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The world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas, took to the water for the first time on Friday at a shipyard in France.

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Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas in a dry dock at the Saint-Nazaire, France in June 2017. Soon after this picture was taken, the dry dock was flooded, and Symphony touched water for the first time.(Photo: Royal Caribbean International)

The construction ofSymphony of the Seas, the largest cruise ship ever, hit a major milestone on Friday as the ship took to the water for the first time.

The 230,000-ton Royal Caribbean vessel was floated outfrom a dry dock at thegiant STX shipbuilding facility in St. Nazaire, France, where it has been under construction for more than a year. The float out marks the end of exterior work on the ship. It now will undergo months of finishing work to its interior.

Scheduled to debut in April, Symphonywill be more than 3,000 tons bigger than the current size leader in the cruise world, Royal Caribbean's 226,963-tonHarmony of the Seas.Like Harmony, Symphony will bepart of Royal Caribbean's record-breaking Oasis Class of ships, though it won't be an exactcopy of its sisters. Royal Caribbean has said Symphony will boastseveral new features and additional cabins.

New Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas cruise ship will be the world's largest

Symphony is scheduled to sail 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.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis Class vessels have made waves in the cruise industry since they began debuting in 2009. All three of the Oasis Class ships currently at sea are in excess of 225,000 tons more than 30% larger than the next largest cruise ships.

With the arrival of Symphony, Royal Caribbean will have 25vessels.

Five things to love about Royal Caribbean's new Harmony of the Seas

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World's largest cruise ship, Symphony of the Seas, takes to water for first time - USA TODAY