Panama Canal new locks opening date

[DDMau]

We have been thru the Panama Canal in 2008 and want to do it again when the new locks open in 2014. All I can find is they want to have them open in 2014 for the 100th year of the canal. Does anyone know the exact month they will open, I know it is a little early to be looking for 2014 cruises but I might find a 2012 or 2013 cruise that will give me the information so I can start planning for 2014.

 

Thanks

[Underwatr]

The official exansion project website is here; so far they're only saying 2014.

[DDMau]

The official exansion project website is here; so far they're only saying 2014.

 

 

Thanks, that's all I can find too.

[Cruise Junky]

Keep in mind though, most ships will probably continue to go through the old locks so make sure you book something that you know won't currently fit.

[BillB48]

The 100th anniversary of the opening of the Canal will be August 15, 2014. There is no way to be sure if that date will be met or not, there are a number of ways they could handle it like having a year long opening celebration. What Cruise Junky posted about picking a ship that won't fit the current locks is a key point. Below is a link to an article that may be of some interest concerning the opening and other problems going on that are not making the news.

 

http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20111206103330150

[Underwatr]

It's fairly interesting to go through now during the construction - you can see a lot of the work being done on the Pacific side. The backhoe operators would "wave" with their buckets as we went by.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The 100th anniversary of the opening of the Canal will be August 15, 2014. There is no way to be sure if that date will be met or not, there are a number of ways they could handle it like having a year long opening celebration. What Cruise Junky posted about picking a ship that won't fit the current locks is a key point. Below is a link to an article that may be of some interest concerning the opening and other problems going on that are not making the news.

 

http://www.panama-guide.com/article.php/20111206103330150

 

Thank you for posting this information.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done several full transits and love them.

A couple of the transits were within the last couple of years and we have enjoyed watching the progress.

Hopefully we will be able to do another transit in the fall of 2012.

[Underwatr]

I don't believe it will be as late as the first canal was...

[DanJ]

I wonder if any of the cruise lines have specifically stated they will be running larger ships through the new canal? If it costs $250,000 or so now to bring a Panamax size ship through, I can only imagine what a Voyager or Epic sized ship would be. Look at what happened when cruise lines like RCI and Carnival started getting these Panamax ships like the Spirit and Millenium. They stopped going into the canal with them, and instead would just dock in Colon and sell a shore excursion to the canal.

[BillB48]

Probably when the post Panamax ships start calling at the new Locks they will be limited to just repositioning the ship from one market to another. I sort of doubt they will be using the larger ships for regular cruises through the Canal as several lines offer now over the winter months. The basic toll for a passenger ship now stands at $134/berth whether it is occupied or not. There is a laundry list of other charges that get thrown into the hopper, so with 3500-4000 passengers it gets to be a tidy some!

[Underwatr]

I'd guess the Queen Mary 2 would introduce world cruises that are true circumnavigations via the expanded canal. Now she swings around Africa to Australia and (I thnk) back through the Suez Canal, avoiding the Straits of Magellen.

[Cruise Junky]

Probably when the post Panamax ships start calling at the new Locks they will be limited to just repositioning the ship from one market to another. I sort of doubt they will be using the larger ships for regular cruises through the Canal as several lines offer now over the winter months. The basic toll for a passenger ship now stands at $134/berth whether it is occupied or not. There is a laundry list of other charges that get thrown into the hopper, so with 3500-4000 passengers it gets to be a tidy some!

 

I agree. Lines such as Princess will probably continue to keep Coral and Island on the canal routes..it just opens up more possibilities of moving the big ships around.

[sail7seas]

We love the partial transit ten cruises HAL does round trip FLL. Those are great cruises IMO and we've done it a number of times.

 

Might be time to think about doing it again. :)