The Panama Canal expects more than 230 Cruise Ships to transit the panamax and neo-panamax locks in the cruise season 2017-2018.
The Panama Canal announced that it expects to receive approximately 235 cruise ships through the Panamax and Neopanamax Locks during the upcoming 2017-[ds_preview]2018 cruise season. Beginning in October, this will be the first full cruise season to welcome vessels through the expanded canal.
»In addition to the existing locks, cruise lines now have the option to include the expanded canal as part of their itineraries,« said the Panama Canal’s international trade specialist Albano Aguilar. »This will open up additional scheduling and repositioning opportunities for the industry and its larger cruise vessels, and provide new and unique experiences for their passengers.«
In April 2017, Disney Cruise Line’s »Disney Wonder« became the first cruise ship to ever transit the expanded canal. This season it will transit again along with the »Caribbean Princess«, »Carnival Freedom«, »Carnival Splendor« and »Norwegian Bliss«. Together, the five ships will make a total of 20 transits, and eleven new cruise ships will transit either the canal’s panamax or neo-panamax Locks for the first time from the following lines: Princess Cruise, Norwegian Cruise, Carnival Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises, Lindblad Special Expedition and CMA CGM, with each ship making multiple transits.
ACP expects largest capacity cruise vessel ever
Perhaps the most visible sign of the expanded canal‘s impact on the cruise segment this season in teh view of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will be the »Norwegian Bliss«, when it makes its repositioning transit through the waterway en route to the U.S. West Coast to begin its cruise season in Alaska. Currently under construction, the ship will hold up to 4,200 passengers once complete, and will become the largest capacity cruise vessel to ever transit the canal.
The Panama Canal’s 2017-2018 cruise season begins October 2, 2017 with the partial transit of Princess Cruise Line’s »Island Princess« on a roundtrip voyage to and from Los Angeles with stops along the West Coast of North and Central America.
Just recently the expanded Panama Canal had welcomed its 2,000th neo-panamax vessel through the waterway. Container ships account for 54 % of transits through the expanded canal.
