panama canal itinerary - which line - old locks

Looking for some advice - We want to do a Panama Canal cruise from the west coast to the east coast - but my husband wants to go through the 'old' lock - any advice on which line still goes through the old lock and which has the best itinerary?

I could be wrong (it has happened before ;p), but I do not think the cruise line can control which lock they go through, unless the ship is definitely to wide to go through the old lock system. In reading Captain Albert's (Holland America Captain)'s blog posts over the last several years, he has talked a lot about being at the whim of the Panama Canal Authority for scheduling of which locks and when. This is even more so for ships that go into the locks from the Caribbean, spend a little time in Gatun Lake, and then sail back to the Caribbean Sea.

If you want to do a Panama Canal transit cruise, I would choose based on the line, ship, itinerary (not necessarily in that order) and then see if a particular cruise line has an excursion that might show you the old locks. No idea if such a tour exists, but that might be the best way to "guarantee" seeing the old locks, if such a tour does exist.

dctravel

So far all full transit canal crossings are using the old locks. They are cheaper.

Later this year larger ships will begin using the new locks, but this is noted in the booking information....at least on Princess.

So if you book a trip on the Island Princess or the Coral Princess you will transit the old locks.

Other cruise lines have ships that fit the old locks, but I am not familiar with which ones.

Looking for some advice - We want to do a Panama Canal cruise from the west coast to the east coast - but my husband wants to go through the 'old' lock - any advice on which line still goes through the old lock and which has the best itinerary?

Currently Princess and Holland do the most of the full and partial of the Panama Canal. Yes others do it during re positioning cruises. They have the smaller ships for a canal transit.

The season is from Sept to May for these cruises.

I know of no cruise line with a post-Panamax sized ship scheduled for a west-to-east full transit. There is only one scheduled for an east-to-west (Norwegian Bliss on its way to its maiden Alaska season in Summer 2018). As noted above Princess is the only line with regularly scheduled cruises through the new locks (Caribbean Princess over winter 2017-18) but if one chooses to believe the early leaks of Princess' 2019 deployment those are going to be one-year-and-done.

So you can take it to the bank that your eastbound transit will be through the new locks--because if the ship fits through the old locks the cruise line will not be paying the much higher tolls for the new ones. Nor is there any chance of being re-routed by the Canal Authority at the last minute unless the difference is paid, no matter what issues are otherwise encountered.

In reading Captain Albert's (Holland America Captain)'s blog posts over the last several years, he has talked a lot about being at the whim of the Panama Canal Authority for scheduling of which locks and when. This is even more so for ships that go into the locks from the Caribbean, spend a little time in Gatun Lake, and then sail back to the Caribbean Sea.

Until June of last year there was only one set of locks. So how could there have been issue with "which set of locks" several years ago? What that blog was likely referring to was being at the whim of the authority as to what time the ship gets to re-enter the Gatun Locks when turning back around in Gatun lake on a partial transit cruise. Scheduling involves when but there is no which.

Oceania

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So far all full transit canal crossings are using the old locks. They are cheaper.

 

 

 

Later this year larger ships will begin using the new locks, but this is noted in the booking information....at least on Princess.

 

 

 

So if you book a trip on the Island Princess or the Coral Princess you will transit the old locks.

 

 

 

Other cruise lines have ships that fit the old locks, but I am not familiar with which ones.

The Caribbean Princess is currently the only ship that does partial transits of the new locks. They are scheduled until No 2018.

New Princess schedule is due mid May for the Americas.

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I know of no cruise line with a post-Panamax sized ship scheduled for a west-to-east full transit. There is only one scheduled for an east-to-west (Norwegian Bliss on its way to its maiden Alaska season in Summer 2018). As noted above Princess is the only line with regularly scheduled cruises through the new locks (Caribbean Princess over winter 2017-18) but if one chooses to believe the early leaks of Princess' 2019 deployment those are going to be one-year-and-done.

 

So you can take it to the bank that your eastbound transit will be through the new locks--because if the ship fits through the old locks the cruise line will not be paying the much higher tolls for the new ones. Nor is there any chance of being re-routed by the Canal Authority at the last minute unless the difference is paid, no matter what issues are otherwise encountere

 

Until June of last year there was only one set of locks. So how could there have been issue with "which set of locks" several years ago? What that blog was likely referring to was being at the whim of the authority as to what time the ship gets to re-enter the Gatun Locks when turning back around in Gatun lake on a partial transit cruise. Scheduling involves when but there is no which.

Sorry, but you missed that Carnival Splendor is doing a full westbound transit January 2018, Miami to Long Beach, through the new locks. EM

Personally I would still prefer taking a Panamax through the old locks. Granted the new locks are themselves-a major engineering feat but the old locks were the engineering feat of an entire generation. Also it is just so much fun watching a Panamax just barely fit into the locks. I am hoping to repeat this journey. No matter which route you decide, I highly recommend McCullough's "The Path Between the Seas" as a resource to understand how massive an undertaking this was.

Looking for some advice - We want to do a Panama Canal cruise from the west coast to the east coast - but my husband wants to go through the 'old' lock - any advice on which line still goes through the old lock and which has the best itinerary?

A friend was passing through the old locks today on Celebrity Infinity. They'll be doing that run for awhile. FLL to San Diego or reverse.

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