BillB48

True, it is an imposed limit of 965' at the original locks and ships that were in excess of that dimension have transited those locks. The bottom line is the Canal will not accept you as a regular customer if the vessel doesn't fit within the posted limits. Actually the 965' figure is only for cruise ships and container ships, all others are limited to 950'. Prior to the completion of the new locks Canal authorities were more apt to grant exceptions to the dimension limits as there was not any real alternative, however now the new locks provide that as the alternative if you can't quite squeeze in the original locks. The new locks are 1400'x180', when first opened vessel limits were 1200'x160', those limits have been increased to 1215'x167'. Don't know if any more increases are in the works. I would second Turtles' suggestion about taking the small boat excursion to the original locks on the Pacific side. Not only will this give you the experience of the original locks but you will also pass through Gaillard Cut which was where the bulk of the excavation occurred. As you are in the "Cut", just imagine what is was like for 200 trains hauling out spoils to be dumped elsewhere every day. Just imagine the computer needed for that operation😉! Since you will be transiting on the Rotterdam, the new locks really offer less visual attractions. There is only one lane so you can't watch the ship in the other lane pass through the locks, no mules to pull you along and your ship will not imposingly fill up the lock chamber as it would at the original locks. Don't get me wrong it is still an impressive operation to lift you up over 80', but there is just not as much for you to visualize. Your partial transit will only provide about 8 miles of a 50 mile Canal. I encourage you to see as much of it as you can.

Royal Caribbean cancelled Canal transits on only one of their ships, the Rhapsody IIRC. This ship had offered Canal transits on fairly short notice and I don't think the demand in bookings reached a level that Royal was confident in. There may have been some accompanying issues, but the cruise line rarely divulges the real reasons for their itinerary shakeups. All their other Canal itineraries remain intact.

And it has been moved to the Pan Canal board! Virtually all passenger ships that transit the Canal do so with reservations. These reservations provide them a transit on a given day within a certain time period. The reservations are made at at considerable expense above and beyond the tolls.

If you are wishing to experience more of the Canal other than one of the two locks on the Atlantic side, the shore excursion Turtles is referencing is an excellent choice. Going through the original locks on a smaller vessel is different than what you will experience when you lock up on your ship. Even though you will be lifted roughly 85', there is little sense of movement. It will be much more apparent on a smaller vessel. While staying on the ship for the passage back through the locks and the short sail to Colon is enjoyable, you are only seeing about 8 miles of a 50 mile Canal. Take the opportunity to see more of the Canal and a little of the country as well.

While Royal Carib wound up cancelling Canal cruises for one of their ships and substituting alternate itineraries sailing from Panama, I don't believe it was drought related. Of course RCI like most businesses don't generally give you the real reason in their decision making, they will provide some spin that gives them all the wiggle room in the world. My opinion the Canal cruises were cancelled were the continued uncertainty of the Ft. Amador cruise port facility to be up and running for their planned cruises and more importantly, I think bookings were soft. RCI had not proposed this itinerary with a huge lead time and I don't think there was enough interest for them to commit to the high cost of transiting the Canal. As far as ships having priority, ships having reservations have priority, other wise the ship shows up and waits its turn. Passenger vessels almost universally transit the Canal with reservations. The Canal is very happy to accommodate a passenger ship as it will provide much more revenue than a cargo ship of similar size. The revenue generated from the reservation fee and the additional daylight transit guarantee can generate almost another $100,000 above the base rate for tolls. Believe me, the Canal loves to see all those smiling faces standing at the rails of the ship! Concerning the drought, yes it is a concern and the Canal is taking measures to mitigate the effects. The rains have returned sufficiently to postpone further planned draft limitations. The last draft reduction was supposed to take place in mid June for ships using the new locks, but that draft reduction was never implemented as there was enough rain and the draft at the new locks is 44'. In fact no draft reduction whatsoever has been imposed on ships using the original locks, that draft limit remains at 39.5'.

