New Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas cruise ship will be the world’s largest – USA TODAY

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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)

A new cruise ship from Royal Caribbean coming in 2018 will be the biggest ever built.

Royal Caribbean Wednesday revealed that 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.

Royal Caribbean also announced the name for the ship, which already is under construction at a shipyard in France: Symphony of the Seas.

In addition, the lineannouncedthe 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.

"It's slightly longer, and it's a tad wider" than earlier Oasis Class ships, Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley said of Symphony during a conference call with cruise writers. He promised a vessel with attractions both familiar and new that was"packed full of adventure."

"It will boast all of the innovations that are so well known with (the) Oasis Class, and then of course, because we have to have a whole new set of features ... there are additions that we are not going to talk about today."

The new details about the ship cameas Royal Caribbean preparedto break ground Wednesdayon a new terminal at the port of Miami that will be able to accommodate ships as big as Symphony.

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 also announced Wednesday.

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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.

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

Symphony will share many of the same features as Harmony, whichis about 1,700 tons larger than the first two Oasis Class ships, Oasis of the Seas and Allure,and offers attractions that aren't on the earlier vessels. 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 ship.

Comprised of two swirling slides, Ultimate Abyss drops ninestories from near the top of the vessel 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).

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

Symphony also will have a multi-deck water slide area, something Royal Caribbean just begun adding to ships 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.

While remaining mostly mum on new and updated features planned for Symphony, Bayley said the vessel's forward-facing Solarium area wouldbe "quite a lot" different than the ones on the earlier Oasis Class ships. In addition, Symphony willhave 28 more cabins than Harmony.

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 26 ships.

The vessel's first voyages will openfor bookings Wednesday.

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