It's now Mexico's turn to admire the world's largest cruise ship, the Symphony of the Seas | New

This ship of 228,081 tons makes its first voyage from Miami, its new homeland. It is a special four-night cruise during which Cozumel is the only stopover.

Symphony departed Miami late Friday night under a fireworks display that lit up the city's waterfront, as part of a welcome celebration that also included a fireboat projecting from the airport. water in the air. Sitting at a height of 18 stories and nearly 1,200 feet long, Symphony is the largest cruise ship ever to have left PortMiami, the world's busiest cruise port.

Local media in Cozumel were waiting for Symphony Sunday for a historic visit. The ship will travel regularly to Cozumel from the end of the month starting with a seven-night trip to the western Caribbean.

Unveiled this year in Europe, Symphony is built on the same platform as Harmony of the Seas, 2 years old, Royal Caribbean, the former leader of the cruise. But he overshadows his brother of more than 1,000 tons and offers several new features.

Among the additions are a first family suite of this type with two floors, a slide between the floors, a renovated Boardwalk attraction area and a new laser tag attraction. Symphony also has more cabs than Harmony.

While Symphony spent its first months sailing in Europe, it was only a temporary assignment. This resort type vessel has long been scheduled to sail the Caribbean all year starting this month. The ship arrived in Miami Friday after a 12-night trip from Barcelona. The arrival took place a day after the ship made a brief stop in Port Canaveral, Florida – her first call in North America.

The official Symphony North America Night will be held in Miami on Thursday and will be named by actors and mega-cruises fans, Carlos and Alexa PenaVega, and their 17-month-old son Ocean.

Designed for vacationers who love mega-seaside resorts, Symphony has one of the largest concentrations of attractions for adults and children at sea. Like its sister Harmony, it has a thrill ride record of nearly 20 meters and a "bionic bar" with a bartender robot. It also offers three main pools, a water slide complex, an adult-only solarium, an ice rink, two climbing walls, a basketball court and a mall-style indoor boardwalk with shops, bars and restaurants. and restaurants. Like Harmony, it also has an open-air, tree-lined area called Central Park with upscale restaurants, bars, and shops such as Bulgari.

Symphony can accommodate up to 6,680 passengers and sail with a crew of 2,200 people, which means that during busy weeks, it can seat nearly 9,000 people. It was built in three years on the giant shipyard of Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire, France – the same shipyard that built Harmony. Its stated cost was over $ 1.3 billion.

With the addition of Symphony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean has 25 ships.