RC serenade of seas through old locks or NCL or Princess in new locks? Help! 😀

[disneygal77]

We want a one way Panama cruise in October or November for around 14 days. The November 19th cruise from LA to Miami works on the Norwegian Bliss or the October 22nd Ruby Princess from San Fran to Ft lauderdale works too and both ships look nice but they go through the new Canal. The RC Serenade of the seas (either direction of that sailing in November 2023 works) and it goes through the old canal, but the ship is quite a bit older and I’m wondering how it would be for the many sea days etc. The itineraries are similar although the Ruby Princess visits San Juan del Sur Nicaragua and Puntarenas Costa Rica and the Bliss visits Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. 
 

Any advice is welcome. Thanks!  

[BillB48]

Guessing this would be your first transit, if that is the case then I would give a bit more consideration for the Serenade since she will use the original locks.  Even though the locks are only one part of the Canal, I think most people view the locks as the focal point of the Canal.  After all the locks are the "works", where you can see machinery move and do work.  The Canal transit is largely same regardless of which locks are use for the transit.  The new locks are built in site of each other and the only difference in the transit route is the access channel to the new locks. 

 

Considering your ship choices, actually the Serenade and Ruby are probably closer to each other and have more in common than comparing the Ruby with the Bliss.  The Serenade is longer than the Ruby, however the Ruby is 12' wider in beam than the Serenade, which is just wide enough that she can't use the original locks.  Another thing is the Ruby is only 5 years newer than the Serenade, I really don't think you can derive a meaningful comparison in age between a 15 year old ship and a 20 year old ship.  IMO the Bliss would be the ship that is the most different being the largest and the newest of the the three ships, no doubt with more amenities and dinning choices (and even more people).

[Essiesmom]

It comes down to whether you want to transit through the old or new locks.  I’ve done both, and feel the old are much more interesting and historic.  That said, I do feel the ports on the west coast of Central America are a little sparse.  My favorite is Puerto Quetzal, not at all your typical Mexican or Caribbean port.  EM

[Ashland]

We did the full transit (San Pedro-Tampa) this past October 2-15 onboard Serenade and used the old locks. No need to have any concerns about this ship as she was in great shape. 

[Turtles06]

On 2/27/2023 at 3:21 PM, Essiesmom said:

It comes down to whether you want to transit through the old or new locks.  I’ve done both, and feel the old are much more interesting and historic.  That said, I do feel the ports on the west coast of Central America are a little sparse.  My favorite is Puerto Quetzal, not at all your typical Mexican or Caribbean port.  EM

Totally agree about the original locks.  I think the sentiment in this forum is that for a first time transit, going through the original locks would be the most interesting experience. 

 

Puerto Quetzal  -- terrific opportunity to visit Antigua de Guatemala, which we've done twice.

 

Puntarenas, Costa Rica, is a good jumping off point for some great tours (including a boat ride down the Tarcoles River, teaming with crocs and other wildlife).

 

As for Mexico, I think Mazatlan, especially the old city, makes for an interesting day.  And if one is in Cabo during the whale migration season (mid-December to April), it's a terrific opportunity to see humpback whales.  (And a quiet beach day can be enjoyed in Huatulco.)

 

Just my own thoughts. 

[disneygal77]

Thanks everyone for your helpful comments!  I really appreciate it. 😃

[cfkm1]

I did Panama full transit cruise on RCL Serenade of the seas in 2021 and NCL Jewel a few month back .Both are still using the old locks. NCL Bliss is a bigger ship so there is a chance it might use the old lock but the old lock has been widen to accommodate the size of NCL Bliss

 

 

[njhorseman]

4 minutes ago, cfkm1 said:

NCL Bliss is a bigger ship so there is a chance it might use the old lock but the old lock has been widen to accommodate the size of NCL Bliss

NCL Bliss has to use the new locks.

I'm not sure what you meant by "but the old lock has been widen to accommodate the size of NCL Bliss". The original ("old") locks are the same width that they were when the Panama Canal opened in 1914.

If you look at the top of the board there's a "sticky" thread that names every ship we could identify that can use the original locks.

[cfkm1]

15 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

NCL Bliss has to use the new locks.

I'm not sure what you meant by "but the old lock has been widen to accommodate the size of NCL Bliss". The original ("old") locks are the same width that they were when the Panama Canal opened in 1914.

If you look at the top of the board there's a "sticky" thread that names every ship we could identify that can use the original locks.

My bad... I might have misread the Panama expansion project was working on the old lock which has an item (Widened and deepened existing channels).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_expansion_project

Edited June 24, 2023 by cfkm1