Panama Canal Cruises

Does anyone know what the largest class of RCI ship will fit through the expanded canal?

And, does anyone know if there have been any plans for Royal to do partial canal cruises similar to what Princess offers - the 10 day out of Port Everglades or Miami.

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Michael Bayley stated on the Presidents cruise that Royal currently has no intention of doing a Panama Canal cruise.

Michael Bayley stated on the Presidents cruise that Royal currently has no intention of doing a Panama Canal cruise.

That's a shame - with all the ships in FL during winter, it would be nice for a little variety in itineraries. I guess we will have to do Princess or HAL to get this cruise.

Thanks for quick response.

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Does anyone know what the largest class of RCI ship will fit through the expanded canal?...

That's a subject that comes up for discussion from time to time. It seems like all of Royal's ships will fit through the new locks. However, there is a question as to whether the tallest ships will fit under the Bridge of the Americas.

When the Canal starts cruise ship traffic through the new locks, the Quantum class will be the largest. Voyager/Freedom will fit but in their present configuration they are too tall. I think if they had a particular vessel in that class that they wanted to transit, it could be done. Oasis on the other hand, they will fit too, but way to tall.

That's a subject that comes up for discussion from time to time. It seems like all of Royal's ships will fit through the new locks. However, there is a question as to whether the tallest ships will fit under the Bridge of the Americas.

Ah, yes but isn't that on Pacific side? I was thinking of the partial cruise, which I thought just goes through first lock on Atlantic side and then turns around in lake and comes back out. I thought having one of these 10 day cruises over Christmas would be ideal for families - maybe on Indy or Freedom. [emoji1]

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Partial transits from the Atlantic side would be no problem... even for Oasis class. The new bridge on the Atlantic side will accommodate everything in Royals stable.

Ah, yes but isn't that on Pacific side? I was thinking of the partial cruise, which I thought just goes through first lock on Atlantic side and then turns around in lake and comes back out. I thought having one of these 10 day cruises over Christmas would be ideal for families - maybe on Indy or Freedom. [emoji1]

You're correct, if the ship was doing a partial transit from the Caribbean side, they would not have to go under the Bridge of the Americas.

That's a shame - with all the ships in FL during winter, it would be nice for a little variety in itineraries. I guess we will have to do Princess or HAL to get this cruise.

 

Thanks for quick response.

 

 

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Have you considered Celebrity / sister company to RCCL? Our family just disembarked Celebrity Infinity on thanksgiving from a 15 night full transit - Fort Lauderdale to San Diego. They have itineraries as full transits not during traditional times of Alaska

repositioning cruises :)

Editing - oooops - just saw you were looking for a partial transit. Please disregard.

Have you considered Celebrity / sister company to RCCL? Our family just disembarked Celebrity Infinity on thanksgiving from a 15 night full transit - Fort Lauderdale to San Diego. They have itineraries as full transits not during traditional times of Alaska

repositioning cruises :)

 

Editing - oooops - just saw you were looking for a partial transit. Please disregard.

I would love to do full transit, but they are often done during the school year and I cannot take my son out of school for 2 weeks [emoji41]. I thought doing a partial transit over one of his school holidays would work perfect. I know that Hurtigurten and a few others offer Antarctic cruises over Christmas break, so thought the canal would be another nice option.

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When the Canal starts cruise ship traffic through the new locks, the Quantum class will be the largest. Voyager/Freedom will fit but in their present configuration they are too tall. I think if they had a particular vessel in that class that they wanted to transit, it could be done. Oasis on the other hand, they will fit too, but way to tall.

Oh, do we know when they will allow cruise traffic? I did not realize that there were restrictions.

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Oh, do we know when they will allow cruise traffic? I did not realize that there were restrictions.

 

 

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There are accepting cruise ships beginning April 2017 and right now the first cruise ship scheduled for the new locks in the Disney Wonder near the end of April. I am not certain as to why the delay in accepting cruise ships... maybe they would rather gain experience with non cruise ships first?

