Panama Canal Cruise

[Nick560]

Hello Everyone,

 

We are looking into a Panama Canal cruise and are not sure which ship has the most entertainment. We are only use to Oasis class ships and the Odyssey.

 

What ship would yall recommend? The itinerary looks very cool, but we also enjoy a nice ship. 

[LTR]

3 minutes ago, Nick560 said:

What ship would yall recommend? The itinerary looks very cool, but we also enjoy a nice ship. 

Are there specific ships that you are asking about? Or do you just mean between Oasis class and Quantum Ultra class in general?

[smokeybandit]

The nature of which ships even do the canal trips is pretty limiting, so I wouldn't focus on entertainment on ships if you want to do the canal.

[Nick560]

10 minutes ago, LTR said:

Are there specific ships that you are asking about? Or do you just mean between Oasis class and Quantum Ultra class in general?

So just looking now it shows Brilliance, Serenade and Radiance. Our biggest worry is that we have been spoiled with the new Oasis class ships as these look a lot older and a lot less activities to do on the ships when your at sea.

[Doug_Texas]

The “Radiance Class” ships (Brilliance, Serenade and Radiance) that traverse the canal are all pretty equal when it comes to entertainment which isn’t very much.  Besides the theater, the lions share will be the “Centrum” and Schooner Bar.  We just got off Serenade and it was fine because it was port intensive but the daily lounge singer in the Centrum gets old if you like all of the music venues on Oasis class.

[LTR]

18 minutes ago, Nick560 said:

So just looking now it shows Brilliance, Serenade and Radiance. Our biggest worry is that we have been spoiled with the new Oasis class ships as these look a lot older and a lot less activities to do on the ships when your at sea.

You should watch some tours on YouTube of those ships, it is a big difference. Entertainment and things to do will be very different from what you may be used to/expecting. Unless people on board are really participating in the games going on, even those can be quite dull.

[Bestcee]

It depends on your goal for the Panama Canal. 

Do you want to go through the canal on the cruise ship? You are limited to Brilliance, Radiance, and Serenade because of the size of the ships. There's the bridge to America's (I think that's the name) and the actual locks that limit the size of cruise ships. If I recall correctly, the 3 RCL ships above, are at the max to be able to transverse the canal. There's a chart out there that shows the biggest ships allowed on the old locks and the new locks.

The alternate is to look at a cruise that starts or stops in Panama City or Colon and then you can do an excursion to the canal. You may find bigger ships that do that part because they don't go through the locks. 

You will also find limited itineraries with the Panama Canal because RCL typically only uses the Canal for repositioning cruises - moving ships to Alaska for summer, or to Caribbean for Winter. The nice part is you are pretty much guaranteed to go since Royal has to move that ship for the season. With partial transit ships, you run a higher risk of cancellation due to Panama Canal restrictions, like last year's water shortage. 

Other cruise lines, like Princess, have more canal options. 

We are headed out in this cruise on Brilliance soon. I'm excited for the smaller ship, since I hated Oasis - too big, too many people, and not enough ocean views*. 

 

*Laugh if you want, look at the windjammer ocean view on Brilliance compared to the limited ocean view on Oasis where you really just see the sports court. 

[Nick560]

I appreciate all the responses everyone. Any reason why RCL has such small ships going through there? I just looked at Celebrity and they have their newer ships going through the panama canal. Wondering why Celebrity can get their bigger ships through there but not RCL. The wife and I have only cruised on RCL lol so we are very hesitant on going with another cruise line. Even though Celebrity is RCL, it just looks like a different vibe.

[ZootTX]

33 minutes ago, Nick560 said:

I appreciate all the responses everyone. Any reason why RCL has such small ships going through there? I just looked at Celebrity and they have their newer ships going through the panama canal. Wondering why Celebrity can get their bigger ships through there but not RCL. The wife and I have only cruised on RCL lol so we are very hesitant on going with another cruise line. Even though Celebrity is RCL, it just looks like a different vibe.

Besides the fact that most of the newer ships cannot fit through the Canal, Royal Caribbean as a cruise line heavily markets itself as a family cruise line and Canal cruises aren't in super high demand with that class of cruiser. 

Honestly, if it were just me and the wife I'd probably take Celebrity over Royal!

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, Nick560 said:

I appreciate all the responses everyone. Any reason why RCL has such small ships going through there? I just looked at Celebrity and they have their newer ships going through the panama canal. Wondering why Celebrity can get their bigger ships through there but not RCL. The wife and I have only cruised on RCL lol so we are very hesitant on going with another cruise line. Even though Celebrity is RCL, it just looks like a different vibe.

