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Zoom your map way out and Panama looks like a small sliver of land, so a trip through its famous canal is a quickie, right? But not so fast — traversing the canal actually takes at least 20 hours! Cruise the Panama Canal and enjoy a zoomed-in real-life look at perhaps last century’s greatest engineering achievement… along with its surrounding lush, verdant lands. This testament to human audacity joins the Pacific and Caribbean in the most direct way possible, and is worth making a leisurely part of your vacation. Even better, Panama Canal cruises call at Central American ports along the canal like Limón and Cartagena… plus at Caribbean island hotspots along the way. You’ll get to explore the local beaches and culture while heading to or from one of the greatest man-made marvels in the world. Cruises through the Panama Canal promise one legendary trip.

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Panama Canal Cruises

Set sail with princess® – the best panama canal cruise line.

We’re the number one cruise line sailing to this bucket list destination, and as awe-inspiring as it is to travel through one of Condé Nast Traveler’s 7 Cruise Wonders of the World, we’ll help you explore equally fascinating places along the way. So stretch out on a Caribbean beach, admire the pristine rainforests, stroll the cobbled streets of colonial towns and journey through the fabled Panama Canal with Princess.

Watch Panama Canal cruise video: Panama Canal video

From the East Coast Roundtrip Ft. Lauderdale

• Roundtrip from Ft. Lauderdale
• Experience a partial transit of the Panama Canal New Locks
• Visit the pristine beaches of the Caribbean and explore the lush rainforests of Costa Rica

Ocean to Ocean Between Atlantic & Pacific Oceans

• Sail from the East Coast to the West Coast or vice versa. Cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles or San Francisco, or cruise from either of those two West Coast cities to Florida.
• Ideal itinerary for those who want to experience a full transit of the Panama Canal
• Transit all three sets of locks

Princess® MedallionClass®

Explore destinations easily on a MedallionClass vacation. Taking in balcony or top deck views, and don’t want to move? Order drinks that find you. Want to make the most of your time away? Design each perfect day with our interactive activity planner. Hate to wait when boarding or disembarking in port? Choose your preferred arrival window and make gangway reservations. Enjoy more time to connect with the places you sail.

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Why Princess is the #1 Panama Canal Cruise Line

The Leader in the Panama Canal Cruise Ports

From ships custom built to sail the massive locks to immersive onboard programs and onshore adventures that inspire, Princess is the number one way to explore this epic phenomenon. We've sailed the Panama Canal since 1967 and we have more itinerary choices and departures of any cruise line in the region.

Learn more about Panama Canal cruise ports

Photo: View of locks from the ship

Destination Immersion

We craft our Panama Canal itineraries to enrich our guests' experiences to provide the most exposure to this bucket-list destination. You'll be enchanted by Spanish and Dutch cities dating back centuries, as well as diverse tropical rainforests, white-sand beaches, dramatic volcanoes and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. And Princess provides live narration from the bridge while transiting the locks, just one reason we were voted "Best Cruise Line for Enrichment" by Cruise International .

Photo: Las Bovedas in Cartagena, Colombia

Abundant Adventures Ashore

Each voyage offers a myriad of experiences and cultures. There is something for every type of explorer in this culturally diverse region. Choose from immersive excursions such as exploring the engineering mastery of the Canal, trekking through surrounding rainforests, visiting local villages and relaxing on the pristine beaches of the Caribbean.

Learn more about Panama Canal cruise excursions

Photo: Old City in Cartagena, Colombia

Panama Canal Cruise Articles and Videos

2023-2024 Panama Canal Cruises

Sail through a man-made marvel. Discover Panama Canal with Princess Cruises.

San Juan del Sur Excursions: A Volcanic Adventure in Nicaragua

Have a volcanic adventure during San Juan del Sur excursions from Princess Cruises. Nicaragua excursions show you dynamic landscapes and exotic wildlife.

Top Five Panama Canal Shore Excursions and Attractions

From walking the ruins of Old Panama to a tram ride through Soberania National Park, you'll come back enriched and enlightened from your Panama Canal cruise.

Try These 6 Panamanian Foods on Your Panama Canal Cruise

Taste your way through the diverse culinary culture of Panama on your Panama Canal cruise with Princess.

Costa Rica Excursions: Something for Everyone

Partake in a Costa Rica excursion for a Caribbean adventure with Princess Cruises. There's something for everyone on Costa Rica shore excursions.

Panama Cruises Trivia: 5 Facts You Should Know About The Panama Canal

Test your knowledge of facts about the Panama Canal with Princess Cruises.

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Let Princess Get You There

Cruise Plus Hotel Packages

Add peace of mind and a sense of security to your vacation with a Cruise Plus® Hotel Package. Give yourself a few days to relax either before or after your Panama Canal cruise and take in the sights of a sensational city. Princess handles all the details – including transfers and baggage handling – with accommodations selected for their incredible locations and excellent service.

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Panama Canal Cruises

A thrilling Panama Canal crossing is an unforgettable experience. Gain a deeper understanding of the impressive engineering behind the 48-mile-long Panama Canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific. Then continue your Viking journey to the heart of the Caribbean & Central America.

Panama Canal & Central America

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Classic Panama Canal Passage

Panama Canal & the Pacific Coast

NEW! West Indies & Panama Canal Passage

NEW! Caribbean & Panama Canal

Highlights of panama canal cruises.