Partial transits from the Atlantic side would be no problem... even for Oasis class. The new bridge on the Atlantic side will accommodate everything in Royals stable.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51130502#post51130502

As a summary there are a couple of key quotes by both Bill and Cheng regarding the new locks, the Bridge of Americas, and the various classes:

Regarding Bridge of Americas on the Pacific side:

• Bill: Absolute max span height, at the lowest tide, at the very best case possible, all planets aligned = approx 214 ft
  
• Cheng: Totally special 1-time only occasion 6 foot clearance, with likely min 8-10 foot clearance normally for other "special occasions"
  
• Freedom = 208' high, Voyager 207'
  

All planets would need to be aligned on every single sailing for either Voyager or Freedom Class to get under the Bridge of Americas. I think this math indicates very well that Voyager/Freedom ships won't be sailing under the BoA any time in the near future, new locks or not.

• Oasis: new Canal max width is 55m, Oasis Class beam = 65... Oasis cannot fit
  
• Quantum: she barely clears the Verazzano, with funnels brought down in order to fit under. Again, all planets would have to align for the BoA. And per a video posted on cc (by DEIx50 I believe) during a captains corner it was said that Quantum's beam at the life-boat height will not allow Quantum to fit into the new canal, even though the beam at water line is fine. So while posted dimensions of length and beam seem to be fine, it's the higher height of the ship at the life boats could cause an issue when the ship is lowered/raised within the walls of the locks
  

Further summary from previous discussion with Cheng, Bill and others who have sailed under and been part of the Canal for years:

New locks, partial transit: Voyager/Freedom yes. Quantum/Oasis no

New locks, full transit: none of the ships above can get under the BoA

__________________

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51130502#post51130502

 

As a summary there are a couple of key quotes by both Bill and Cheng regarding the new locks, the Bridge of Americas, and the various classes:

 

Regarding Bridge of Americas on the Pacific side:

• Bill: Absolute max span height, at the lowest tide, at the very best case possible, all planets aligned = approx 214 ft
  
• Cheng: Totally special 1-time only occasion 6 foot clearance, with likely min 8-10 foot clearance normally for other "special occasions"
  
• Freedom = 208' high, Voyager 207'
  

 

All planets would need to be aligned on every single sailing for either Voyager or Freedom Class to get under the Bridge of Americas. I think this math indicates very well that Voyager/Freedom ships won't be sailing under the BoA any time in the near future, new locks or not.

 

 

 

• Oasis: new Canal max width is 55m, Oasis Class beam = 65... Oasis cannot fit
  
• Quantum: she barely clears the Verazzano, with funnels brought down in order to fit under. Again, all planets would have to align for the BoA. And per a video posted on cc (by DEIx50 I believe) during a captains corner it was said that Quantum's beam at the life-boat height will not allow Quantum to fit into the new canal, even though the beam at water line is fine. So while posted dimensions of length and beam seem to be fine, it's the higher height of the ship at the life boats could cause an issue when the ship is lowered/raised within the walls of the locks
  

 

 

Further summary from previous discussion with Cheng, Bill and others who have sailed under and been part of the Canal for years:

 

New locks, partial transit: Voyager/Freedom yes. Quantum/Oasis no

New locks, full transit: none of the ships above can get under the BoA

 

__________________

Thanks for the wealth of information.

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Does anyone know what the largest class of RCI ship will fit through the expanded canal?

 

And, does anyone know if there have been any plans for Royal to do partial canal cruises similar to what Princess offers - the 10 day out of Port Everglades or Miami.

 

 

 

 

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I've done the Princess 10 day partial out of PE. It was truly one of my fav cruises. Not only was the Canal visit interesting and unique, the rest of the So. Caribbean ports included Ocho Rios, Aruba (awesome snorkeling) and Cartegena which are great.

