Panama Canal Cruise - Full Transit

[fsdj1097]

DW and I are looking to book a Full Transit Panama Canal Cruise for 2024.  However, when I search for 2024 Panama Canal Cruises, I don't see any full transit cruises aboard Pinnacle Class ships.  We are totally hooked on the Pinnacle Class ships.  We love the dedicated Club Orange Dining Room, Grand Dutch Cafe, and New York Deli.  Our first cruise was in 1998, aboard Veendam.  Our first Alaska cruise was aboard Zaandam.  We've sailed all 4 Vista Class Ships, and most of the Signature Class Ships.  We've enjoyed all of these classes of ships, but, when we sailed aboard Koningsdam for the first time, it was like something clicked.  We'd found the ship that fit us perfectly!  Does anyone in the group have any inside information that might know if HAL is planning to offer any full transit Panama Canal cruises aboard a Pinnacle Class Ship anytime soon?  Thanks, in advance, for your replies.

 

Sam

[Florida_gal_50]

I hear you and I’m on the same page.  The only ship that can “fit” is the Rotterdam.  It’s something about the way the lifeboats hang off the sides.  During the pandemic the koningsdam got special permission to transit the canal.  That is something we are not likely to see again.  Our only hope is the Rotterdam coming to the west coast and I don’t see that happening any time soon.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

Koningsdam's lifeboats hang wayyyy over the sides.  Very obvious in this vid showing the Koningsdam transiting, crew only aboard, during the shutdown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLQykdNkvuM

 

This link is discussion of the lifeboat problem with HAL's bigger ships.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2659045-hal-ten-years-later-nieuw-statendam-review/page/3/

 

The reference to the under-construction Ryndam is the ship that was completed as the Rotterdam, after HAL sold off the previous Rotterdam.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Cruising Is Bliss

[aliaschief]

Koningsdam is currently on a circle Hawaii cruise. To get to California  they probably transited through the Panama Canal. Whether it was the new canal or old I’m not sure but to my knowledge it did not go around the tip of South America.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

[Florida_gal_50]

48 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Koningsdam is currently on a circle Hawaii cruise. To get to California  they probably transited through the Panama Canal. Whether it was the new canal or old I’m not sure but to my knowledge it did not go around the tip of South America.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

They did transit the canal during the shutdown as I mentioned in my previous post.  They had special permission to do that.  It won’t be a normal thing.  Before the shutdown the ship was scheduled to go around South America to get to the west coast.  I know this for sure as I know someone that was scheduled on the South American cruise. That cruise was canceled very close to them leaving at the start of the shut down.

[aliaschief]

Do we know how Koningsdam got to West Coast this season?

[CNSJ]

I believe that Konningsdam has stayed on the West coast since arriving there.  The lifeboat fix on Rotterdam is kind of cool if you are in to mechanical things.  Rather than a pivoting davit set, the lifeboats extend and retract mostly horizontally with hydraulics.  

 

I think I would prefer a Panama Canal cruise on a Vista or Signature class ship due to the extensive promenade.  On a Pinnacle, the lifeboats will be pulled in during transit taking up half of the promenade and blocking most of the view.  That makes the viewing areas on higher decks and bow more crowded.  

[CruiserBruce]

20 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

Do we know how Koningsdam got to West Coast this season?

Its been on the West Coast since 2020.

[CNSJ]

1 hour ago, aliaschief said:

Koningsdam is currently on a circle Hawaii cruise. To get to California  they probably transited through the Panama Canal. Whether it was the new canal or old I’m not sure but to my knowledge it did not go around the tip of South America.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

If I recall, Konningsdam did a round "the bottom" trip a few years back. To those in AUS and NZ, my apologies for my Northern Hemisphere view of things. 

[aliaschief]

6 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Its been on the West Coast since 2020.

Thanks I had forgotten that!

[Cruising Is Bliss]

19 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Do we know how Koningsdam got to West Coast this season?

 

She never left. The crew only transit in April 2020 was a one-off with special pandemic permission from the Panama Canal, to re-position her to the West Coast market. The transit took the place of the cancelled 40+ days around the Horn voyage. She's been home-ported out of San Diego doing Mexico and Hawaii most of the year, alternating with the Alaska season every year.

 

[Colorado Klutch]

If Koningsdam is a bit too beefy around the waste for the old canal, why would it not simply go through the new canal which is MUCH larger? It is much more expensive to use the new canal? 

[CruiserBruce]

28 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

If Koningsdam is a bit too beefy around the waste for the old canal, why would it not simply go through the new canal which is MUCH larger? It is much more expensive to use the new canal? 

The issue was with positioning of life boats, and the ability of tugs to safely tie to the ship, as well as if those extended life boats would contact walls of the locks. Eventually, KDam went through pulling the lifeboats behind her, and with extra tugs assisting.

[Colorado Klutch]

I did some online reading and the new Panama canal situation is weird. Apparently, it uses tugs instead of the mules on the old canal. The new canal has plenty of room, but doesn't allow anything to hang over the sides of the ships. Since the life boats on Pinnacle class ships slightly hang over the sides, they can't go through the new canal unless they reposition or remove the boats. 

