2016 Panama Canal Schedule

[OKC Cruisers]

Does anyone have any idea about how far in advance Royal releases it's Panama Canal schedule. My DW grew up on the US Army base in the Canal Zone and she wants to do a canal cruise for her 50th b-day (Feb 2016).

 

Pete

[Clarea]

Does anyone have any idea about how far in advance Royal releases it's Panama Canal schedule. My DW grew up on the US Army base in the Canal Zone and she wants to do a canal cruise for her 50th b-day (Feb 2016).

 

Pete

Not 100% sure, but I thought Royal had released those itineraries as far as April or May 2016.

[Kamloops50]

Royal normally doesn't do any Panama Canal Cruises.

[MADflyer]

RCI have not deployed any ships to do canal sailings for the Spring of 2016 and the only one offered was the repositioning of the Jewel in October 2015.

 

The earliest one might be added would be May 2016 as all deployment is complete except for China until that time.

 

They seem to have left the region to RCCI sister lines Celebrity and Azamara Club Cruises.

Edited June 5, 2014 by MADflyer

[firstplacechef]

We did PC transit this past March with Celebrity and had a blast!

[h20skibum]

Does anyone have any idea about how far in advance Royal releases it's Panama Canal schedule. My DW grew up on the US Army base in the Canal Zone and she wants to do a canal cruise for her 50th b-day (Feb 2016).

 

Pete

 

Maybe with a little luck, the new locks will be open by then and Royal will start taking some larger ships through. The canal is expensive for the cruise lines. We had looked for a Panama Canal Cruise on Royal for this year, but as another poster said, there just aren't any unless it is a repositioning.

 

We ended up taking the Coral Princess for our Canal trip this year.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2040176

 

Look in to what each of the lines have to offer. It is definitely a worthwhile trip.

[BillB48]

Royal normally doesn't do any Panama Canal Cruises.

 

They certainly have not been doing very many, but they are doing a few, just enough to display the flag. The Legend has a has a FL-CA and CA-FL in November of 2014 and another at the end of March 2015.

 

The Jewel has a Canal trip form SJU-LAX in May 2015 and a LAX-SJU in October 2015.

 

I don't know of any others.

[Clarea]

Maybe with a little luck, the new locks will be open by then and Royal will start taking some larger ships through. The canal is expensive for the cruise lines. We had looked for a Panama Canal Cruise on Royal for this year, but as another poster said, there just aren't any unless it is a repositioning.

 

We ended up taking the Coral Princess for our Canal trip this year.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2040176

 

Look in to what each of the lines have to offer. It is definitely a worthwhile trip.

I wish they could take the larger ships through, but there may be a problem with the height of Voyager/Freedom/Oasis class ships. They seem to be too tall for the Bridge of the Americas.

[h20skibum]

I wish they could take the larger ships through, but there may be a problem with the height of Voyager/Freedom/Oasis class ships. They seem to be too tall for the Bridge of the Americas.

 

Voyager and Freedom would fit beneath both the Centennial Bridge and the Bridge of the Americas, but the Oasis Class would definitely be too tall. They are all just too wide and too long for the current locks, but would fit the new ones once they are completed.

[Hoopster95]

Voyager and Freedom would fit beneath both the Centennial Bridge and the Bridge of the Americas, but the Oasis Class would definitely be too tall. They are all just too wide and too long for the current locks, but would fit the new ones once they are completed.

 

Highest point of Bridge of Americas approx. 61 meters = 201 ft.

 

Vision Class air draft approx. 164 ft

Radiance Class air draft approx. 173 (if I remember correctly)

Voyager Class air draft approx. 207ft..... CRASH!!!!!

Freedom Class approx. 213ft.... CRASH!!!

Oasis approx. 236ft... CRASH!!!

[Tropicalgal2]

Maybe with a little luck, the new locks will be open by then and Royal will start taking some larger ships through.

 

Most of the cruise ships can go through the canal now as they are not too wide for the locks. The problem is the clearance under the Bridge of the Americas. We have over 100 cruise ships sail through the Canal in any season. The new locks will not help any of the big ships! :(

 

The papers here are saying that the administration is projecting mid 2016 for the new set of locks to be fully functioning. The doors just left Italy last week! :eek:

Edited June 6, 2014 by Tropicalgal2

[Hoopster95]

RCI have not deployed any ships to do canal sailings for the Spring of 2016 and the only one offered was the repositioning of the Jewel in October 2015.

