hollydog Posted December 31, 2016 #1 Share Posted December 31, 2016 We were originally told that Caribbean Princess would be the first cruise ship to use the new locks, sailing October 21, 2017. Now friends are saying Disney will be first, sometime in April, 2017. Also heard rumors that Carnival Splendor will transit in 2017. Anyone have any actual facts about these sailings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted December 31, 2016 #2 Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) If you do a search, there are a couple of threads discussing the schedule. For example, this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2423731 You can find the schedules on the websites for those cruise lines. Edited December 31, 2016 by CruiserBruce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillB48 Posted December 31, 2016 #3 Share Posted December 31, 2016 Disney Wonder is apparently first with a late April transit southbound. I say apparently because I suppose it is possible another cruise ship could possibly jump ahead in line. The Canal is not accepting cruise ships for the new locks until April 1, 2017. The Wonder's transit while it probably will be the first of the cruise ships, as of now the Caribbean Princess will be the first neo Panamax to transit the new locks without an asterisk by its name. The reason for that is the Wonder has transited the Canal previously as a Panamax, using the old locks. Due to recent modifications she is technically too big for the old locks. While Carnival will have some Canal sailings in 2017, as far as I know the first neo Panamax and the new locks will be the Carnival Freedom for late October 2017. The Caribbean Princess is scheduled for early October 2017. The Splendor and the Miracle will switch coasts in January 2018. The Splendor will use the new locks and it seems to me I read somewhere that John Heald said both ships will use the new locks. I believe he may have misspoke as the Miracle is a Panamax and can use the old locks. While not saying it is impossible, from what I know I don't believe the Miracle will be using the new locks. The Canal has only announced that a number cruise lines have made reservations to transit the new locks, but they have not released any names of cruise lines or ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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