Discover the “Path Between the Seas” as you traverse mighty locks en route to historic Panama City or the shimmering Caribbean Sea. Beyond the Canal, discover the native Emberá tribe’s rich culture and sample Puerto Rico’s favorite dishes. On a regional ocean voyage, you can find:

• The Panama Canal’s forest-lined waterway and Gatun Lake
• Capuchin and howler monkeys gliding through mahogany trees
• Soaring pyramids and temples of Chichén Itzá
• Fascinating Mayan ruins at Belize’s Altun Ha
• Deep sea sportfishing for the catch of the day
• Colorful Caribbean marine life by snorkel, scuba or kayak
• Local aged rum from Montego Bay
• Lush, picturesque rainforests of Costa Rica
• The world’s only seaside travertine waterfalls, Dunn’s River Falls
• Key West’s old Bahamian-style homes and Spanish-influenced Victorian mansions

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Panama Canal Cruises

Experience the engineering wonder that is the Panama Canal

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Cruise through the Panama Canal

Marvel at the engineering wonder of the Panama Canal on our stunningly redesigned Celebrity Summit and on one of our newest vessels in the fleet, Celebrity Beyond. 

Sailing through the engineering masterpiece that connects the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean is a bucket-list event on its own, but along the way you’ll also visit other exciting tropical destinations steeped in culture, history, and natural beauty. Explore the breathtaking beaches of Cabo San Lucas, the colorful colonial architecture of Cartagena, the thriving jungles of Costa Rica, and more.

On your Panama Canal cruise, venture deep into the Panamanian rain forest, meet the locals, and learn the inner workings of the fascinating Panama Canal’s locks. Take an Eco Cruise on Lake Gatun and explore island habitats created during the Canal’s building. Uncover legends of pirates and conquistadors among the ruins of Panama Viejo.

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Discover the Panama Canal With Us

Start off a breathtaking vacation in the Caribbean and South America. Fall in love with the romantic streets and flower-strewn balconies of Cartagena. Sail down the engineering marvel of the Panama Canal and visit a sprawling rainforest preserve in Colon. Take a swim in the warm, turquoise waters of Aruba, go snorkeling at Bonaire’s vibrant Bari Reef, and view magnificent stalactites and stalagmites inside Curacao’s Hato Caves.

Panama Canal Cruise Highlights

Hike up to an active volcano. Raft one of the many rivers. Scuba dive in its beautiful seas, or zip along a cable through the rainforest tree tops. There are so many adventure sports such as kayaking, rafting, rappelling, and horseback riding.

Casco Viejo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offers streets lined with old architecture plus modern amenities like restaurants and shops. The best historical structures are the churches, including the Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, dating from 1619, and the Iglesia de San Jose, noted for its vaulted side chapels and golden altar. 

Natural Beauty

Central America has breathtaking natural areas, perfect for spotting wildlife or hitting the trails. In fact, more than 25% of Costa Rica is protected land or national parks. With more than 900 species of birds in this region, bird watchers can be sure to check the Resplendent Quetzal off their list.

Featured Panama Canal Destinations

Panama, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia, Grand Cayman—you can explore many distinctive destinations on one luxurious vacation.

Panama Canal (Cruising)

This wonder of engineering, first conceived and built over 100 years ago, has changed the shipping and tourism industries. It has brought us all closer and made the world simpler to navigate by allowing an easier flow of goods and people.

Cartagena, Colombia

Founded as an important Spanish port in 1533, the Old Town of Cartagena de Indias—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—remains largely intact behind high stone walls that peer out over the Caribbean. Truly, one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Puerto Vallarta maintains a small-town atmosphere, while still boasting one of the most unique and sophisticated ocean fronts in Mexico. The calm, warm waters of the Bay of Banderas make for excellent diving, or you can just watch artists sculpt spectacular creations in the sand. The fine art galleries in El Centro are perfect spots to explore local art.

Similar to the Panama Canal Region

If you like the natural beauty, the music, and the rich culture of the Panama Canal region, you may enjoy visiting these similar destinations.

Baja Mexico

South America

Central America

Panama Canal Departure Ports

Fort lauderdale, florida.

Fort Lauderdale has white sandy beaches, endless shopping on Las Olas Boulevard, and the Atlantic Ocean that welcomes you to swim year-round. For nature lovers, head to Hugh Taylor Birch State Park for trails and biking or travel inland to Everglades National Park for an airboat tour, complete with alligator and egret sightings. Beat the heat with a trip to the Museum of Science and Discovery in downtown Fort Lauderdale, where kids and adults can learn something new.

San Diego, California

San Diego is blessed with a year-round Mediterranean climate, which only adds to the attraction of its 70 miles of beaches and outdoor activities. Before embarking on a cruise from San Diego, make sure to allow extra time to explore—from paragliding and kayaking to Legoland and the San Diego Zoo. The superb dining options are endless throughout this city, too. Head over to Liberty Public Market to sample a variety of foods like empanadas, Thai, and freshly baked pastries.

Amazing Shore Excursions

Discover the rhythms, flavors, and exquisite natural beauty of the Panama Canal and Central America on a wide array of shore excursions.

Exploration

Keep an eye out for monkeys and sloths as a covered boat takes you deep into the Costa Rican jungle or view from an aerial tram. Grab a paddle and ride the legendary (but kid-friendly) rapids of the Reventazon River. 

Relax & Recharge

Banish busy with a relaxing experience. Spend the day crossing Panama from the Caribbean side to the Pacific side with stops at Panama’s two Smithsonian Research Institutes on each end to learn about these unique environments. 

Panama is one of the most diverse and multi-cultural countries in Central America. Tucked between Colombia and Costa Rica, it’s known for its indigenous arts, woodworking, mola embroidery, and pottery. Discover ancient ruins, breathtaking architecture, and beautiful rainforests.

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Celebrity Beyond℠

The Many Sides Of The Panama Canal

You want it all. Or can’t decide? This region offers vastly different environments to explore—from urban cities to sandy beaches to misty rainforests to engineering marvels. All on one amazing vacation.

Old meets new in modern cities where the treasured elements are honored. The colonial walled city of Cartagena and Colon are two places you’ll want to visit on a Panama Canal cruise.

Sunny sanctuaries await at some of the world’s best beaches. Pack your bag for Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Exhale and enjoy.

