Panama Canal drought issues

[honeyb2]

We have questions about the Panama Canal reducing the number of ships being allowed transit due to the drought. Have any cruise ships been denied access to the locks? We have a partial transit cruise next month on the Rotterdam and the Panama Canal’s new locks are the highlight of the cruise. Since we can’t seem to find anything on the boards to give a clue as to if this is happening, thought we’d ask the experts here.

 

Also thinking we could call HAL but we’re not sure we’ll get a straight answer from someone that will lose money if we cancel.

 

TIA

[CruiserBruce]

Have you looked on the Panama Board? 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/

 

Several discussions there. Some ships changed their itineraries away from the Canal, the partial transits, but full transits have continued as normal. I think that has all been settled by now...I think one or two of Rotterdam's early season sailings might have been affected. If you haven't been notified of a change in itinerary, and there is no change on the website, you will be doing your partial transit.

[Roz]

The new locks are rather meh.  Why are they the highlight for you?  Does the Rotterdam use the new locks? The old locks are a lot more interesting. 

[aliaschief]

Just transited the canal earlier this month on world cruise along with two other cruise ships. Shouldn’t be a problem.

[Sir PMP]

The problem is not so much the rain, there is major unrest in the country, therefore no stopping at Colon.

[CruiserBruce]

16 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

The problem is not so much the rain, there is major unrest in the country, therefore no stopping at Colon.

That problem has eased.

[rafinmd]

I know some Rotterdam cruises have been altered but it has always been announced well ahead of time.

 

If you haven't seen an itinerary deviation by now you should be good to go.

 

Rotterdam is too big to go through the original locks.  I would expect her to be the only HAL ship doing so since the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam have been banned from the new locks (except under unusual circumstances with no passengers).  The lifeboat mounting was modified on Rotterdam to all the boats to be fully inside, making the already narrow promenade deck inaccessible during the transit.

I have been through the original canal many times and wanted to experience the new locks just once, and was happy to have done it but the next time I would prefer the old locks.

 

Roy

[cruisemom42]

My understanding of the situation for full transits is that cruise ships pay a hefty premium fee to reserve their transit times well in advance and they are not the ones being denied ... usually the ones being denied are freighters/tankers etc. that show up without a reservation or purchase them last minute that are told it is a no-go.

 

I don't know if partial transits are different. I just did a full transit on another line, through the old locks, and we saw two other cruise ships going into the new locks. 

 

 

[The Other Tom]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

usually the ones being denied are freighters/tankers etc.

I don't think anyone is being "denied", but they have to wait longer than normal to enter.  Depending on the wait time, it might be quicker to go around. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The Zuiderdam went through last week.

[Seasick Sailor]

We were able to transit the new locks on Rotterdam Dec 10th 2023.

We were also allowed to go ashore in Colon that evening for a short time. We did not go ashore, but many did.

[WriterOnDeck]

I did a partial on the Zuiderdam in late December and just completed a full, also on Zuiderdam, last week. Shouldn't be any problem.

[horseymike]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

I know some Rotterdam cruises have been altered but it has always been announced well ahead of time.

 

If you haven't seen an itinerary deviation by now you should be good to go.

 

Rotterdam is too big to go through the original locks.  I would expect her to be the only HAL ship doing so since the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam have been banned from the new locks (except under unusual circumstances with no passengers).  The lifeboat mounting was modified on Rotterdam to all the boats to be fully inside, making the already narrow promenade deck inaccessible during the transit.

I have been through the original canal many times and wanted to experience the new locks just once, and was happy to have done it but the next time I would prefer the old locks.

 

Roy

 

[horseymike]

Thanks for the input Roy. I hope you are doing well.

[Heidi13]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

My understanding of the situation for full transits is that cruise ships pay a hefty premium fee to reserve their transit times well in advance and they are not the ones being denied ... usually the ones being denied are freighters/tankers etc. that show up without a reservation or purchase them last minute that are told it is a no-go.

 

I don't know if partial transits are different. I just did a full transit on another line, through the old locks, and we saw two other cruise ships going into the new locks. 

 

 

Affirmative, cruise lines make reservations in advance for both full and partial transits, paying a significant registration fee. They also pay an additional fee to guarantee a daylight transit.

 

With the reduction in transits, due to low water levels, the Canal's revenue is reduced. I can't see them further reducing their revenue by refusing any of the already reserved cruise ships.

 

Most cargo ships do not reserve in advance, due to the nature of the trade. They arrive at the Canal, register and then wait in the queue. The Canal also conducts auctions of transit slots, with a company recently paying almost $4 million to skip the queue.