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Royal Caribbean's next ship, Symphony of the Seas, will be slightly bigger than sister vessel Harmony of the Seas, shown here. Harmony currently is the biggest cruise ship at sea.(Photo: Michel Verdure) <\/p>\n
A new cruise ship from Royal Caribbean coming in 2018 will be the biggest ever built. <\/p>\n
Royal Caribbean today will revealthat the fourth vessel in its record-breaking Oasis class series, scheduled to debut in April 2018, will measure about 230,000 tons, eclipsing the current size leader by about 3,000 tons. <\/p>\n
Royal Caribbean also will announcethe name for the ship, which already is under construction at a shipyard in France: Symphony of the Seas. <\/p>\n
In addition, the line will announce that the vessel willsail to the Caribbean out of Miami starting in November 2018. It'll move to the city after spending its first few months operating voyages in the Mediterranean. <\/p>\n
The announcements are coming as Royal Caribbean preparesto break ground todayon a new terminal at the port of Miami that will be able to accommodate ships as big as Symphony. <\/p>\n
In addition to Symphony, the new terminal will be home to a second Oasis Class ship, Allure of the Seas, which will move to Miami from its current home in Fort Lauderdale in late 2018, Royal Caribbean will announce today. <\/p>\n
In becoming the world's largest cruise ship, Symphony will be dethroning the third vessel in the Oasis Class series, Harmony of the Seas. Unveiled just eight months ago, Harmony measures 226,963 tons and can carry up to 6,780 passengers. <\/p>\n
Five things to love about Royal Caribbean's new Harmony of the Seas <\/p>\n
Symphony will share many of the same features as Harmony, whichis about 1,700 tons larger than the first two Oasis Class vessels, Oasis of the Seas and Allure,and offers attractions that aren't on the earlier ships. Among features that were new on Harmony that will be debuting on Symphony, too:Ultimate Abyss, which has been heralded as the most thrilling attraction ever conceived for a cruise vessel. Comprised of two swirling slides, Ultimate Abyss drops ninestories from near the top of the ship down to one of its lowest decks (scroll through the carousel at the top of this story for a look at everything Harmony has to offer). <\/p>\n
See what it's like to slide down the Ultimate Abyss on the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas. USA TODAY <\/p>\n
Symphony also will have a multi-deck water slide area, something Royal Caribbean just begun adding to vessels in 2016, and a Bionic Bar where the drinks are served by robot bartenders a concept that first debuted in 2014 on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas. <\/p>\n
Royal Caribbean will announce today that Symphony willhave 28 more cabins than Harmony as well as some new features not currently on the earlier vessel. <\/p>\n
With the addition of Symphony, Royal Caribbean will have 26 ships. <\/p>\n
Symphony's first voyages will openfor bookings later today. <\/p>\n
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Read or Share this story: http:\/\/usat.ly\/2mFnLRn<\/a> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Link: <\/p>\n Even bigger! New Royal Caribbean cruise ship to be world's largest - USA TODAY<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Autoplay Show Thumbnails Show Captions Royal Caribbean's next ship, Symphony of the Seas, will be slightly bigger than sister vessel Harmony of the Seas, shown here. Harmony currently is the biggest cruise ship at sea.(Photo: Michel Verdure) A new cruise ship from Royal Caribbean coming in 2018 will be the biggest ever built Continue reading