World's Largest Cruise Ship Sets Sail

The world's largest cruise ship just got its first taste of the open ocean, setting sail from France for a trial run on Thursday, the Guardian reports. The Harmony of the Seas, which will make its debut for Royal Caribbean International in May, is 1,187 feet long, 210 feet tall, and weighs 227,000 tons. At full capacity, it will hold more than 6,000 passengers and a crew of 2,000. That beats the world's current largest cruise ships—both owned by Royal Caribbean—by more than 1,700 tons and nearly 100 passengers, according to USA Today. The Orlando Sentinel reports the extra space will accommodate 100-feet slides down 10 decks, robot bartenders, virtual balconies for interior cabins, and a zip-line across nine decks.

Construction on the $1.1 billion Harmony of the Seas started in 2013 in Saint-Nazaire, France. Thousands of onlookers watched it head out to sea this week to test everything from navigational equipment to steering. The Harmony of the Seas is scheduled to spend the summer taking passengers around the Mediterranean before relocating to its permanent home in Florida in November. At that point, it will cost approximately $2,000, at least, for a couple to embark on a seven-night trip between Florida and the Caribbean aboard the world's biggest cruise ship. (More cruise ships stories.)