Rainforests

Panama, Guatemala, and Costa Rica offer some of the world’s most dense rainforests perfect for exploring in new landscapes, fiery volcanos, ancient Mayan ruins, and local wildlife. 

Helpful Tips Before You Go

Just a few things to remember:

• Pack your camera
• Pack sunscreen, a bathing suit, sunglasses, and bug repellant
• Call your bank to let them know the countries you will be visiting 
• Turn on your international cellular service plan 
• Have your documents protected and photocopied 
• Research the ports and check the weather to pack properly
• Book  Flights by Celebrity® to be protected in case of any cancellations 
• Research the shore excursions and book them in advance, pre-cruise. The popular shore excursions sell out fast.

The Best Time to Book a Cruise - Secrets Out!

Why your next all-inclusive mexico vacation should be on a cruise, cruise through the panama canal for these destinations, view all panama canal cruise vacation itineraries.

12 best Panama Canal cruises for a bucket-list trip

A Panama Canal transit is a rite of passage for many cruise lovers. Experiencing this marvel of early 20th-century engineering appeals to those with a wide array of interests, from history and politics to colonial architecture and wildlife spotting. Built by the U.S. government between 1903 and 1914, this 50-mile waterway linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans revolutionized shipping by creating an expedited route for the transit of cargo and, ultimately, cruise ship passengers.

Panama Canal itineraries are offered by almost every cruise line. Thanks to a 2016 canal expansion project, a third set of locks can now accommodate larger vessels. It's possible to cruise the Panama Canal on ships of all sizes (from 148 guests to more than 3,000) on itineraries that range from a week in the sun to a six-month world cruise.

Some ships sail a full transit of the canal, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa. These one-way journeys between Miami or Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles or San Diego, visits ports in Central America, South America, Mexico and California.

Others sail only a partial transit, entering the locks from the Atlantic and cruising into Lake Gatun before turning around and exiting again. These itineraries, sailing round-trip from Florida ports, combine the canal experience with island-hopping in the Caribbean.

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The array of options means that a Panama Canal cruise experience is possible even if you're short on time or have a limited budget — and chances are high that your favorite cruise line offers one or more itineraries. Most sailings attract couples, typically retirees, but if the timing is right a Panama Canal cruise can also be a great multi-generational experience.

Here are a dozen of the best Panama Canal cruises to consider.

Holland America's 14- to 16-day Panama Canal cruises

Holland America offers a variety of Panama Canal cruises , but the most popular itineraries span 14 to 16 days. They offer a full transit between Fort Lauderdale and San Diego, or vice versa, and are offered on multiple ships, including Zaandam, Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam and Volendam. These sailings call on Cartagena, Colombia; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; Huatulco and Puerto Vallarta or Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Who should go: Holland America ships sailing a full transit are popular with retired couples who appreciate the cruise line's consistency and good value. All four ships accommodate between 1,432 and 2,106 passengers and offer signature onboard experiences that include the Greenhouse Spa and the BBC Earth in Concert multimedia performance. The larger Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam feature additional specialty dining options, such as Tamarind and Nami Sushi, as well as B.B. King's Blues Club, Lincoln Center Stage and Billboard Onboard.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises' 16-night Los Angeles to Miami cruise

Regent Seven Seas Cruises ' newest ship, Seven Seas Grandeur, debuts in November 2023 and its first two Panama Canal itineraries in early 2024 are already waitlisted. For those planning ahead, the 16-night Miami to Los Angeles (Dec. 13-29, 2024) and 16-night Los Angeles to Miami (Jan. 8-23, 2025) transits offer luxurious all-inclusive pampering, plus port calls in Ensenada, Cabo San Lucas and Acapulco, Mexico; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; Corinto, Nicaragua; Panama City, Panama; Cartagena, Colombia; and George Town, Grand Cayman.

Who should go: This itinerary can be a wonderful splurge for a couple seeking to celebrate a milestone anniversary or birthday in a memorable way on a luxurious new ship. Prices start at a hefty $10,399 per person for a spacious balcony suite, but they also include airfare, transfers, gratuities, dining and beverages, Wi-Fi and shore excursions — meaning you'll hardly have any other vacation expenses.

Related: The 8 best luxury cruise lines for elegance and exclusivity

Celebrity Cruises' 11-night Panama Canal & Southern Caribbean cruise

For a Panama Canal experience that begins and ends in Fort Lauderdale, Celebrity Cruises ' 11-night Panama Canal & Southern Caribbean itinerary is a great option. There's plenty of time to plan ahead for the Dec. 2, 2024 cruise or the half-dozen almost identical sailings that follow through March 2025. All sailings are aboard the new 3,260-guest Celebrity Beyond and visit Cartagena, Colombia; Colon, Panama; Oranjestad, Aruba; Kralendjik, Bonaire; and George Town, Grand Cayman (Willemstad, Curacao replaces Grand Cayman on some 2025 sailings).

Who should go: Celebrity Beyond and its Edge-series sister ships appeal to Millennials, Gen Xers and young-at-heart Boomers who appreciate innovative design, entertainment and dining options. The ships are geared toward couples or groups of friends, but families with older teens might also enjoy the onboard vibe. There are no splash pools or waterslides for younger kids, although calls on three Caribbean islands offer aquatic fun.

Windstar Cruises' 7-night Costa Rica & Panama Canal cruise

To explore the Panama Canal region in a relaxed manner aboard an intimate motorized sailing yacht, check out Windstar Cruises' 7-night Costa Rica & Panama Canal itinerary aboard the 148-guest Wind Star. Bookable on more than two dozen dates in 2023, 2024 and 2025, the itinerary takes guests from Colon, Panama to Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica (or vice versa). The ship will transit the canal and visit Panama City and Isla Parida in Panama, plus Golfo Dolce and Quepos (for Manuel Antonio National Park) in Costa Rica.

