Panama Canal cruises 2019

[LeftcoastBC]

As of today, there are no 2019 Panama Canal sailings listed for Celebrity. What's the hold up?

 

Today was the latest educated guess on the release day.. Still a lot left in the day out here on the wet coast. It's not even lunch time. ...

Fingers crossed.

[Cruise Junky]

As of today, there are no 2019 Panama Canal sailings listed for Celebrity. What's the hold up?

 

I've seen October 25th on Infinity but it's not showing on Celebrity's site yet.

[gordylad]

I was told by Cel UK Infinity sailings 25 oct 2019 and 9 nov 2019

[RatherBeTraveling]

As of today, there are no 2019 Panama Canal sailings listed for Celebrity. What's the hold up?

 

 

 

I got the Celebrity email with the “exotics” releases and only the two dates for 2019 for Panama Canal which have already been mentioned. One eastbound and the other westbound, between Miami and San Diego. Other released itineraries are for South America, Australia & New Zealand, Asia, Hawaii, India and Dubai.

 

I’ve done a Panama Canal Cruise already so was really hoping for a South America to Florida itinerary similar to what X is doing in March 2018. We have family and friends who are interested in the Canal and would have joined them if the itinerary was a little different than the traditional. Oh well - guess I need to expand my search to other than X for our group.

 

 

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[AtlantaCruiser72]

As previously mentioned the Infinity will do (2) 15 day Canal trips between FLL-SAN (and reverse) on 10/25/19 and 11/9/19. Those will be the only P. Canal Sailings for X in 2019.

 

Eclipse will repo down the Pacific Coast to S. America after her fall Pac NW/Coastal sailings in Oct/Nov. South America 2019/20 will not go on sale until after the first of the year

[Cruise Junky]

As previously mentioned the Infinity will do (2) 15 day Canal trips between FLL-SAN (and reverse) on 10/25/19 and 11/9/19. Those will be the only P. Canal Sailings for X in 2019.

 

Eclipse will repo down the Pacific Coast to S. America after her fall Pac NW/Coastal sailings in Oct/Nov. South America 2019/20 will not go on sale until after the first of the year

South America through March 2020 went on sale today.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

South America through March 2020 went on sale today.

 

Sorry had been looking at the Royal Deployment schedule and gave incorrect info

[TeeRick]

Princess is doing the new locks though so they have to compete.

 

It is not related to the new vs old locks or the expense of them. S-Class ships, unless modified, will not fit under the Bridge of the Americas on the Pacific side of the canal. We took the Infinity through the canal in 2016 MIA to SD and it was an awesome experience.

[LeftcoastBC]

It is not related to the new vs old locks or the expense of them. S-Class ships, unless modified, will not fit under the Bridge of the Americas on the Pacific side of the canal. We took the Infinity through the canal in 2016 MIA to SD and it was an awesome experience.

 

Now that's something that I had not thought about. Interesting for sure. I do wonder how much height is in play. The Solstice has been modified to fit under the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver. So would it not follow that the Eclipse has been "Fixed" also.? Since it's doing Ak from there ! Must be more height than what has been accomplished with that fix ?

 

Couldn't agree more on the WB Canal trip. Always something different to see and a great mix of Port days vs Sea in those two relaxing weeks back into my time zone .

[CruisinNole]

It is not related to the new vs old locks or the expense of them. S-Class ships, unless modified, will not fit under the Bridge of the Americas on the Pacific side of the canal. We took the Infinity through the canal in 2016 MIA to SD and it was an awesome experience.

We toured the new locks last year just before they opened. We were told that expense was the issue.. It's very, very expensive to go through the new locks. Nothing was said about the height of the ship. The captain also said at his Q&A that the expense was a factor regarding the new locks.

[BillB48]

No doubt the cost of a Canal transit is a consideration, however I don't believe that cost is a major determining factor. The cruise line establishes the fare for per passenger based on the demand for the cruise. The cost for the transit is taken out of the port fees and taxes which is on top of what you pay for the fare, so the cost to transit the Canal is not carved out of what they have established as the fare. The cruise lines fees and taxes are presently around $335pp for the Canal transit cruise while the taxes and fees for a non Canal cruise are approximately $130pp for a 14 day cruise to the Caribbean. That is almost 200 more per person which easily covers the Canal transit.

 

Citing cost of the transit I think is just their pat answer.

[deadzone1003]

If you want to go through the new locks, you are going to have catch any post-panamax ship that happens to be repositioning. So far, the only cruiseship that has gone through the new locks is the Disney Wonder (last fall). Carnival Splendor is going through next month. But, the next ship will not be until April 2019 and that will be the Emerald Princess. I'm surprised more large ships are not scheduled, but I don't know the difference in price between the locks for each passenger. It is already quite expensive just to go through the old locks.

