a feature that will no doubt be tricky to navigate if you have one frozen cocktail too many.
The kicker is that this is just one of the seven neighborhoods within the massive ship. Royal Caribbean will no doubt tease the media and cruiseaholics in the coming months with details on the other six themed areas that will carry a whopping 5,400 passengers.
Living in Miami, I see the colorful assortment of cruise ships as they dock against our sun-blessed coastline. They keep getting bigger. Shuffleboard decks and putting greens evolved into rock walls, bowling alleys, and floating waterparks.
All of the major cruise operators, like NCL and Carnival (NYSE: CCL ) , have next-generation ships on order. Disney's (NYSE: DIS ) two-ship fleet will double in the next few years.
More ships carrying more passengers translates into a wider audience of cruisers, leaving from a wider variety of ports. That is one of the reasons I recommended Steiner Leisure (Nasdaq: STNR ) to Motley Fool Rule Breakers subscribers nearly four years ago. The operator of the spa facilities found on nearly every major cruise ship has grown nicely over the years, cashing in on the larger audiences that require a little onboard pampering.
So who will lose market share to the cruising industry? It's a good question. My first reaction in eyeing the Central Park concept art was that it looked a lot like the open atrium courtyards found in Embassy Suites. Yes, cruise lines are starting to emulate the lodging industry with roomier cabins. So naturally the cruise industry's expansion may come at the expense of more conventional hoteliers like Wyndham (NYSE: WYN ) , Marriott (NYSE: MAR ) , and Starwood (NYSE: HOT ) . With ships offering in-board shows, gambling, and lavish restaurants, domestic hotels and casinos should be on notice.
Central Park is coming. Look busy.
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