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Next: Rolling (a Few Frames) at Sea. Where Will It All End?

Just as we were speculating on what one can expect to find on the huge new 5,400-passenger Genesis ship ordered by Royal Caribbean (ski jump? NASCAR track?), NCL announces its newest ship, Norwegian Pearl, will be the first with a bowling alley.

This is an interesting innovation, because you would have to guess that more cruisers are able to bowl than to take part in some of the higher-energy activities found on the big Royal Caribbean ships.

I certainly can imagine rolling a few frames on the Pearl ( the ship is not going to be sailing until 2007), but have thus far managed to resist opportunities to try rock-climbing walls or even the skating rinks on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas or Mariner of the Seas.

But aren't you likely, even if you are a great bowler, to roll a few gutter balls on a rolling ship? "Will the ball roll perfectly true? Much of the time yes, and some of the time no," says NCL CEO Colin Veitch. "We won't be hosting the world bowling championships; it's just fun we're shooting for."

However, we barely had time to ponder whether to pack our own bowling ball for our next NCL cruise when Royal Caribbean counter-punched with word that its newest ship, Freedom of the Seas, will offer Rocky wannabes the first floating full-size boxing ring.

We definitely do not plan to try this one, but in the "can you top this" spirit, we immediately began speculating on what fun innovations Royal Caribbean can include on its new Genesis-class ship, which will be 43 percent larger than Freedom of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean has to have some breakthrough ideas in mind, but it wasn't giving any hints when it announced the order. So here is our Top 10 List of things we believe may be on this new giant of the seas.

--The Savvy Cruiser