Panama Canal

[Moerin78]

We just booked the twelve day partial Panama Canal cruise, I am now reading that other cruise lines have canceled all their canal cruises.   Does anyone have any info regarding Holland America making any changes?  We only booked that cruise because of the canal, I wonder I’d we will be able to cancel with a refund if they change the itinerary?

[3rdGenCunarder]

 

When is the cruise?

[sailawayward]

There are multiple 12-day sailings called the Panama Canal Seafarer scheduled in Jan & Feb of 2024 and also Feb & Mar of 2025.  Find your Roll Call group here to see what feedback they may provide.

 

Did your itinerary originally include Bonaire?  New restrictions in the Kralendijk port limit the number of cruise ships in port each day.  It affected many cruise itineraries, not just HAL.  Our 9-day cruise on the Rotterdam scheduled in February was affected - we received an extended stay in Aruba (now an overnight).  We didn't expect anything, but no compensation was provided. 

[AKJonesy]

I did read in a thread from a HAL poster their itinerary was changed due to the severe low water levels in the PC.  Limits on daily traffic will continue through 2024.  IDK if this is the issue or not.  Do a search for Panama Canal low water levels.  

[sailawayward]

For the 12-Day Panama Canal sailing in January 2024, the original stops in Curacao and Key West were canceled; but HAL added Grand Caymon and Falmouth, Jamaica.

 

For the 12-Day Panama Canal sailing in February 2024, the original stops in Bonaire and Key West were canceled; but HAL added Grand Cayman and Oranjestad, Aruba.

[sailawayward]

With the canal's water levels, I thought the ships HAL used in the Canal were within the threshold since they aren't so massive like RCCL's Monstrosity of the Seas.

[AKJonesy]

8 minutes ago, sailawayward said:

With the canal's water levels, I thought the ships HAL used in the Canal were within the threshold since they aren't so massive like RCCL's Monstrosity of the Seas.

I also read they are limiting the number of ships regardless of their draft.  But, IDK if this is even the issue addressing the OP's post.  I just remember reading someone else said their PC cruise had changed, but I can't find it now.  HAL pays considerable fees and has "reservation time" for the PC which is a priority over sailing ships that have no reservation.  That is my understanding.  

[Moerin78]

The cruise departs 12/3 from Ft Lauderdale

[sailawayward]

On 8/15/2023 at 5:07 PM, CHOPPERTESTER said:

Heads up. Just got notice that Key West 14 Dec was dropped and now going to Falmouth Jamaica instead on 13 Dec, 7:00 to 15:00. I assumed something was going to happen as the Virgin Scarlet Lady was scheduled to dock at Key West at the same time at B Dock. 

 

This was posted on your Roll Call on August 15th.

 

You can join your Roll Call here:

 

 

[KAKcruiser]

The 12 day sailing to the Panama Canal on March 17 was changed to an Eastern Caribbean.

[Mikeyto]

I am on the November partial and we are still scheduled for the canal.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Moerin78 said:

We just booked the twelve day partial Panama Canal cruise, I am now reading that other cruise lines have canceled all their canal cruises.   Does anyone have any info regarding Holland America making any changes?  We only booked that cruise because of the canal, I wonder I’d we will be able to cancel with a refund if they change the itinerary?

 

I suspect you may be referring to the RCCL ship Rhapsody of the Sea, which was scheduled for a full season of Panama Canal cruises, with weekly transits. This was a new cruise, with no other cruise line that I am aware of scheduling weekly transits of the Canal.

 

Back in the days when I sailed the Canal Shuttle from Acapulco to San Juan and back, we only went through the Canal every 2 weeks and had lots of other ports.

 

Cruise ships pay a significant premium for reserving transits on a specific day and pay an additional surcharge to guarantee a daylight transit. Although RCCL never provided the operational reason for cancelling the Canal transits and switching to a Caribbean itinerary out of Colon, I suspect they crunched the numbers and realised the ROI was poor. A cruise ship transit, once all the additional fees are included can be $300 to $500K + per transit.

