Panama Canal Port Fees

[jrabbit]

When we did our EBPC in 2008 I was told by a cast member that DCL paid nearly $450,000 in fees for the ship to go through the canal. I have no idea what it might be today. ....

I've heard that the fee is now well north of a Million. Maybe as high as 2,500,000

But in doing some research - and finding a 2016 pricing sheet for the Panama Canal fees, I can only come up with a maximum of $525,000 (this is using the Gross Tonnage of 80,000 for the Wonder - however this measurement IS different for the Panama Canal - and I have no Idea what that number would be. I could get an estimate based upon the area in cubic feet of a 967 foot long triangle that 120 feet tall(?) feet tall and 105 feet wide ).

I assume that there are other fees associated with passenger ships and a guaranteed transit start time (at least $35,000).

There might be (probably are) additional / separate fees for the Pilots, tugs, etc.

 

[GPaLarry]

On our EBPC, our last stop before the canal was Acapulco. We were 45 minutes late leaving port because a DCL excursion bus had a flat. The captain just about laid rubber to get underway and head south to get in the queue for the canal. I imagine the cost of being late in line was motivation enough.
The high cost to go through today is probably to help pay for the wider canal, perhaps fancier locks and more animatronic monkeys (long shot here) in the jungles. We hit six ports. It appears that canal cruises new are cutting down on these stops. One place we hit was Aruba, a really cool port with many iguanas.
In any case, the cruise was awesome and truly historic.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am doing a partial transit on Princess in January. I will ask the lecturer if there’s a difference in that cruise’s costs.

 

[mmouse37]

In 2015 the PC canal cost was about close to 1/2 million according to Puckett.

MJ

 

[princessmommyx3]

I was on the Wonder earlier this year for the PC cruise that was the first one through the new locks. Captain Puckett talked about the fee for the canal transit in one of his lectures. He estimated that it cost our sailing $900,000 - $1,000,000 to go through. I wish I had taken notes but I didn't and I can't remember all of the details that he shared other than the fact that there is a %10 increase in cost in order to enter the canal at a specific time in the morning vs. waiting and going through whenever they tell you to.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I was on the Wonder earlier this year for the PC cruise that was the first one through the new locks. Captain Puckett talked about the fee for the canal transit in one of his lectures. He estimated that it cost our sailing $900,000 - $1,000,000 to go through. I wish I had taken notes but I didn't and I can't remember all of the details that he shared other than the fact that there is a %10 increase in cost in order to enter the canal at a specific time in the morning vs. waiting and going through whenever they tell you to.

YOWZA!

 

[ohMom]

I was on that first WBPC through the new locks, and I remember it being just south of 1 million...now that was Capt Puckett's math, Disney was not releasing the exact amount. But Capt Puckett knows what he speaks of.

That said, the PC cruise was an absolute fab vaca!!! Still with the port fees being so high, overall the cost was very reasonable averaged over 14 days IMO. the cost does seem to be climbing though