As Bruce indicated, cruise ships pay extra, a lot extra for reservations for a day certain and a particular time frame on that day. If you are booked on a cruise ship the last thing you will not need to worry about is getting through the Canal as planned. This backlog is for the ships that show up without the reservation which is common for many cargo vessels, under normal circumstances ships might expect a 48 hour or so delay before transit. Because the Canal has temporarily reduced the number of transits per day the and the arrivals have well exceeded that number, hence the backlog. Cruise ships just don't show up and take their chances, they come with reservations in hand.

Your sailing will go just as planned, if there is any issue it won't be because of the Canal. While there is concern for the lack of a real rainy season, rains have returned sufficiently for the Canal to not implement any further draft restrictions. Draft limits were to be reduced for ships using the new locks to 43.5' in mid June. Rains returned to a level where that limit was not imposed, draft limits are currently 44' for the new locks and 39.5' for the original locks. Also the Radiance has a reservation for Oct. 17 (if I counted correctly), as long as she is there, she will go. The Radiance's draft is no where near 39.5' and if the ship isn't in Tampa for the winter that would create a ton more problems.

You are correct, I think the change went into effect in January 2023. Previously tolls were based on total passenger berths, occupied or not. The way the tolls are calculated now is basically how tolls are calculated for all other ships which is based on the volume of the ship. It is called the Panama Canal Universal Measurement System (PCUMS) which is similar to Gross Tonnage. Gross Tonnage is the volume of the enclosed spaces, with PCUMS certain enclosed spaces are not counted such as areas necessary for the operation of the ship... engine room, navigation bridge etc. You can still get a guesstimate by multiplying $150 by the passenger capacity. There is a laundry list of fees that are not actually the tolls, but you won't transit without paying them.

Cruise lines in most cases don't compete with cargo ships in joining the queue. The Canal has a reservation system all ships are entitled to use and the Canal is strongly encouraging ships to use the system to avoid delays. The problem is the system doesn't work like Holiday Inn with the reservation being free and no charge if you call by 6PM. The reservation is pricey and as you might expect it gets even more $$$ the larger the ship. The Canal also permits cruise lines to make reservations with a much longer lead time than is permitted for cargo ships. Once a cruise ship has made their reservation they can transit the Canal on a given day within a particular time frame. Since Royal will never disclose why they changed the itinerary so drastically, there are some things that may have entered their thought process. One of them may have been the terminal at Ft. Amador has turned into a real albatross. While the pier and breakwater for the facility went in without huge delays the terminal is way overdue. The pier has been used for visiting cruise ships, but getting passengers checked in for a cruise has been taking place at another offsite facility. Perhaps NCL's experience with fueling there is an issue, then there was a gangway collapse with passengers boarding a ship. Short answer I guess is something changed and the stated reason is to enhance our experience!! Not very creative or believable.

In one sense they already have! Three or four years ago during one of the sub par rainy seasons the Canal instituted what they term a "Freshwater Surcharge". What that shakes out to be is any vessel over 125' pays an additional $10,000 and depending how high Gatun Lake is and up to another 10% which is added to the toll calculated for the transit. When the Lake is high the percentage is low and when the Lake is as it is now (fairly low) the percentage is around 8%. While the $200M shortfall sounds serious, I don't think it is a huge blow when you consider that is out of almost $5 billion in income. The Freshwater Surcharge should have been making up the difference during the wetter periods. So much for the rainy day fund😉.

I meant to link the article... https://gcaptain.com/panama-canal-authority-defies-drought-challenges-with-transit-of-biggest-containership/

The container ship MV Ever Max became the the largest vessel to transit the Canal recently. It may have to have an asterisk included with the new record. The previous record was held by the MV Zephyr, another container ship with a capacity of 16,285 TEUs. The Ever Max has a capacity of 17,312 TEUs, however she offloaded 1400 TEUs at Balboa for shipment overland to Colon. The offloading was necessary due to the Canal's current draft limit of 44'. The Ever Max's draft for the transit was 43'. The Ever Max and the Zephyr have identical length and beam of 1201'x167', but the Ever Max has room for an extra 1000 or so TEUs. So perhaps the title may come with an asterisk.

