Carnival starts construction on its largest ship

Carnival Cruise Line on Thursday unveiled what the exterior of its first XL ship will look like.

At a steel-cutting ceremony at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, Carnival revealed a navy-blue hull with vibrant red and white accents running the length of the ship.

The 5,200-passenger ship, due to be delivered in 2020, will be Carnival's largest at 180,000 gross tons. Carnival said it would reveal the ship's name in December.

When it enters service in 2020, the ship will sail from Port Canaveral, Fla.

Carnival says the ship "will offer a variety of never-before-seen innovations." It will be the first cruise ship based in North America to run on liquefied natural gas, Carnival said. 

A second XL ship will start construction in 2020 and be delivered in 2022.