 

The Canal likes the additional revenue received from cruise ships and box-boats operating on a liner service that also make reservations. They also have a daily lottery, with a cargo ships paying $2.4 million for the privilege of skipping the queue. That was above the regular fees of about 1/2 million.

 

Yes, due to lower rainfall and lower water levels, the Canal has initiated a limiting maximum draft, which is higher than any cruise ship. You will also hear or read of queues of ships waiting for a transit, which is also something that isn't new. Most cargo ships don't operate on a liner service, so arrive at the Canal, register for the transit and then wait their turn. One of our new ships being delivered from the yard, waited over a week for the transit, and that was about 14 - 15 yrs ago, long before water levels were an actual issue.

 

I don't expect any changes, as ship continue to transit the Canal daily, especially those the pay the additional fees for a reservation and daylight transit. I also note the Canal also charges additional fees to change and/or cancel a reservation. You also have to consider the Alaska ships are returning to the Caribbean, so based on the ship schedules, the Canal is the only option.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

I also read they are limiting the number of ships regardless of their draft.  But, IDK if this is even the issue addressing the OP's post.  I just remember reading someone else said their PC cruise had changed, but I can't find it now.  HAL pays considerable fees and has "reservation time" for the PC which is a priority over sailing ships that have no reservation.  That is my understanding.  

 

Correct, cruise ships pay a significant premium for both making a reservation for a specific day and also a daylight transit. Even if the number of daily transits is reduced due to water levels, the cruise ships and liner service cargo ships with reservations and the ships that bid on the daily lottery, will still go through. The Canal has no wish to lose those additional extra fees.

 

It is the cargo ships that have no reservation that are delayed.

[RICHARD@SEA]

Mother Nature will be the deciding factors in all this....

[TeaBag]

We are sailing Oct 8 on Eurodam from Vancouver and we have not heard anything about an itinerary change due to Panama Canal problems.  This is a repositioning cruise.

[CruiserBruce]

17 minutes ago, TeaBag said:

We are sailing Oct 8 on Eurodam from Vancouver and we have not heard anything about an itinerary change due to Panama Canal problems.  This is a repositioning cruise.

There have been NO mention of changes to full transits. Only partial transits.

[TeaBag]

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

There have been NO mention of changes to full transits. Only partial transits.

Thank you.

[Djptcp]

We are sailing on the Rotterdam's partial Canal transit on Oct. 22nd and so far have not received word it is not going to do it.

[mcmarya]

Panama Canal transits have been cut due to low water levels.  Full transits should go as scheduled since the ship is repositioning.  Partial Transits are vulnerable since they are taking up valuable slots and it is not essential to their operation that they use the canal--i.e. they do not need to go into the canal in order to continue to sail.  The daily transit number will be reduced again on 11/1.  The Royal Caribbean ship doing partial transits regularly was a casualty.  Other partial transits could be affected.

[Heidi13]

42 minutes ago, mcmarya said:

Panama Canal transits have been cut due to low water levels.  Full transits should go as scheduled since the ship is repositioning.  Partial Transits are vulnerable since they are taking up valuable slots and it is not essential to their operation that they use the canal--i.e. they do not need to go into the canal in order to continue to sail.  The daily transit number will be reduced again on 11/1.  The Royal Caribbean ship doing partial transits regularly was a casualty.  Other partial transits could be affected.

 

If you are referring to the Rhapsody OTS as the vessel that cancelled an entire season, she was scheduled for full transits of the canal, not partial transits, on a weekly basis. While RCI never indicated the reason for cancelling, I highly doubt it is due to low water levels.

 

The most likely cause is they realised the ROI was below expectations, as weekly transits of the canal are extremely expensive. Back in the days I did the Panama shuttle, we only went through every 2-weeks.

 

Since cruise ships pay a huge premium to transit in daylight hours on a fixed day, I don't see the Canal Authority asking cruise ships to cancel so they can be replaced by cargo ships that pay a fraction of the fees paid by cruise lines.