If I my my druthers, I would prefer transiting the Canal via the original locks for the reasons Bruce stated. However, the new locks are only a small portion of the Canal in terms of distance and the remainder of the Canal is the same. I realize that most people look at the locks as the focal point of the Canal and they are without a doubt the portion you can see that has moving parts. Probably two other parts of the Canal are almost overlooked and are just as key as the locks. Those two parts are Gaillard Cut and the Gatun Dam, they were huge earth moving projects that would be enormous even by today's standards. Now they just are part of the landscape, but they were engineering milestones in their own right. Yes, it is worth it!

The Ft. Amador facility has been built as a cruise terminal. The main problem is that it has beset with delay after delay and the facility has not been completely finished. The pier is completed and has been used to disembark passengers, but not the terminal proper. In the past they have provided some sort of shuttle beyond the construction area. There are restaurants and shopping beyond the where the terminal is located. Just don't know exactly how things will shake out when you call at Ft. Amador.

Think a little misremembering, perhaps because you board a tender upon disembarking the ship. What happens when the ship locks through the locks on the Atlantic side and reaches Gatun Lake, they will board a tender to go ashore to board the bus that will take them to the Pacific side. This occurs whether you used the original locks of Gatun or the new expansion locks of Agua Clara. The bus will take you to either Gamboa or Ft. Amador to board the excursion vessel. While you are on the excursion the ship will lock back down the same locks and a short sail to Colon. You will be taken back to the ship by bus after the transit through the Pacific Locks and the Cut. A side note: If you are on Princess using the new locks, they have been docking in Cristobal in order for the excursion passengers to rejoin the ship. Cristobal is just another facility in the same general area, it is a container port and not a passenger pier as in Colon.

I stayed there a few years ago while it was a Country Inn and Suites. It was fine, no issues.

You are correct, all the cruise lines have their own name for this shore excursion and is the same operation for each cruise line. In each case it is a partial transit of the Pacific Locks and the Gaillard Cut. Depending on the position of the excursion vessel the trip can operate from Ft. Amador to Gamboa and then transportation back to the ship. It can also operate from Gamboa to Ft. Amador and then transportation back to the ship. Either direction is fine. There are a couple of different excursion vessels that can be used but the operation is the same.

What will be different in the Bliss's Canal transit will be the locks used. Other than using the new, larger locks the transit will be in the original Canal. The new locks and the original locks are only separated by a short distance and are within sight of each other. The bottom line is there are about 4 miles of the "new" Canal that are different from the original 50 mile Canal. The sights that you will see are essentially not any different than going through the original locks. Choosing this excursion will take you through the original locks where you could experience the operation, however the rest of the transit route will be a repeat of the Bliss's Canal transit. I assume you are thinking of visiting the section of Panama City known as Casco Antiguo. This is the old walled portion of the City that was founded after Henry Morgan sacked Panama Viejo. MAny interesting sights, Church of the Golden Altar, ruins of the Church of Santo Domingo (flat arch), Plaza Francia and Las Bovedas. Believe your ship arrives late in the day on the first day, so not sure if there will be any usable time for an excursion then or not. However it may be possible to combine a shore side visit to Miraflores Locks to view the operation as well as visit Casco Antiguo.

I am assuming you are embarking at Ft. Amador and then disembark at Colon after the cruise. If that is the case then getting to the ship in Ft. Amador won't be an issue. If you are staying at the same Panama City hotel on your return, check with them to see if they will arrange transportation back to the hotel when you disembark. As a backup there always has been ample transportation available for either the airport or to Panama City. Companies that provide these kind of services seem to be very ephemeral in this part of the world. They make an appearance, provide good service and the next thing you know, they are gone.

