The full transits are, as the name suggests, complete journeys from one coast to the other. Typicall

Avid Cruiser Voyages: The Panama Canal Home Blog | News Cruise Reviews Port Profiles River Cruises Need Inspiration? Avid Cruiser Voyages America s Queen: Defining Beauty On Water 9 Parting Thoughts: Our Voyage On The American Queen Concludes, A Recap Of Our Adventure Avid Cruiser Voyages: The Panama Canal By Aaron Saunders On October 11, 2012 1 Comment
For this week's installment of Avid Cruiser Voyages , we're talking about an itinerary that has something of an expiration date on it: the Panama Canal . A ship traverses the newly completed Panama Canal in 1915. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia / Creative Commons.
This amazing 48-mile long channel connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans has been a dream for far longer than it has been a reality. Numerous attempts were made to find a way to link the two oceans, via the Caribbean Sea, without success. That all changed in 1904, when the United States entered the fray, buying up the remnants of a failed French attempt at constructing the canal for a whopping $40 million dollars, and began work on the canal on May 4 th of that year.
Over the course of the next decade, thousands of workers would toil endlessly in the construction of the canal and its locks, which raise and lower ships to allow them to pass from one ocean to another. In total, over 5,600 workers would lose their lives in the process of building this remarkable feat of engineering.
Today, only certain cruise ships known as "Panamax" ships can pass through the Canal. These vessels can't be wider than 106 feet across, or longer than 965 feet. While most of the world's cruise fleet can use the canal to quickly transit from the Caribbean to the West Coast of the United States, larger cruise ships like Cunard's Queen Mary 2 or Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas have to sail around best car rental rates in phoenix the horn of South America in order to pass from the Atlantic to the Pacific. These are known as "Post-Panamax" ships. When Mariner of the Seas was repositioned best car rental rates in phoenix then later removed from the Mexican Riviera, her size prevented her from transiting the Panama Canal. The only option? A circumnavigation of South America. Photo © Aaron Saunders
For many shipping companies, today's economies of scale demand bigger ships capable of carrying more cargo and passengers. Because of that, plans are afoot to build a new set of larger locks to complement the existing ones at Miraflores and Gatun. Channels are to be widened to support the increase best car rental rates in phoenix in traffic, and current plans call for Gatun Lake to be deepened and its overall water height raised.
The full transits are, as the name suggests, complete journeys from one coast to the other. Typically, these are offered in the so-called "shoulder seasons" of April, May, September and October. This allows many ships that winter in the warmth of the Caribbean best car rental rates in phoenix to reposition best car rental rates in phoenix to Alaska and the West Coast for the summer best car rental rates in phoenix months. Typically, these voyages tend to last around 14 days and can take passengers from Miami to Los Angeles, to highlight one example. Norwegian Pearl holds the record for highest-toll paid to transit best car rental rates in phoenix the Canal: $375,600 in 2010. Photo courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line
The reason they're often called explorer voyages lies in the fact that these sailings only include a partial transit best car rental rates in phoenix of the Canal: entering the first set of locks before turning around in Gatun Lake and exiting the canal. Usually, best car rental rates in phoenix these sailings are supplemented by a number of ports in the Western and Southern Caribbean, and can even include excursions within the Canal area itself.
best car rental rates in phoenix While Panama Canal cruises will continue to exist for the foreseeable future, best car rental rates in phoenix their time as we know them now is limited. If you've never done this remarkable voyage, do so before the new locks open in 2015. Right now, part of the allure and mystique of this Avid Cruiser Voyage lies in the fact that many cruise ships just barely fit inside the locks.
When in 2015 will the new locks be used? Am planning a Panama Cruise (full transit) that year for the first time. You Are Here Cruise Reviews, Ship Reviews by The Avid Cruiser Blog Avid Cruiser Voyages Avid Cruiser Voyages: The Panama Canal Subscribe Easy Reading Avid Cruiser in your inbox twice weekly. Our best videos, best car rental rates in phoenix photos and posts in a format that you can quickly review.
best car rental rates in phoenix Advertisements © 2013 Avid Travel Media , publisher of The Avid Cruiser , The Avid Traveler , River Cruise Advisor , Cruising From Stockholm . About Avid Cruiser | Who We Are | Full Disclosure | Privacy | Contact | Advertise | Subscribe