I'm planning a return cruise...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51130502#post51130502

 

 

 

 

 

• Oasis: new Canal max width is 55m, Oasis Class beam = 65... Oasis cannot fit
  
• Quantum: she barely clears the Verazzano, with funnels brought down in order to fit under. Again, all planets would have to align for the BoA. And per a video posted on cc (by DEIx50 I believe) during a captains corner it was said that Quantum's beam at the life-boat height will not allow Quantum to fit into the new canal, even though the beam at water line is fine. So while posted dimensions of length and beam seem to be fine, it's the higher height of the ship at the life boats could cause an issue when the ship is lowered/raised within the walls of the locks
  

 

 

Further summary from previous discussion with Cheng, Bill and others who have sailed under and been part of the Canal for years:

 

New locks, partial transit: Voyager/Freedom yes. Quantum/Oasis no

New locks, full transit: none of the ships above can get under the BoA

 

__________________

Hoop, the draft at the waterline for the Oasis is 152' while the new locks have a width of 180' and according to present limits in place the new locks can accept a beam of 160'.

Regarding the the Q class... they have a beam at the waterline of 136'.

If think where the discrepancy is waterline beam and the extreme beam which are usually the bridge wings and some of the other cantilevered portions of the upper decks. Actually as long as the wider portions of the vessel are high enough above the waterline it isn't an issue, I am positive the lifeboats would not prevent to Q class from transiting the Canal.

Thought I recently saw a video of the Q or Anthem did not lower the stacks to clear the Narrows Bridge... found it...

The permitted air draft for the Narrows Bridge is 215'. Perhaps they may have to lowered to clear the Bridge of Americas. I just don't think Royal would build another class of large ships that would exclude them from that part of the world. But then again RCI management does move in mysterious ways.

Many years ago we did the Jewel to the mouth of the canal Atlantic side.

Tendered there for most of the day. Took a ferry ride through the whole

canal as a shore excursion. Was really great! Was able to see the Bridge

of Americas, touch the wall, and come out onto the Pacific side. Took

a bus back to the Atlantic side and our waiting ship.

Was a great alternative, though someday we would also like to do

the cruise ship through the canal.

Thanks for the wealth of information.

 

 

 

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There have been a good 10+ indepth threads about the Canal and future RCL crossings where awesome extremely knowledgeable CC'ers shared their expertise, Bill and Cheng specifically with their wealth of sailing history and knowledge. Below, in my opinion, is one of the very best threads ever on this topic, and after many conflicting posts, I think I was able to summarize what I think is the actual answer regarding the various classes of ships and their fit into the Canal with Bill's and Cheng's help:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthr?ad.php?t=2241152&highlight=panama

Just keep in mind that end result summary.... none of the big ships can fit under the bridge (maybe... only a very HUGE maybe at extreme risks, can Voyager perhaps sneak under) and Quantum (beam at life-boat height) and Oasis (beam at waterline) cannot fit into the new canal at all.

Hoop, the draft at the waterline for the Oasis is 152' while the new locks have a width of 180' and according to present limits in place the new locks can accept a beam of 160'.

 

Regarding the the Q class... they have a beam at the waterline of 136'.

 

If think where the discrepancy is waterline beam and the extreme beam which are usually the bridge wings and some of the other cantilevered portions of the upper decks. Actually as long as the wider portions of the vessel are high enough above the waterline it isn't an issue, I am positive the lifeboats would not prevent to Q class from transiting the Canal.

 

Thought I recently saw a video of the Q or Anthem did not lower the stacks to clear the Narrows Bridge... found it...

 

 

The permitted air draft for the Narrows Bridge is 215'. Perhaps they may have to lowered to clear the Bridge of Americas. I just don't think Royal would build another class of large ships that would exclude them from that part of the world. But then again RCI management does move in mysterious ways.

I'm not aware that the Quantum class have retractable funnels. Oasis and Allure did, one of them gave up on them almost from the start, and the other was exercising them weekly in the Caribbean just to keep them operating, but eventually gave up on them. They leak too much soot, and are a maintenance nightmare.

Hoop, the draft at the waterline for the Oasis is 152' while the new locks have a width of 180' and according to present limits in place the new locks can accept a beam of 160'.

Hey there Bill. The following cut and pasted, specifically max beam, which I assume is as you go higher than the water line as the hull becomes much wider as you go up. I suspect the Oasis Class cannot be lowered into the canal without smashing into the walls at 180feet beam.