 

The earliest one might be added would be May 2016 as all deployment is complete except for China until that time.

 

They seem to have left the region to RCCI sister lines Celebrity and Azamara Club Cruises.

 

Jewel has taken over from Rhapsody due to the new emissions laws which the Radiance class ships can pass, thus 2 Radiance Class ships in Alaska. I feel you can expect the Jewel to regularly do the Canal twice a year (May & Sept) for the next couple of years at least imo.... I'm counting on it as I'm want to do the Canal in May 2016! :p

[Hoopster95]

The papers here are saying that the administration is projecting mid 2016 for the new set of locks to be fully functioning. The doors just left Italy last week! :eek:

 

I visited the locks this past November and saw first hand how little of the new locks are truly built, let alone excavated, and I was extremely fortunate to have had dinner with the Capt of the Vision alongside the Head Administrator for the New Locks ... there is no way the new locks will be done by 2016. They only had 4 of the rolling doors (out of 20) delivered from Itlay, and they're just sitting there to one side.... the other 16 sitting in Italy because the delivery company at the time went out of business. They had not even contracted for the installation of the all the electrical, conduit, piping, etc for the project! This is a massive project equal or bigger than the big dig in Boston for example and that took 17 years... My own own personal estimate is maybe.... maybe..... 2020 if they are truly lucky

[h20skibum]

Highest point of Bridge of Americas approx. 61 meters = 201 ft.

 

Vision Class air draft approx. 164 ft

Radiance Class air draft approx. 173 (if I remember correctly)

Voyager Class air draft approx. 207ft..... CRASH!!!!!

Freedom Class approx. 213ft.... CRASH!!!

Oasis approx. 236ft... CRASH!!!

 

Voyager has a height of 207 ft and a draft of 29 ft.

Freedom has a height of 209 ft and a draft of 28 ft.

Both of these are the overall height, not the height above the waterline.

Coral Princess has a height of 204 ft and a draft of 27 ft and it fits under.

Oasis is 236 ft above the waterline, but the others you have to subtract the draft to determine the clearance.

[Tropicalgal2]

I visited the locks this past November and saw first hand how little of the new locks are truly built, let alone excavated, and I was extremely fortunate to have had dinner with the Capt of the Vision alongside the Head Administrator for the New Locks ... there is no way the new locks will be done by 2016. They only had 4 of the rolling doors (out of 20) delivered from Itlay, and they're just sitting there to one side.... the other 16 sitting in Italy because the delivery company at the time went out of business. They had not even contracted for the installation of the all the electrical, conduit, piping, etc for the project! This is a massive project equal or bigger than the big dig in Boston for example and that took 17 years... My own own personal estimate is maybe.... maybe..... 2020 if they are truly lucky

 

Yes, there have been A LOT of problems. There have also been a lot of behind the scenes going on to move the project forward. I would be surprised if it is finished by mid 2016! :eek:

 

The newly elected president does have a lot at stake to get this project finished so that Panama doesn't get a black eye! He is already pressing and between him and the president there has been a lot of progress in the last little bit.

 

At sea cruise chat . com you can see the canal locks and the construction. :) (There have been some camera problems lately!)

[Hoopster95]

Voyager has a height of 207 ft and a draft of 29 ft.

Freedom has a height of 209 ft and a draft of 28 ft.

Both of these are the overall height, not the height above the waterline.

Coral Princess has a height of 204 ft and a draft of 27 ft and it fits under.

Oasis is 236 ft above the waterline, but the others you have to subtract the draft to determine the clearance.

 

Ah gotcha. Interesting that Capt Srecko quoted the above Voyager numbers yet he said he would not chance the sailing under with Voyager Class regardless of tides, speed, draft, etc (unless like Solstice they install a retractable funnel)

 

Interestingly enough I did the Walk for Wishes alongside Capt Anderson on the Navigator a month ago. Had a real good chat with him regarding ships as he Capt the Radiance for many years and we talked about Vancouver quite a bit. I asked him about the Canal, the new Canal and various ships... he specifically said that Voyager can get under. I was stunned and told him about my dinner on the Vision. He strongly said again that Voyager can get under.... he told me he was the first Capt to get Radiance under the bridge into Tampa with a 3 foot clearance!