Good catch EM, I never drilled that far down in the two itineraries. I would imagine in the long run those transit times are more most "ideal" times for the each particular itinerary. As a practical matter the ship will have had to pay the additional daylight guarantee transit fee in order to accommodate the transit within either of those times. What the daylight guarantee means is the ship will enter the first lock by sunrise and clear the last lock by sunset. So the bulk of either transit should occur between those two times. I suppose the bottom line will be there may be a slightly better chance of a later start on the 10A to 10P itinerary than you would on the 4A to 4P. But knowing Canal scheduling I sure would not count on it😁.

I am puzzled by the choices of times... are these two different times and transits for the same ship? Or is one of the times for a port call in either Colon or Ft. Amador on the the Pacific side?

Not knowing when you will be there and the even greater mystery as to what the state of construction will be when you are there makes it a little hard to know how easy it will be to access the nearby commercial areas. I feel sure that some sort of accommodation will be made to get you from the terminal building to the commercial areas nearby. Just don't know if it will be convenient to walk. The pier is in the upper left of the picture and the area where there are shops and restaurants is on the other side of the island (center left in the pic) and on down towards Naos Island. There are also some similar facilities on Flamenco Island. Just an aside, the Island is not known as Ft. Grant as indicated in the picture, the island is Perico Island. As far as popular tours... trips to see the original locks of Miraflores and the new locks on the Atlantic side, sightseeing in Panama City visiting El Casco Antiguo or a visit to one of the Embara Villages are things you may wish to consider. There is also a Hop on Hop off bus that makes about a 2 hour trek with various stopping points.

It's probably enough time, but it is on the tight side. The arrival time of the ship in Colon obviously would be a critical factor. If the ship is coming departing Cartagena for Colon the previous day it is a fairly short sail so an early arrival should not be an issue. Don't have any name to throw out for a recommendation but in the past securing transportation at the port has not been any problem.

After Thanksgiving in the US and before Christmas is historically a good time to look for lower cruise fares. The higher price in January just reflects higher demand after the holidays with people wanting to head to warmer destinations. Also January is the first full month of Panama's Dry Season and is a great time to be there. I would not put too much emphasis in the rain chances of Nov/Dec... while there is a slightly better chance of rain in November, the rains are usually brief and not all day events. It rains in the Dry Season as well. Decide on your cruise based on your preferences, convenience and price. Use weather only as a tie breaker between different cruises, the increased chances of rain on the earlier cruises is only slight.

I have not seen this excursion end at 2:30, think that must be someones overly optimistic guesstimate. Quite frequently you are not able to disembark the ship until somewhere between 9 and 10, then you have the tendering process to the Gatun Yacht Club. While it is not a long tender ride, it still is time a consuming process. Then there is the bus ride ride to the Pacific Side, where you embark on the tour boat can very as well. The embarkation can occur in Gamboa or Ft. Amador and the travel time to there could very from 1 hour to 1.5 hours depending on the actual embarkation site. I believe the tour description allots 4 hours for the boat portion. It can be done in 4 hours if every planned movement in the Panama Canal hits their mark with impeccable precision. In other words, the time estimate is possible, but very unlikely in the real world. Now you have the return trip back to the Atlantic side along with the same time estimates I mentioned previously. I just don't see how a 2:30 end to the tour is possible. Once again those who write these tour descriptions are at odds with the people who make the itineraries. The tour description mentions Colon, however the ship's itinerary has the ship docking in Cristobal. In the past the Ruby Princess has docked in Cristobal and not Colon. The biggest difference being at Colon there is a shopping mall attached to the pier where there are a number of shops for you to pass the time. This area is safe for the cruise passenger. On the other hand , Cristobal is a container port without any significant shopping available. In the past they have set up sort of an ad hoc area where you could purchase a few items. Regarding an additional trip out to Agua Clara Locks, I really don't believe you will be back to the ship at Cristobal with enough time to spare get out to the Locks and back. With the ship docking in Cristobal there will not be anything to attract passenger to stay on shore and ship's personnel will encourage you to get back on board as soon as possible. Besides you will have the best seat in the house when the Ruby locks up to Gatun Lake.