I believe that Celebrity's newest and biggest ships match that of Freedom Class. The Panama Canal doesn't seem to be popular enough to warrant taking a Freedom class ship from more populated itineraries. Celebrity has imho always been about destinations as opposed to ship amenities. I think since Royal is a family-friendly/ ship-is-the-destination type line; they would rather use classes with less bells and whistle on less popular routes. 

[Nick560]

1 hour ago, ZootTX said:

Besides the fact that most of the newer ships cannot fit through the Canal, Royal Caribbean as a cruise line heavily markets itself as a family cruise line and Canal cruises aren't in super high demand with that class of cruiser. 

Honestly, if it were just me and the wife I'd probably take Celebrity over Royal!

We actually do not have any kids lol, sometimes all the kids running rampant on RCL ships can get annoying at times, but all in all on our 2 cruises, we have never really had any issues. I am honestly scared to try any other cruise line as we've had an absolute blast on Royal. Celebrity does look like a nice cruise line, it just seems very elegant in design. I only started looking at the Panama Canal itinerary as people have said its a cruisers must do, and its on peoples bucket lists.

[steverk]

3 hours ago, Nick560 said:

I appreciate all the responses everyone. Any reason why RCL has such small ships going through there? I just looked at Celebrity and they have their newer ships going through the panama canal. Wondering why Celebrity can get their bigger ships through there but not RCL. The wife and I have only cruised on RCL lol so we are very hesitant on going with another cruise line. Even though Celebrity is RCL, it just looks like a different vibe.

Royal has 8 ships capable of fitting through the old locks on the canal. They are the Vision and Radiance class. Radiance is Panamax, which means it is the largest ship that can go through the old locks.

Some cruise lines that are neo-panamax. Meaning they can fit through the new locks. Celebrity is one of those lines. However,  none of Royal's current fleet will fit through the new locks (unless you count the Vision and Radiance class)

It has been speculated that the Discovery class will fit through the new locks. But that's just speculation at this point. 

[twangster]

Royal like to have stuff hang outside the profile of the ship.  Lifeboats for example and often an outdoor promenade deck as another example on Voyager and Freedom class. 

This approach allows them to maximize internal volume for guest spaces.

Unfortunately the PC has a limit on the height of any protrusion on a ship.  Otherwise such stuff hanging off a ship would damage things around the lock such as light poles, handrails, etc.  There is also the potential for said protrusions to be ripped off as a ship lowers in a lock.    If the promenade deck on Freedom that hangs over the side of the ship around the dining room was torn off as the ship lowered in a lock, the debris would fall into the lock closing the lock until they could bring in a crane to remove it.  

While many people focus on the height of the ship, the design of the lower areas are equally important.   

If you look at Edge class or NCL Breakaway Plus class the lifeboats are stored within the side profile of the ship.  The davits that hold the lifeboats also do not extend over the side profile of the ship.  This allows the side profile of the ship to be clean but it means the lifeboats consume what could otherwise be internal space.   

Quantum class has the davits that support the lifeboats on small platforms that extend beyond the side profile of the ship.  They protrude just a little but they protrude nonetheless.

Gross tonnage is actually a measure of internal volume, not weight as many people think.  By hanging the lifeboats so they protrude off the side of the ship Royal can maximize internal volume, gross tonnage, and claim the biggest ships but it comes at the cost of being denied access to the Panama Canal.  

Vision and Radiance class were built to the original Panamax standard so they are designed with all this in mind.  

[Phillip Diamond Plus]

Panama Canal restrictions: 

I  am completely ignorant on the subject but:

Dimensions Limits of the Panama Canal now after the expansion are listed as:  Ships as long as 1,200' and as wide as 160'9" . 

After looking up Royal Caribbean Ships dimensions, I really don't understand  why Oasis and Quantum ships can not fit through the canal? 

Does anyone with better knowledge than me, know the answer to this? Also, I don't know how much wider the lifeboats make the ships. And does the height of the ship matter for going through the canal. 

    Sorry, for my ignorance, but I am interested in the possibility of the larger Royal Caribbean ships being able to transverse the canal.

[TXcruiser33]

I agree, the Panama Canal is a "must" at some point for cruisers!

We did it several years ago on our first (and probably last) HAL cruise. We booked it for the itinerary, not necessarily the ship, which is often how we decide.

We loved the cruise! It was a great experience going thru the locks, seeing Panama City, etc. then we had several other ports too.

We didn't love the ship tho. Very much an older, more sedate crowd, very little entertainment at all. We're 60-something couple who like to have a little fun, and we felt out of place with the other passengers. Having said that, tho, I would consider another HAL cruise if the itinerary was right!

We're pretty loyal to Royal, but about to try our first and second Celebrity cruises - back to back! Excited to try something new.

Every cruise is a good cruise in my book. Some are just better than others.