 

Here's an excerpt I posted within my Navigator review:

"Out all of the Capts I've ever had the ultimate pleasure to speak with face to face, I feel he is the most technically knowledgable. I also have to say for those of you who have read my previous posts several months ago about Voyager Class being able to do a full transit through the Panama Canal (when the new canal built) and to fit under what I believe to be the too low Bridge of the Americas, Capt Claus assured me that I was totally wrong... He brought out facts and figures, and he is 100% sure that Voyager Class (and thus Freedom too) would have no problem getting under the bridge of the Americas. Right away he quoted the highest point of the bridge to be 74m but the highest point on Voyager 63.5m. And yet I was told the opposite previously, also by a capt??? I'll have to find some of my old posts so that I can correct myself with Capt Claus' info here."

 

In checking dimensions and so forth I believe the 74m is the height of the tallest point of the bridge, not the actual maximum height from the water to the bridge deck. So now I am totally confused having spoken to 3 people who would obviously know a hell of a lot more than me with conflicting info. :confused::confused:

[Hoopster95]

Here's a really good link about both Canals, strictly to do with cruise ships:

http://www.cybercruises.com/CM_June14-118-New-Ships-Since-2000-Ship-Sizes-The-New-Panama-Canal.htm

 

So of the 118 cruise ships delivered since 2000 sixty-seven, or more than half, are too big to transit the Panama Canal.

 

"However ships may be classified today, the present Panamax definition will become redundant in five years when a third lane of locks is opened on the Panama. These new locks will allow ships of up to 1200 feet length overall by 167 feet in beam and up to 49.9 feet in draft to transit the canal. Essentially, this will allow most of the world cruise ship fleet to transit Panama.

 

There are sure to be some exceptions, however, as with the five largest units of the Royal Caribbean fleet their maximum width at the level of the bridge wings is 226 feet for the Oasis and Allure of the Seas and 184 feet for the Freedom class ships. This could leave the five Royal Caribbean ships as the last of the Capesize cruise ships, unable to use the new locks. How many other cruise ships might be affected is not yet clear."

[shipfriend_max]

It seems that RCI will not do any Panama Canal cruises between Nov 2015 and Apr 2016, as Legend does in 2014/15.

I originally thought Serenade will do such itineraries in 2015/16, but she is just scheduled for the Caribbean...

 

Maybe Jewel in May 2016 again.

[BillB48]

I believe there were some of the same posters in a similar thread/s about clearance issues with Bridge of Americas (BOA) and the Voyager/Freedom class ships not too terribly long ago. Anyway to bring others up to speed... The BOA having 201' at high water there are just a couple of solutions to getting those ships under the bridge without modifying the ship...you can can either raise the bridge or lower the water! At least the tides at Balboa are very cooperative in the lowering the water. As mentioned earlier the 201' clearance is at high water and fortunately this figure only comes into play occasionally since it is based on spring tides. In round numbers the highest tide will produce a water level of 17' and a low water level of minus 3' which gives you a 20' swing of the water level in 12 hours. Although scheduling passage under the BOA on a negative spring tide could become a tall order (OK, bad pun), it would much easier to plan on tides in the 12'-16' variation which occur much more frequently.

 

Presently the Canal permits passage under the BOA ships with an air draft of 205' depending on the tide. The Freedom class ships as noted by H2O have an air draft of 209' could certainly be in the ball park of sliding under the bridge with modification of the Canal's limits. The one figure that is known with some certainty is the air draft has to be less than 213' which is the clearance of the Great Belt Bridge that all the ships in question including Oasis/Allure had to clear. Royal perhaps could do some modifications to trim the air draft of ships they would want to transit the Canal.

 

Until then perhaps we could borrow from the Erie Canal.... "Low bridge, everybody down!"

 

Perhaps the completion of the expansion by the end of 2015 might be a tall order, I think it is decent possibility however. The delay in delivery of the gates was due in large part the Italian company constructing them (Cimolai) would not ship any more gates because of a cash problem with the prime contractor GUPC. The short story is there was a lot of talk that they seriously under bid to get the contract with the hopes of going in and renegotiating on down the road. The good news is the Canal authorities have released more $$ and the next installment of 4 gates are on the way to be delivered sometime in June. This will place a total of 8 of the 16 gates in Panama awaiting installation.

 

No doubt some issues remain, but the overall project is over 75% complete. Of course what remains to be completed is absolutely crucial... the new locks.