Oasis Class

Length: 361.6 m (1,186.5 ft) overall

Beam:

47 m (154 ft) waterline

60.5 m (198 ft) max beam

Height: 72 m (236 ft) above water line[9]

Draught: 9.322 m (30.6 ft)

Depth: 22.55 m (74 ft)

As far as Quantum goes, I quote Capt Srecko with regard to the lifeboat height issue. He also told me point blank when I first became interested in the Canal builds when I met him on Vision that he would not attempt a Voyager Class whatsoever under the BoA.

Quantum

Length: 348 m (1,142 ft)

Beam:

48.9–49.47 m (160–162 ft) (max)

41.2–41.4 m (135–136 ft) (waterline)

Draught: 8.5–8.8 m (28–29 ft)

Saw the panama canal in August. Went to the official visitors center (miraflora locks) and spent 2-3 hours there. Personally I walked away disappointed. Panama City is awesome but the after 10012341 people told me the Canal is the 9th wonder of the world and that I HAD TO GO I was simply not impressed. Was it cool to see the boat lowered? Yeah it was but it took 20 minutes and the only real appreciation for it was the time lapse video I took. Standing there watching was like watching paint dry and I was very excited to do the canal something on my must do list. So just some food for thought. Maybe it's different on the boat itself but boy oh boy I was so glad that we didn't do the 8 hour canal transit. My girlfriend has family in Panama so if we go back I want to charter a helicopter and see it from the air I think that may offer a better perspective than anything on the ground can offer...

Point of the post RCCL may feel the same way about it and hence is why they aren't sailing there.

I'm not aware that the Quantum class have retractable funnels.

Here they are retracting:

Well-known Derek Picone of CC reviews made this video on my Quantum sailing... fast forward to about 5:40 where Quantum goes under the Verrazano. Funnels are not retracted here either, but you can see by the smoke coming out of the stacks as she progresses under the bridge, that there's maybe 10 feet clearance?

I just found this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2147850

"I just looked back through my noted from the technology announcement when Richard Fain first made it known that the funnel retracted. The numbers that he gave were that the Verrazano had a clearance of 71m. The Quantum with funnel extended is 73m and with it retracted is 68m."

"This question was asked at the Captain's forum last week on the Quantum.

Capt stated it would not be capable of a Panama Canal transit due to lifeboat placements."

 

I just found this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2147850

 

"I just looked back through my noted from the technology announcement when Richard Fain first made it known that the funnel retracted. The numbers that he gave were that the Verrazano had a clearance of 71m. The Quantum with funnel extended is 73m and with it retracted is 68m."

 

"This question was asked at the Captain's forum last week on the Quantum.

Capt stated it would not be capable of a Panama Canal transit due to lifeboat placements."

This all maybe for naught because whether the Q and the rest will fit the new locks really depends on if Royal decides to back to the Canal! I have tried to find data on the lifeboats and really can't find anything definitive enough, however I still think the lifeboats are high enough. If I am wrong Hoopster, the drinks are on me, (in the CL of course;)). Perhaps some of the earlier statements made by the folks at Royal were based on less than accurate numbers. For example Fain's statement that with the funnels retracted the height is 68m (223')... that would be too tall to clear the Narrows Bridge as the navigational clearance is only 215'. Your links clearly show passage with the funnels raised.

I also think it is telling in the photo you provided in the link that the Q's air draft and max height case by case for the Canal is noted on that page of the manual. I would think there would not be a need to be a mention it if the ship could not possibly use the Canal.

Here's to smooth seas!

the drinks are on me, (in the CL of course;)).

Lol!!

I would think there would not be a need to be a mention it if the ship could not possibly use the Canal.

You'd think, right?? Who knows... I'd rather get cool info from you and Cheng rather than from a type-written paper on a control room desk left out for peons like me to see on an All Access Tour ;)

We took a HAL full transit of the canal several years ago and enjoyed it. There were new ports to explore and it was a great cruise. At the Captain's reception, the Captain spoke about the exorbitant fees that are charged for each ship and a percentage of those fees are naturally passed on to the passenger. I can only imagine how much more costly it would be for a larger Royal ship to do a full transit. Perhaps Royal doesn't think it would want to charge what is necessary to do a full transit.