Who should go: Fans of small-ship cruising who enjoy a casual onboard ambiance, are interested in nature and wildlife and wish to sample the regional flavors of Central America should consider a Windstar cruise . All accommodations are in snug yet well-designed staterooms with windows, but no balconies. Wind Star is a cozy and social four-deck ship featuring a pool and pool bar, a lounge and two restaurants.

Related: Big vs. small cruise ships: Which will I like better?

Silversea's 31-day New York to Lima cruise

Silversea Cruises ' indulgent 31-day New York to Lima sailing aboard its newest ship, 728-guest Silver Nova features a Panama Canal transit in the middle of the trip. The one-way itinerary departs New York City in November and visits Bermuda and multiple sunny Caribbean islands — Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Barth's, St. Kitts, Antigua, Martinique, St. Lucia, Barbados, Bequia, Grenada, Curacao and Aruba — and Cartagena, Colombia before transiting the canal to call on ports in Ecuador (Manta) and Peru (Salaverry and Lima).

Who should go: Silversea's clientele is mostly mature couples with a luxury mindset and an appreciation for elevated dining with a strong regional focus. They also appreciate the cruise line's all-inclusive ease. A month-long itinerary such as this is likely to attract retirees seeking an extended warm-weather escape.

Related: The 10 best cruises for couples seeking romance and together time at sea

Carnival Cruise Line's 8-day Panama Canal cruise from Tampa

Experiencing the Panama Canal doesn't have to be time-consuming or budget-busting. Carnival Cruise Line 's 8-day Panama Canal from Tampa itinerary offers a round-trip, partial-transit sailing aboard the 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride with port calls in Limon, Costa Rica and George Town, Grand Cayman—beginning at under $900 per person.

With four pools (including an adults-only aft Serenity Pool), a WaterWorks aqua park, Camp Ocean kids club and seven restaurants, the ship offers enough diversions for sea-day fun, even at half the size of Carnival's newest megaships.

Who should go: Carnival's action-packed ships and affordable cruise fares appeal to families, friends and couples of all ages who enjoy a lively onboard ambiance and casual complimentary dining options (including a Guy Fieri burger venue).

Related: Best cruise lines for families

Seabourn's 21-day Caribbean & Panama Canal Passage

For a one-way Panama Canal transit that visits six countries (Aruba, Curacao, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico) and offers six relaxing and luxurious days at sea, consider Seabourn 's 21-day Caribbean & Panama Canal Passage . The 450-guest Seabourn Sojourn will sail from Miami to Los Angeles in December.

Calls on Golfito and Puntarenas in Costa Rica offer access to eco-adventure. Visits to Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala and Puerto Chiapas and Huatulco in Mexico feature excursions focused on pre-Spanish-colonial culture, coffee cultivation and more, while a call on Cabo San Lucas offers whale-watching, deep-sea fishing or tequila tasting opportunities.

Who should go: Work-from-anywhere entrepreneurs and retirees who enjoy the luxury and refinement of small-ship cruising will enjoy this three-week Panama Canal transit. Seabourn Sojourn pampers its guests with attentive service, elevated cuisine and all-ocean-facing suites featuring walk-in closets and spacious marble bathrooms. Seabourn's all-inclusive cruise fares also cover gratuities and complimentary wines and spirits.

Princess Cruises' 10-day Panama Canal with Costa Rica & Caribbean cruise

While Princess Cruises does offer several longer ocean-to-ocean Panama Canal itineraries — including two in 2023 that transit via the historic locks — its popular 10-day Panama Canal with Costa Rica & Caribbean cruises conveniently sail roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale on more than a dozen dates in 2023 and 2024.

What's more, you can choose from among three ships: 3,140-guest Caribbean Princess or 3,080-guest Ruby Princess and Emerald Princess. In addition to the partial transit, these sailings call on Jamaica and Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, as well as Cartagena, Columbia; Limon, Costa Rica; and Colon, Panama.

Who should go: Couples who enjoy a ship with a more traditional vibe and families with kids who are content to participate in interactive learning activities and nature-based adventure (vs waterslides) will enjoy this cruise. Princess ships are known for their Movies Under the Stars screenings, multiple pools, specialty dining options such as Sabatini's Italian Trattoria and The Salty Dog Gastropub, and Crooners piano bar.

Related: The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Princess Cruises ship

Norwegian Cruise Line's 17-day South America: Peru, Colombia & Chile cruise

There's no "Panama Canal" in this itinerary's name, but Norwegian Cruise Line 's 17-day South America: Peru, Colombia & Chile cruise in January 2024 does a full canal transit (and spends a day in Panama City) as it sails from Miami to Santiago, Chile. The 1,936-guest Norwegian Sun sails to historic Santa Marta and Cartagena in Colombia; Manta, Ecuador; Trujillo, Lima and Pisco in Peru; and Arica and Coquimbo in Chile, before disembarkation in Santiago.

Who should go: Couples and friends interested in experiencing not just a Panama Canal transit but some of the top coastal experiences along the Pacific Coast of South America should choose this itinerary. Norwegian Sun is an older, smaller vessel that was refurbished in 2018 and features a top deck more conducive to sunning than thrill rides. The ship also has a surprising number of restaurants for its size: two main dining rooms, a buffet restaurant, a sports bar and an outdoor grill on a complimentary basis, plus eight specialty dining venues (including Mexican, Italian, French, Japanese and a steakhouse) for an added fee.

Oceania's 16-day Miami to Los Angeles cruise

Following its May debut, Oceania Cruises ' 1,200-guest Vista — the first new-build ship in Oceania's fleet in more than a decade — will offer back-to-back 16-day Miami to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Miami itineraries in October and November. Both sailings visit six countries with port calls that include George Town, Grand Cayman; Cartagena, Colombia; Puntarenas, Costa Rica; Corinto, Nicaragua; Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala; and Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico. (The second sailing visits San Diego instead of Ensenada.)