[shipshape sam]

On 9/24/2023 at 9:03 AM, Moerin78 said:

We just booked the twelve day partial Panama Canal cruise, I am now reading that other cruise lines have canceled all their canal cruises.   Does anyone have any info regarding Holland America making any changes?  We only booked that cruise because of the canal, I wonder I’d we will be able to cancel with a refund if they change the itinerary?

Good luck on refund.  They have canceled at least on sailing doing the partial transit, but only the Panama Canal portion by rerouting ship/cruise to another port.

[mcmarya]

You are correct that Rhapsody OTS was doing full transits so I stand corrected.  But since it was not repositioning--i.e. trying to move from Caribbean cruises to Alaska cruises or vice versa--its schedule was still vulnerable.  If ships are being asked to drop sailings, and I have no idea if this is happening, repositioning transits would get priority.  Since Royal Caribbean is not saying the real reason for the change we will never know.  Sailing round trip from Panama makes any cruise less desirable so I imagine they will have a lot of trouble selling the new itinerary.  Anyway, qualifying what I wrote before, repositioning full transits should go as scheduled barring some other constraint.

[RMLincoln]

OP asked about refunds. The cruise contract pretty much says there is no guarantee of ports or itinerary. The cruise will happen, the ports my change. If the partial transit is dropped, you might see a refund in the fees portion paid which would have included the canal fees. But then there will be other port fees, probably not as high. 

From Colon you can take an excursion to see the canal and view lock operations.  Not the same as doing it onboard but you can still see the wonders of the Panama Canal. 
 

 

[Heidi13]

12 hours ago, mcmarya said:

You are correct that Rhapsody OTS was doing full transits so I stand corrected.  But since it was not repositioning--i.e. trying to move from Caribbean cruises to Alaska cruises or vice versa--its schedule was still vulnerable.  If ships are being asked to drop sailings, and I have no idea if this is happening, repositioning transits would get priority.  Since Royal Caribbean is not saying the real reason for the change we will never know.  Sailing round trip from Panama makes any cruise less desirable so I imagine they will have a lot of trouble selling the new itinerary.  Anyway, qualifying what I wrote before, repositioning full transits should go as scheduled barring some other constraint.

 

I fail to see why the Rhapsody OTS schedule was any more vulnerable than any other cruise ships visiting ports on both sides. She had an alternating home port either side of the Canal and would have visited ports on both sides of the Canal, so to complete the cruise, weekly Canal transits were required. The only difference with the Alaska ships that are repositioning, is they aren't changing home ports weekly.

 

Based on the premium that cruise ships pay for transits on a fixed day and in daylight hours, I suspect the Panama Canal Authority is extremely disappointed with the extensive loss of revenue. Although they will have made some of it back in the cancellation fees payable.

 

The Panama Canal Authority is a business, so I highly doubt they are asking cruise lines to cancel partial transit sailings, so they can replace cruise ships with a cargo ship paying a fraction of the fee. With a huge debt load and reduced daily transits, they require the additional revenue that cruise ships and liner service vessels provide. The Canal may also have instituted reduced draught requirements, due to the lower water levels, but this doesn't impact cruise ships, which have lower draughts than most cargo ships.

 

Finally, with respect to the Alaska ships repositioning through the Canal, I envisage NO changes to previous years, so they will go ahead as planned. Having completed well over 20 full transits on both cruise ships and cargo ships, I can't envisage any new operational constraints that will negatively impact the transits this year.

 

If cruise lines are cancelling partial transits, I'll suggest in these days of additional cost cutting, removing the Canal costs is a significant saving, and is their primary reason. If the Panama Canal Authority had requested they cancel any sailing (which is highly unlikely), or full season, I have no doubt the cruise lines would use this information in the press release.

[KAKcruiser]

So, if the Panama Canal authority is allowing partial transits, I wonder why the March 17, 2024 sailing of the Rotterdam was changed to an Eastern itinerary.