honeyb2 Posted January 28 #1 Share Posted January 28 We have questions about the Panama Canal reducing the number of ships being allowed transit due to the drought. Have any cruise ships been denied access to the locks? We have a partial transit cruise next month on the Rotterdam and the Panama Canal’s new locks are the highlight of the cruise. Since we can’t seem to find anything on the boards to give a clue as to if this is happening, thought we’d ask the experts here. Also thinking we could call HAL but we’re not sure we’ll get a straight answer from someone that will lose money if we cancel. TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted January 28 #2 Share Posted January 28 Have you looked on the Panama Board? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/54-panama-canal/ Several discussions there. Some ships changed their itineraries away from the Canal, the partial transits, but full transits have continued as normal. I think that has all been settled by now...I think one or two of Rotterdam's early season sailings might have been affected. If you haven't been notified of a change in itinerary, and there is no change on the website, you will be doing your partial transit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Roz Posted January 28 #3 Share Posted January 28 The new locks are rather meh. Why are they the highlight for you? Does the Rotterdam use the new locks? The old locks are a lot more interesting. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliaschief Posted January 28 #4 Share Posted January 28 Just transited the canal earlier this month on world cruise along with two other cruise ships. Shouldn’t be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir PMP Posted January 28 #5 Share Posted January 28 The problem is not so much the rain, there is major unrest in the country, therefore no stopping at Colon. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted January 28 #6 Share Posted January 28 16 minutes ago, Sir PMP said: The problem is not so much the rain, there is major unrest in the country, therefore no stopping at Colon. That problem has eased. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rafinmd Posted January 28 #7 Share Posted January 28 I know some Rotterdam cruises have been altered but it has always been announced well ahead of time. If you haven't seen an itinerary deviation by now you should be good to go. Rotterdam is too big to go through the original locks. I would expect her to be the only HAL ship doing so since the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam have been banned from the new locks (except under unusual circumstances with no passengers). The lifeboat mounting was modified on Rotterdam to all the boats to be fully inside, making the already narrow promenade deck inaccessible during the transit. I have been through the original canal many times and wanted to experience the new locks just once, and was happy to have done it but the next time I would prefer the old locks. Roy 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted January 28 #8 Share Posted January 28 My understanding of the situation for full transits is that cruise ships pay a hefty premium fee to reserve their transit times well in advance and they are not the ones being denied ... usually the ones being denied are freighters/tankers etc. that show up without a reservation or purchase them last minute that are told it is a no-go. I don't know if partial transits are different. I just did a full transit on another line, through the old locks, and we saw two other cruise ships going into the new locks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Other Tom Posted January 28 #9 Share Posted January 28 1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said: usually the ones being denied are freighters/tankers etc. I don't think anyone is being "denied", but they have to wait longer than normal to enter. Depending on the wait time, it might be quicker to go around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted January 28 #10 Share Posted January 28 The Zuiderdam went through last week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasick Sailor Posted January 28 #11 Share Posted January 28 We were able to transit the new locks on Rotterdam Dec 10th 2023. We were also allowed to go ashore in Colon that evening for a short time. We did not go ashore, but many did. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare WriterOnDeck Posted January 28 #12 Share Posted January 28 I did a partial on the Zuiderdam in late December and just completed a full, also on Zuiderdam, last week. Shouldn't be any problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare horseymike Posted January 28 #13 Share Posted January 28 3 hours ago, rafinmd said: I know some Rotterdam cruises have been altered but it has always been announced well ahead of time. If you haven't seen an itinerary deviation by now you should be good to go. Rotterdam is too big to go through the original locks. I would expect her to be the only HAL ship doing so since the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam have been banned from the new locks (except under unusual circumstances with no passengers). The lifeboat mounting was modified on Rotterdam to all the boats to be fully inside, making the already narrow promenade deck inaccessible during the transit. I have been through the original canal many times and wanted to experience the new locks just once, and was happy to have done it but the next time I would prefer the old locks. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare horseymike Posted January 28 #14 Share Posted January 28 Thanks for the input Roy. I hope you are doing well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi13 Posted January 28 #15 Share Posted January 28 5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said: My understanding of the situation for full transits is that cruise ships pay a hefty premium fee to reserve their transit times well in advance and they are not the ones being denied ... usually the ones being denied are freighters/tankers etc. that show up without a reservation or purchase them last minute that are told it is a no-go. I don't know if partial transits are different. I just did a full transit on another line, through the old locks, and we saw two other cruise ships going into the new locks. Affirmative, cruise lines make reservations in advance for both full and partial transits, paying a significant registration fee. They also pay an additional fee to guarantee a daylight transit. With the reduction in transits, due to low water levels, the Canal's revenue is reduced. I can't see them further reducing their revenue by refusing any of the already reserved cruise ships. Most cargo ships do not reserve in advance, due to the nature of the trade. They arrive at the Canal, register and then wait in the queue. The Canal also conducts auctions of transit slots, with a company recently paying almost $4 million to skip the queue. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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