Who should go: Oceania's newest ship offers a great compromise between a small and medium-size vessel and is ideal for those seeking a premium cruise experience with casual sophistication. Older couples especially will appreciate the ship's elegant stateroom decor in soft hues of wheat and seagrass, mix of grand and intimate spaces and wide array of dining options (including two new venues, Ember for inventive American cuisine and Aquamar Kitchen for wellness-focused breakfast, lunch and dinner). A more immersive mixology program features curated cocktail menus, indulgent pairing experiences and specialty beverage carts.

Related: The 5 best destinations you can visit on an Oceania Cruises ship

Cunard's 29-day Alaska & Panama Canal cruise

Talk about packing for all kinds of weather! Cunard's 29-day Alaska & Panama Canal sailing aboard 2,081-passenger Queen Elizabeth begins in Vancouver on Aug. 7 and explores Alaska for more than a week (visiting Ketchikan, Juneau, Hubbard Glacier, Skagway, Glacier Bay National Park and Sitka). Then the ship heads back south along the U.S. Pacific Coast (stopping in Victoria, Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles) before heading to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Only then will it transit the Panama Canal. The ship makes one Atlantic stop in Aruba before passengers disembark in Fort Lauderdale.

Who should go: British cruise line Cunard appeals mainly to older travelers who savor the line's formal traditions. This cruise is for you if you enjoy afternoon tea, dressing up for dinner, gala evenings and dancing to big-band orchestras. The particular itinerary appeals to retirees who wish to visit a variety of cruise regions in one singular itinerary.

Viking's 180-day World Voyage

For the ultimate cruise indulgence, Viking's 180-day World Voyage I includes a Panama Canal transit (on Christmas Day, no less) as 930-passenger Viking Sky cruises from Fort Lauderdale to New York City (Dec. 19, 2024–June 17, 2025). This round-the-world cruise will visit 37 countries as guests enjoy Viking Sky's modern Scandinavian interior decor, soothing LivNordic Spa, two pools (including one with a retractable roof) and six onboard restaurants. Pricing includes airfare, gratuities and complimentary wine and beer with lunch and dinner.

Who should go: With cruise fares that start at $79,995 per person, this six-month adventure at sea requires a luxury budget. Viking 's base clientele is mostly retired or close-to-retirement-age professionals who enjoy the cruise line's focus on educational enrichment (via onboard lectures) and serene ambiance (there's no casino and the nighttime vibe is on the quiet side).

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Sailing the Panama Canal

For over a century, the Panama Canal has been a vital artery nourishing the world’s economy, with hundreds of passenger ships, cargo ships and tankers sailing through the canal’s original locks every month. The massive engineering feat makes it possible for ships to transit large bodies of water in just hours rather than circumnavigating the entirety of South America to reach their final destination. This man-made marvel is a bucket list item for many world travelers--whether sailing through or exploring on foot, the Panama Canal is one of Panama’s most popular attractions.

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15 Night Panama Canal Cruise

Your ship radiance of the seas.

WANDER THE WORLD OVER

Rock Climbing Wall

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Popular shore excursions, amazing experiences coming soon., day 4: cruising.

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About Panama Canal Cruises

A Panama Canal Cruise is an amazing experience that should not be missed. The canal is a 48 mile long canal that links the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. Cruises through the Panama Canal have varied itineraries. Twice a year in the fall and the spring as the ships reposition between the Caribbean and Alaska cruise lines offer full transit through the canal. These one way cruises sail through all of the canal's impressive locks. In the winter cruise lines offer partial canal cruises. These itineraries sail roundtrip from Florida, pass through the locks before turning around and returning to their originating port after re-entering the canal system on the return trip.

Taking a cruise through the Panama Canal allows travelers to witness first hand this marvel of modern engineering. The canal system is made up of three locks and a series of artificial lakes and canals. As ships pass the locks from the east their elevation is gradually lowered and as they pass the final set of locks, the Gatun locks, the ships ascend an amazing 85 feet bringing them back to sea level. The complete journey takes about 8-10 hours in each direction.

Panama Canal cruise itineraries also include wonderful ports of call in the Caribbean, Central and South America and Mexico. Travelers can explore these different ports and enjoy a number of activities including sightseeing, shopping, watersports, beautiful beaches and friendly people.

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• Back to Back Savings: Save up to $200 Savings when you book a back to back cruise
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Panama canal and central america cruise highlights.

The Panama Canal Locks Panama Canal Cruises are available in a variety of itineraries. Partial transit itineraries are offered for those seeking the convenience of departing from and returning to the same port. Full transit Panama Canal cruises are also offered for those who prefer to sail coast to coast and can often be combined with back to back cruises to create a longer and more diverse cruise experience.

A Variety of Itineraries Panama Canal Cruises are available in a variety of itineraries. Partial transit itineraries are offered for those seeking the convenience of departing from and returning to the same port. Full transit canal cruises are also offered for those who prefer to sail coast to coast. Full transit Panama Canal cruises can often be combined with back to back cruises to create a longer and more diverse cruise experience.

A Variety of Excursion Opportunities A variety of excursion opportunities are offered in the different ports on a Panama Canal cruise. In the Caribbean there are beautiful beaches and a variety of watersports and shopping. In Central and South America guests on a Panama Canal cruise can explore local markets, colonial towns and exotic surroundings.

Diverse Ports In addition to the time spent transiting the canal, the itineraries include diverse ports throughout the region including beautiful Caribbean ports, Central America ports as well as stops in South America and Mexico.