[Phillip Diamond Plus]

UH - OH    NOW I AM SEEING DIFFERENT SHIP SIZES ON OTHER SITES.  SO DOES ANYONE KNOW THE REAL DIMENSIONS OF THE ROYAL CARIBBEAN SHIPS ; AND, WHICH ROYAL CARIBBEAN SHIPS WILL FIT THROUGH THE EXPANDED CANAL?

[steverk]

3 hours ago, Phillip Diamond Plus said:

UH - OH    NOW I AM SEEING DIFFERENT SHIP SIZES ON OTHER SITES.  SO DOES ANYONE KNOW THE REAL DIMENSIONS OF THE ROYAL CARIBBEAN SHIPS ; AND, WHICH ROYAL CARIBBEAN SHIPS WILL FIT THROUGH THE EXPANDED CANAL?

Not sure of all dimensions,  but Royal doesn't have any ships that are sized for the new locks. Celebrity does, but Royal does not 

[Eyeonhevn]

We sailed on Brilliance Florida to California through Panama Canal and it was the most amazing adventure for me! The entertainment was "ok" but that wasn't why we took the cruise. Not sure of the dimension limitations but perhaps its also related to weight and such as the ships use the locks - and the pricing to traverse the canal for the cruise lines seems to depend on the number of people on board (or perhaps some other element I've forgotten). The length of the trip was amazing (14 days) and it was a leisurely, many days at sea - adventure of a lifetime for us!

[twangster]

8 hours ago, Phillip Diamond Plus said:

UH - OH    NOW I AM SEEING DIFFERENT SHIP SIZES ON OTHER SITES.  SO DOES ANYONE KNOW THE REAL DIMENSIONS OF THE ROYAL CARIBBEAN SHIPS ; AND, WHICH ROYAL CARIBBEAN SHIPS WILL FIT THROUGH THE EXPANDED CANAL?

It's more complicated than mere dimensions.

There is also the matter of the Bridge of the Americas.  

More importantly the nature of the hull and sides of the ship matter as well.

Royal likes to hang lifeboats off the sides of the ship.  They also have things like promenade decks that wrap around the ship outside of the hull in places.   

Imagine such a deck or lifeboat protruding from the side of the ship as the ship lowers in a lock until this lifeboat or deck makes contact with the top of the lock walls, or things like light poles mounted on the ground beside a lock.  

If you look at the largest cruise ships that have gone through the new locks, namely NCL Breakaway Plus class, they have smooth sides, their lifeboats stow within the side profile of the ship.  

I have heard that once an exception was made that allowed a non-conforming cruise ship with protrusions to use the Panama Canal but it was risky and dangerous.  If something had broken off the ship as it lowered and fallen into the lock they would have to cease operations, drain the lock and remove the debris.  For the Panama Canal operators it's not worth the risk.  They'd lose millions of dollars.  

In this photo you can see a deck extension welded to the side of the ship that supports the lifeboats and jogging track.  

Imagine the ship lowering as if the water level dropped to the point that platform supports reached the pier.  As the ship continues to lower that platform would snap off and buckle.  

The Panama Canal has minimum overhang specifications to prevent parts of a ship from damaging the locks, light standards, signage, etc.   Royal builds the new ships this way so they can maximize internal volume for guest areas.  When you stow lifeboats inside the side profile of the ship you consume internal volume reducing real estate for guest venues.  

NCL did just that so that their Breakaway Plus class could use the canal.  That's why these ships have slightly lower gross tonnage compared to Quantum class.  They gave up internal volume (gross tonnage) so they could use the Panama Canal.   

[Eyeonhevn]

That's amazing info Twangster! Super helpful to understanding the limitations. I can attest that from our viewpoint on the Brilliance while we were in the locks on both ends, there was VERY LITTLE space between the ship and the edge of the locks - with the locomotives pulling us forward into the next lock. It was a mere foot at times - all managed manually as people on the locks and vehicles maneuvered us through. It was fascinating!

[Pattycruise]

Photos taken while on Deck 5 of Radiance going through the Panama Canal 

[Pattycruise]

Photos of the oversized ships…they cannot fit through the old locks

[Surrounded by water.]

Gone through the Panama Canal on a Radiance class ship. I can attest that there is very little room for a larger ship in the old Canal. The new canal looks far less interesting to transit. Less locks.
We sat in the colony club as we went down the locks and it was amazing, the mule operator, which is the tug that holds the boat in position as it goes down the locks we could actually wave with him. I offered him a give him a beer as we were all standing at the window having one. His reaction was on point. Wanted to go up on the deck and try and toss one, the wife was the party pooper on that thought. She said she wouldn’t visit me in Panama if I got kicked off.