New ship rumors afloat & well!!!

[Señor Ferrari]

Cruise ships are generally only in Alaska from May until September, but the on the early and late cruises, it can be pretty cold, highs in the 40's, maybe. Many ships that spend time in Alaska have a retractable roof to cover the pool. During the summer, it does get hot enough to swim, but you're right, overall it's a different kind of cruise. Most every ship which sails in Alaska during the summer repositions in the fall, which is when alot of the trans-canal sailings happen. You'll also see a lot of Vancouver-to-Hawaii sailings, followed by Hawaii-to-LA (via Ensenada) as the ships reposition to the south and/or to the Caribbean.

 

[taswira]

They could also use the pool areas for other activities - like when they make a deck cover for the Sailaway Party, etc. Just because people might not be swimming doesn't mean the pool areas can't be utilized.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

Originally posted by Hopkins

The actual term is PanaMax ships. Ships that are built to the maximum and still be able to fit thru the Panama Canal. I read or heard that somewhere, but not sure if the spelling is all in capitals or what.

Thanks, Hopkins. I learned something new today. The point I was making was that the Magic, Wonder, and <i>most</i> of the cruise ships currently in operation are <b><i>PanaMax</i></b> (using the term I just learned).

Originally posted by Señor Ferrari

The Canal's Website lists the maximum dimensions for ships as:

Length - 965 ft.
Beam - 106 ft.
Draft - 39.5 ft

...the locks themselves are 1000 ft. long, 110 ft. wide, and 83 ft. deep.

That's the site I got the lock dimensions from, and I erroneously assumed that the maximum vessel dimensions equaled the minimum lock dimensions. Gracias for the clarification, Señor.