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Royal Caribbean Cruises 60% OFF ALL Guests + Kids Sail FREE + FREE GRATUITIES OR Onboard Credit

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Panama is world-famous for its canal, but that's not all the country has to offer. While crossing the structure is certainly one of the highlights of a cruise in Central America , Panama also has many incredible natural sites of interest, where encounters with wildlife and indigenous communities are sure to forge touching memories.

All about cruises Panama Canal

Panama and Costa Rica by Sea: The Natural Wonders of Central America – with Smithsonian Journeys

Secrets of Central America

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Must-Sees - Panama

What would a Panamanian cruise be without crossing the famous canal? But that's far from the only thing the country has to offer! Natural parks and sandy beaches give this destination a picturesque and exotic quality that contributes to its appeal.

The Essentials - Panama

What are the customs in Panama? How should I behave? What do they eat? Here's some useful information to help you get to know this exotic destination a little better and fully enjoy your Central American cruise.

Miraflores Locks

See the canal in operation and the ships passing from one ocean to the other... From the footbridges of the Miraflores Locks, located on the Pacific Ocean, Panamanian cruise visitors can see the constant flow of ships passing from one coast of the continent to the other. The nearby visitor centre focuses on the history of the canal's construction and also gives visitors the opportunity to have fun as they explore the area's biodiversity and surrounding environment.

Biodiversity is also under the spotlight in architect Frank Gehry's first museum in Latin America. Opened in 2004 and located south of the canal, the Biomuseo highlights the natural and cultural heritage of Panama and its incredible formation three million years ago, taking the place of the Central American sea. A land submerged between two continents, separating the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, the isthmus has influenced the distribution of underwater species, as you can see in the two large aquariums of the museum. It also has had an influence on the exchanges between people and countries for hundreds of years.

Darién National Park

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1981 and the largest protected area in Panama, Darién National Park hosts a wide range of unique flora and fauna. During your Panamanian cruise, you'll be able to get a bit closer to one of the 169 species of mammals and 530 species of birds. Many endemic species have been recorded on the 575,000 hectares of coastline (beaches, creeks, mangroves), plains (rivers, rainforests) and mountains (palm forests) that make up the park. The Darién National Park is also unique due to the incorporation of indigenous populations and their way of life in this protected area. Indigenous peoples such as the Emberá Indians can therefore carry on their traditions on their own land.

Pearl Islands

In the 19 th century, the finest natural pearls brought to Europe were fished from this group of small islands where oysters thrived. Although the pearls have been exhausted, the Pearl Islands have still kept their reputation as an earthly paradise. Visitors adore the white sandy beaches lined with palm trees, schools of fish and turquoise waters attract divers, while beach houses on stilts will enchant you.

San Blas Islands

Situated along the north-east coast of Panama, the San Blas Archipelago's coral islands are spread out in the heart of the Caribbean Sea. More than 300 small islands are spread over a distance of almost 300 kilometres and offer a multitude of treasures. Sheltered behind a long coral reef, the San Blas Islands are teeming with idyllic stopovers one after the other. The long stretches of white sand touched by crystal clear waters allow travellers to relax and admire an incredible marine fauna, before heading off to meet the indigenous Kunas community. Still living through hunting and fishing, they give a warm welcome in their villages at the bamboo houses gathered near the beaches.

Dos. Throughout Central America, regardless of the standard of living, it is recommended to always to be nicely dressed. Don'ts. Haggling is not part of Panama's culture. Don't be offended if someone looks like they're blowing you a kiss: using your lips rather than finger to point at a place, a person, or an object is common in many countries in Central America.

Contrary to popular belief, the Panama hat actually comes from Ecuador, where it popped up around 4,000 BC. It owes its name to canal construction workers who christened it the Panama hat . Visiting the construction site in 1906 wearing one of these hats, US President Theodore Roosevelt also contributed to the hat's international fame.

Sancocho , Panama's national dish, is a tasty stew made with chicken, sweet potato, pumpkin, corn on the cob, onion, garlic, coriander and oregano. It is traditionally served with rice.

Useful phrases

Hello (morning): buenos días. Hello (afternoon/evening): buenas tardes. Hello (informal): ¡hola! Goodbye: hasta luego. Please: por favor. Thank you: gracias. You're welcome, my pleasure: de nada, con mucho gusto. How are you? ¿ Qué pedo ? or ¿ Qué onda ? Very well, thank you; and you? Muy bien, gracias, ¿ y usted ? Excuse me: discúlpeme.

Recommended reading. La Fille de Panama by Jean-Michel Thibaux (Paperback, 2002) tells the story of Louise, a 20-year-old Provençal girl in 1879... Harassed by her uncle, she leaves him for dead and flees to Marseille, where everyone is talking about Panama. She decides to head out to this new world with fake papers. Upon arrival, she discovers the difficult living conditions on the canal construction site, the indigenous populations, and everyday life in sought-after Central America. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1904 , published in 1978. Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough tells the epic tale of this gigantic project. A long history of political moves, medical progress, technical advances, and tragic events is intertwined with the destinies of the women and men caught up in this spiralling tale.

Music. Songwriter, salsa singer, actor, and politician, Rubén Blades has been an icon in Panama since the 1970s. His catchy songs and politically charged lyrics inspired the documentary Rubén Blades is not my name , directed by Abner Benaim in 2018.

Film. When coach Robert Arcel (Robert De Niro) discovers Roberto Durán, he's convinced that the young boxer from Panama will become one of the best of all time. Hands of Stone (Jonathan Jakubowicz, 2016) traces the career of this boxer who reached the pinnacle of the sport, and fought in the ring until he was 50.

In the spotlight

The Darién Children's Foundation supports the indigenous populations of this particularly poor region by implementing nutrition, health, water purification and schooling programmes. Since its launch in 1990, the NGO has contributed to the well-being of more than 60,000 children. www.darien.org.pa

Myths & legends

Goblin-like duendes are part of Panama's popular culture. Legend has it that these domestic demons are between 30 centimetres and a metre tall. According to popular belief, if you upset them, they might get back at you by trashing your house.