Sounds like the people who run the new Canal are still figuring things out. I saw they didn't announce these new polices until three months before the canal was scheduled to open. Then the opening was delayed due to a multitude of ineptitude. 

Over the decades, many ships were designed and built specifically to fit through the Panama Canal. (Often called "Panamax".) Designing ships for the new canal would be pretty difficult with such strange and short fused policies. 

[CruiserBruce]

10 minutes ago, Colorado Klutch said:

I did some online reading and the new Panama canal situation is weird. Apparently, it uses tugs instead of the mules on the old canal. The new canal has plenty of room, but doesn't allow anything to hang over the sides of the ships. Since the life boats on Pinnacle class ships slightly hang over the sides, they can't go through the new canal unless they reposition or remove the boats. 

Sounds like the people who run the new Canal are still figuring things out. I saw they didn't announce these new polices until three months before the canal was scheduled to open. Then the opening was delayed due to a multitude of ineptitude. 

Over the decades, many ships were designed and built specifically to fit through the Panama Canal. (Often called "Panamax".) Designing ships for the new canal would be pretty difficult with such strange and short fused policies. 

Not quite true, the other two ships in the Pinnacle (N. Statendam was altered, Rotterdam came with the "fixes" when delivered) class have made alterations to allow them to use the new locks.

[Colorado Klutch]

4 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Not quite true, the other two ships in the Pinnacle (N. Statendam was altered, Rotterdam came with the "fixes" when delivered) class have made alterations to allow them to use the new locks.

 

Good know. Thank you. 

 

I've never been through the Panama canal and would like to take a cruise ship through it. I have been through the Suez canal aboard an aircraft carrier. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Colorado Klutch

[CruiserBruce]

1 minute ago, Colorado Klutch said:

 

Good know. Thank you. 

 

I've never been through the Panama canal and would like to take a cruise ship through it. I have been through the Suez canal aboard an aircraft carrier. In the most narrow sections of that canal, the flight deck hangs over the sides. Strangely, you can stand on the flight deck, look down and see land going by. 

The Suez Canal doesn't have locks. That makes things much easier, unless you lose control of your steering in the wind, like the container ship did.

[Colorado Klutch]

43 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

The Suez Canal doesn't have locks. That makes things much easier, unless you lose control of your steering in the wind, like the container ship did.

 

It's also a LOT bigger. 

[Florida_gal_50]

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Not quite true, the other two ships in the Pinnacle (N. Statendam was altered, Rotterdam came with the "fixes" when delivered) class have made alterations to allow them to use the new locks.

You are the only one that thinks this.  The only one that came with the fix is the rotterdam.  If you have other information contrary to this, please share it.  Thanks.

[CruiserBruce]

3 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

You are the only one that thinks this.  The only one that came with the fix is the rotterdam.  If you have other information contrary to this, please share it.  Thanks.

It's my understanding that Rotterdam came with the fix, N. Statendam was altered after being put in service.

[Florida_gal_50]

15 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

It's my understanding that Rotterdam came with the fix, N. Statendam was altered after being put in service.

Like I mentioned you are the only one that holds that belief.  Everything I’ve read is to the contrary. 

[Cruising Is Bliss]

17 hours ago, Colorado Klutch said:

If Koningsdam is a bit too beefy around the waste for the old canal, why would it not simply go through the new canal which is MUCH larger? It is much more expensive to use the new canal? 

The problem IS with the new locks. K is too wide for the old canal. In the new locks the ship itself does fit but the problem is the life boats hang way out over the water and the Panama Canal Authority decided that's not acceptable. The new locks use tugboats to steer the ships instead of the railroad "mules" used in the old locks. They were apparently concerned about the potential to foul the tugboat Lines.

 

 

[Cruising Is Bliss]

15 hours ago, Colorado Klutch said:

 

Good know. Thank you. 

 

I've never been through the Panama canal and would like to take a cruise ship through it. I have been through the Suez canal aboard an aircraft carrier. 

 

My dad went through the Panama Canal on the old USS Saratoga during WWII and he said the ship actually scrapped the sides.

 

I love Canal transits and am hoping to do another one. One of Panama Canal transits I did was really cool. We were in one of the locks and the lock next to us didn't seem to have a ship approaching and then right in front of that set of lock doors, up popped a really big US sub! They went through surfaced with a bunch of people on top of the sub and then as soon as she cleared the doors on the way out submerged and vanished.

Edited February 14, 2023 by Cruising Is Bliss

[Mosaic]

I was once told by a Captain on the Kdam that they could go through the Canal with "special permission", whatever that meant.

[Colorado Klutch]

6 hours ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

 

My dad went through the Panama Canal on the old USS Saratoga during WWII and he said the ship actually scrapped the sides.

 

Your dad was a member of the "Order of the Ditch". The Navy issues very colorful certificates for this as well as crossing the equator, "Shellback", or the Arctic Circle "Blue Nose" and "Plank Owner" for being assigned to a commissioning crew. (I'm a Blue Nose three times over and a USS Theodore Roosevelt Plank Owner). If you can figure out what day your dad went through the Panama Canal, you can order an Order of the Ditch certificate with his name on it. Might be something fun to remember your dad.

 

https://certificatesbytiffany.com/certificates/order-of-the-ditch/ 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Colorado Klutch