[BillB48]

If you want to go through the new locks, you are going to have catch any post-panamax ship that happens to be repositioning. So far, the only cruiseship that has gone through the new locks is the Disney Wonder (last fall). Carnival Splendor is going through next month. But, the next ship will not be until April 2019 and that will be the Emerald Princess. I'm surprised more large ships are not scheduled, but I don't know the difference in price between the locks for each passenger. It is already quite expensive just to go through the old locks.

 

The difference in price per passenger berth is $10. Passenger ships using the old locks pay $138ppb, while it is $148ppb at the new locks. All passenger berths are counted to calculate the toll, even if there is not a head I the bed.

 

I think the main reason the post Panamax cruise ships have been slow to utilize the expanded locks is because the opening was delayed almost a year and the cruise lines did not want to commit to the itinerary because of the of the uncertain opening date. Also the Canal did not even accept cruise ships at the new locks until April of this year (2017, Disney Wonder).

 

The Caribbean Princess has been doing partial transits using the new locks since October. The Caribbean Princess and the Splendor as the same basic ship in terms of dimensions. Then I think it will be the Emerald Princess and then NCL Bliss.

[TeeRick]

If you are going through the canal then tour the new locks from the port of Colon. However, it is a treat to go through the old locks if you are there for a sense of history and engineering over a hundred years ago. I was happy to actually transit through the old locks!

[C 2 C]

The only way an S class ship would go through the canal is having all the life boats follow behind. A mast can be altered as was the case with Solstice.

S-class with the lifeboats in place will not pass through.

[LeftcoastBC]

The only way an S class ship would go through the canal is having all the life boats follow behind. A mast can be altered as was the case with Solstice.

S-class with the lifeboats in place will not pass through.

 

Welcome to the thread. No one suggested the Mast be altered other than to make it go under the Bridge of the America's. If indeed that was an actual issue. We all had the ship passing through the new locks..

[BillB48]

The only way an S class ship would go through the canal is having all the life boats follow behind. A mast can be altered as was the case with Solstice.

S-class with the lifeboats in place will not pass through.

 

The overhang of the lifeboats is not an issue for the new locks as they are high enough off the water. The Caribbean Princess and the Carnival Splendor both have lifeboats that partially extend past the hull. The procedure the Canal has been using for the neomax cruise ships eliminates overhang from being an issue. They hold the vessel in the center of the chamber during the lockage and do not land it or make fast on the lock wall.

 

So a Solstice modification should do the trick on any of those ships if they are Canal bound.

[TeeRick]

Yes- Solstice class ships will fit through the new locks. They just need a height modification for the Bridge of the Americas. No need to speculate as only Infinity (M-Class) is on the just announced PC schedule.

[C 2 C]

I guess I will have to tell the chief engineer on board that he is wrong as well as two other captains on previous voyages who said the same.

[TeeRick]

No need to debate this as an S-Class ship is not going through the new or old locks anytime soon. But of course the captain or Chief Engineer would be the final authority on the exact fit so I defer to your information. Not sure how much the lifeboats stick out - a good question for the Chief Engineer. The Beam on S-Class is 120 ft. The width of the new locks is 180 ft. So the ship has approximately 30 ft on each side clearance. Just for comparison the M-Class ships have a beam of 106 ft and they go through the old locks which are 110 ft wide. With lifeboats.

[BillB48]

I think the only debate that might be in order is "if" X wants to include a Canal transit for any of their S class ships. Sometimes the captain and chief engineers are asked questions in which they provide their best answer from the information known to them and their past experience. As to whether an S class ship could transit the expanded Canal, their answer probably was more based on opinion and what facts they had at the time.

 

Building the S class ships began at a time when dimensions of the expanded locks had been established. I find it hard to believe that X would have constructed these vessels in such a manner that would prohibit them from being able to use this waterway on any future itinerary, even if their plans at the time did not included the Canal. The Canal routinely reviews ship building plans sent to them for new builds and notes what is needed for the vessel to transit.

 

Ships with parts of the superstructure that extend past hull go through all the time, they just need to be sufficiently high enough off the water to clear the lock wall. In the case of the lifeboats they are high enough not to cause any problems. If you take a look at recent photos and videos of the Caribbean Princess at the new Agua Clara Locks, her lifeboats are stored in such a manner that they protrude beyond the limits of the hull. When the ship was low on the water in the chamber, there was ample clearance from the wall. Even the forward docking platforms were lowered causing them to extend beyond the hull. The beam of the Caribbean Princess is 118', very close to what the S class beam is.