2990 . It's the number of kilometres of coastline along the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is easy to understand why the country is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Take full advantage during your Panamanian cruise!

• Colón (Panama)
• Crossing the Panama Canal (Panama)
• Curú Wildlife Refuge (Costa Rica)
• Cébaco Island (Panama)
• Drake Bay (Costa Rica)
• Fort San Lorenzo (Colón) (Panama)
• Fuerte Amador, Flamenco Island (Panama)
• Pacheca Island (Panama)
• Pearls Islands (Panama)
• Playa Muerto, Darien National Park (Panama)
• Puntarenas (Costa Rica)
• Quepos (Costa Rica)
• Rio Esquinas (Costa Rica)
• San Blas Islands (Panama)

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Panama Inaugurates First-of-its-kind Cruise Ship Terminal On Pacific Coast

Panama recently opened a new cruise ship port near the drought-stricken Panama Canal entrance to boost tourism in the Central American country.

The inauguration event on Tuesday marked the facility’s completion in Panama City, built through a collaboration led by the China Harbor Engineering Company.

President Laurentino Cortizo highlighted the terminal’s importance, citing its ability to generate new tourism routes and encourage more visitors to Panama.

The recently inaugurated terminal, costing more than $200 million, is a significant addition, especially as it is the first of its sort on Panama’s Pacific coast.

This strategic location increases the country’s appeal to cruise operators and passengers alike, complementing the current port in the Caribbean city of Colon.

Denise Guillen of the Panama Tourism Authority highlighted the industry’s robust expansion, pointing to a significant increase in cruise ship passengers, which surpassed 320,000 in 2023—more than twice as many as the previous year.

However, the terminal’s launch comes during a difficult period for the Panama Canal, dealing with record-low water levels. This has made it more difficult for ships to navigate the canal, which is a crucial route that handles 6% of all marine trade worldwide.

Ricaurte Vasquez, the canal administrator, expressed hope that regular activities would be restored by next February as efforts to address the water level continue.

Panama’s investment in tourism infrastructure demonstrates a proactive strategy to capitalise on its geographic advantage and promote economic growth.

The opening of the new cruise ship terminal is a strategic move to broaden Panama’s tourism possibilities and draw in a broader range of tourists despite the canal’s current difficulties.

Reference: Hindustan Times

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Panama opens new cruise ship terminal at mouth of canal

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Panama on Tuesday inaugurated a new cruise ship terminal at the mouth of the drought-hit Panama Canal, hoping to attract more tourists to the Central American nation.

The facility in Panama City was built by a consortium led by China Harbor Engineering Company with an investment of more than $200 million, according to President Laurentino Cortizo .

"The cruise terminal will generate new tourist routes... attracting more visitors to our country," Cortizo said at an opening ceremony.

The terminal, which will be able to receive two cruise ships at a time, is the first on Panama's Pacific coast.

Another operates in the Caribbean city of Colon.

Panama received nearly 320,000 visitors on cruise ships in 2023, double the previous year, according to Denise Guillen of the Panama Tourism Authority.

"The growth is exponential," she said.

The opening comes as authorities confront record-low water levels that have limited the number of ships able to transit through the Panama Canal, which usually handles about six percent of global maritime trade.

Canal administrator Ricaurte Vasquez said last week he hoped that traffic would return to normal by next February.

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The Panama Canal averts a crisis for now—but at a cost to drinking water

by Peter Millard, Michael McDonald and Eric Roston, Bloomberg News

The Panama Canal has avoided the worst of a shipping crunch that threatened to upend the global economy—but at a cost to marine life and the Latin American country's supplies of drinking water.

After imposing strict limits on vessel traffic last year as drought left water levels languishing, the Panama Canal Authority is increasing the number of ships that can cross. Thanks to conservation measures , water levels fell just over a foot for the year through March 12, compared with three feet during the same period of 2023.

Those measures, though, come with side effects. The canal recycles water from locks that vessels pass through, instead of simply flushing it into the ocean. This reused water gets saltier, and some of it infiltrates Lake Gatún, an artificial lake that forms part of the channel and is also Panama's largest source of potable supply.

The Panama Canal's challenges highlight how combating climate change carries inevitable tradeoffs. As policymakers take action to limit the effects of global warming, there can be unintended consequences for the environment and the economy. And time is of the essence: Drought is already altering the world's trade flows, creating chokepoints last year on the Mississippi River in the U.S. and the Rhine in Europe.

This year, Panama has had roughly two-thirds of its normal rainfall, said Fred Ogden, a former University of Wyoming civil engineering professor who has done extensive work in the country. Upgrades to the canal have made the situation worse, because new locks opened in 2016 to accommodate bigger ships that require more water.

Climate change means "things are changing at a pace that is basically surprising everyone," Ogden said. The canal expansion has "increased the likelihood of drought restrictions. When you throw a drought on top of that—oh my gosh. What a mess."

The Panama Canal's low water levels and efforts to conserve what's left have made Lake Gatún more salty. Salinity is at the highest since 2020, when the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute began collecting data, and still growing, said Steve Paton, the director of the institute's physical monitoring program.

The lake's salinity shot up after the new set of locks was inaugurated in 2016. Up until that point it was 0.05 parts per thousand, and with the increased trade flows it quickly rose and reached 0.35 parts per thousand four years ago. It's now nearing that level again and will probably hit or surpass it before the rainy season starts, Paton said.

The canal authority's chief hydrologist, Erick Córdoba, said during an interview in November that finding new sources of freshwater will be critical to ensuring Panama can meet growing demand from the population, shippers and local industry. One plan is to create a new reservoir at a river valley near Lake Gatún to supply additional water. The canal is also looking to invest in more rainwater collection to help reduce salinity in the lake, he said.

