Around 225 cruise vessel transits are expected in the Panama Canal’s 2024-25 cruise season.
The season officially started on 7th October, 2024, with the northbound transit of the ‘Brilliance of the Seas’, sailing on a 15-day itinerary from Los Angeles to New Orleans, according to the canal authority.
Albano Aguilar, at the authority’s Office of Corporate Affairs, said: “An increase in transits is expected this fiscal year, due to the continued demand for vacation experiences, which still shows no signs of slowing down.”
“Crossing from one ocean to the other through a fast and safe route like the Panama Canal is also a great attraction for the cruise industry, because of the wonder that our operation represents,” added Panama Canal Administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez Morales.
“Last year we served more than 200 cruise ship transits, with tourists from various parts of the world, who included the Canal transit as part of their travel itineraries. We are very excited about the start of this cruise season and the experiences that thousands of tourists will have,” he said.
This season, major cruise lines, such as Norwegian, Carnival, and Royal Caribbean will continue to offer full and partial Panama Canal transits, while smaller ships such as PONANT’s ‘Le Bellot’ and ‘National Geographic Quest’ are also scheduled.
Fourteen cruise ships, including ‘World Explorer’, ‘Sapphire Princess’ and ‘Queen Anne’, will transit for the first time.
This season, 54 Neo-panamax passenger vessels are expected to transit the Canal, including nine of the largest, such as the ‘Norwegian Bliss’, ‘Joy’ and ‘Encore’.
Inaugural transits of other Neo-panamax ships, include the ‘Sapphire Princess’, ‘Crown Princess’, ‘Queen Anne’, ‘Grand Princess’ and ‘Nieuw Statendam’.
During the 2022-23 season, the canal played host to 210 Panamax and 41 Neo-panamax cruise transits. For the 2023-24 season (through July), 201 transits were recorded, including 42 Neo-panamax vessels.
The Canal’s annual cruise season runs from October to May.
