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Royal Caribbean has begun work on a new cruise ship, which will be the largest ever built. It is building a third Oasis-class ship and it is expected to have 227,700 GRT — approximately 2,000 GRT bigger than its sister ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.

The yet-to-be-named Oasis-class ship is expected to be delivered in mid-2016. However, before then, Royal Caribbean will be getting at least two and maybe three Quantum-sized ships.

The Quantum of the Seas is expected to begin service in fall of 2014 while its sister ship Anthem of the Seas is expected to start cruising in Spring in 2015.

A third, yet-to-be named Quantum ship may be delivered in mid 2016, prior to the new Oasis class ship. It will be almost six years between builds for the Oasis class ships with the Oasis of the Seas being introduced in 2009 and the Allure of the Seas in 2010.

The class of ship revolutionized the cruise ship industry with its aqua theatre and having inside cabins with balconies that opened out onto either a boardwalk or park. The Oasis class ships also added a zip line and carousel to add to Royal Caribbean’s other ship staples like an ice skating rink and rock-climbing wall to make it a destination unto itself.

Cruise Cancelled
The Royal Princess, which was just launched this past June in Southampton, England, had a major power outage on Sunday. The ship will dock in Naples, Italy and its current passengers will be flown home and get a full refund of their cruise fares, plus get a 25 per cent credit towards a future cruise.
At this point Princess has not said how long it will take for the repairs to take and whether or not any future cruises will be affected. The Royal Princess is registered in Bermuda and has to get local approval before it can begin service again.

Cheapest Car Rentals
A survey has revealed the least and most expensive US cities to rent cars. According to www.cheapcarrental.net, four of the five best deals can be had in Florida.

The least expensive cities to rent cars are Orlando ($17 per day), Fort Lauderdale ($18), Tampa ($18), Philadelphia ($19) and Miami ($20). And the ones that will hurt your wallet the most? Portland, Oregon ($83), New York City ($83), Boston ($75), Denver ($65) and Chicago ($63).

Best Vegas DJs
For those of you who enjoy your ‘What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ trip, the top five club DJs were recently announced. EarlyVegas.com said the best in town, is also one of the newest in Hakkasan at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

It is a five level venue with a restaurant and lounge and one of the city’s best VIP lounges. The rest of the top five were: Light at Mandalay Bay; The Bank at Bellagio; Oak at the Mirage; and XS and Encore.

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