Under normal circumstances, the Panama Canal handles about 3% of the world's maritime trade volumes and 46% of containers moving from Northeast Asia to the U.S. East Coast. Bottlenecks at the canal can ripple throughout the global economy , particularly as attacks by Houthis in the Red Sea add to shipping disruptions.

Last year, the El Niño weather pattern led to one of the driest years on record for the Panama Canal and forced it to slash transit. But El Niño is now fading, which means the rainy season should hit in late April or May, allowing the canal to ease shipping limits. The authority will allow 27 vessels a day to transit by late March, up from the current 24 but still well below the pre-drought capacity of 38.

"The forced reduction" in vessels "is having the desired effect of lowering total water consumption," said Jorge Luis Quijano, a consultant and former chief executive officer of the canal authority. "However, it is difficult to predict if these favorable changes in weather will be enough to guarantee returning to 38 transits per day sometime later this year or next."

Quijano said the canal could possibly increase to 30 or 32 vessels a day after the dry season ends, and then progressively raise the limit further if rainfall is favorable. In a statement on March 11, the canal authority said it's monitoring water levels and will announce any further changes in a timely manner. It didn't respond to additional requests for comment.

Other observers are more optimistic. Volumes could return to normal in three to five months, said Julia Junnan Zhao, principal data scientist at Dun and Bradstreet, a global data and analytics provider.

Any increase in vessels through the canal will come as a relief to shippers, some of whom paid millions of dollars to jump the queue while others took longer, costlier routes around Africa or South America.

In the meantime, the threats to drinking water and marine life remain. The canal authority's strategy of recycling water could prompt marine species to start traveling between the Pacific and the Atlantic, disrupt coastal environments and even decimate fish stocks that communities along the Pacific and Caribbean rely on for food and tourism, Paton said.

Lionfish are an example of what can go wrong with invasive species. They are suspected to have escaped from aquariums along the U.S. East Coast during floods and storms, and now threaten native fish populations in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. A new saltwater corridor could wreak similar havoc on both sides of Panama.

Signs of that shift are already emerging. As rising salinity reduces the barrier between the oceans, researchers are seeing an increasing number of marine species in Lake Gatún, Paton said.

It's an example of the risks policymakers are grappling with as they confront the impact of climate change on freshwater supplies. Drought plagued regions all over the world last year, including the Americas, Africa and the Mediterranean.

The parched conditions have "given a big wake-up call to a lot of people," Ogden said. "The future does not look bright for the consistency of water resources that we've been able to rely on up until now."

2024 Bloomberg L.P. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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‘It was really fun in a gruesome sort of a way’: The story behind 3 Body Problem’s intense ship scene

Polygon spoke to the people responsible for one of the show’s most harrowing sequences

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Adapting Cixin Liu’s scientifically dense novel The Three-Body Problem is no easy feat. The book is filled with page after page of detailed descriptions of scientific processes, from the impact three suns would have on a single planet to how a proton-sized supercomputer could interfere with the results of every particle accelerator on Earth simultaneously.

It’s a challenge for showrunners David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo for sure, as they had to make tough decisions on which elements of the novel to show, which to tell, and which to simply gloss over. But it was also an especially difficult job for the Netflix 3 Body Problem series’ visual effects team, who were tasked with bringing many of the novel’s most difficult concepts to life — communicating advanced scientific processes described in painstaking detail in the book, but understandably slimmed down to their core visual elements for a television audience.

“We definitely had some challenges with the more abstract stuff,” VFX supervisor Stefen Fangmeier, who worked with Benioff and Weiss on Game of Thrones , told Polygon. “For some of it, they basically just copied it straight out of the book, and now I have to figure out what it should look like. [Like] inside the particle accelerator to show how [the Sophon] is disrupting these particle elements, and the dimensional unfolding from the 10th dimension of a proton down to two dimensions. Even stuff like the countdown. It’s incredibly challenging, because we did so many versions of that, and didn’t want it to look like an alarm clock, but it had to be legible.”

Fangmeier says a crucial part of the sprawling VFX team was BUF , a Paris-based company who worked on the Neil deGrasse Tyson-hosted revamp of the science documentary series Cosmos . Their experience in high science work (and their in-house software) was “essential” in the team’s ability to communicate some of the more difficult scientific processes.

One of the biggest projects for the VFX team (and the whole 3 Body Problem crew) was the graphic destruction of a large ship and everyone on board as it passes through the Panama Canal in episode 5. It’s the kind of VFX challenge talented teams thrive on: a big moment you can conceptualize in theory but for which we have no real-world example to draw from. Adapted directly from one of the most memorable and horrifying sequences from the book, the sequence depicts what happens when nanowires are used to slice through a gigantic sea vessel, killing thousands on board.

All the challenges of adapting the terror unfolding inside the boat make for one of the starkest differences between how this scene is depicted in the book and in the show. The book, for better and worse, does not pay nearly as much attention to characters and character development as the Netflix adaptation. Unlike in the series, we don’t get to see life on the ship, or meet children who are about to meet their brutal end through our protagonists’ actions.

“We wanted to show it, we didn’t want to evade it,” Benioff said at a roundtable earlier this month. “I think when you actually see something on a screen, it is going to be more horrific than in the book. You’re reading these descriptions, but you’re not seeing blood, you’re not seeing a bunch of kids running away, you’re not seeing children’s backpacks getting split in half.”

“The challenge here is we needed to at least meet, if not exceed, people’s imaginations when they read the book,” Woo says. “Give them everything that sequence implies. And so the logistical side of it took up probably more hours of blood and sweat per frame than any other sequence in the show.”

The wires are spaced out every 3 feet, cutting the ship into layers. For Fangmeier, the easiest visual comparison point came from an unlikely place: the dessert menu.

“Imagine you have a big cake that’s been sliced into all these layers on a cart and you push it. When it hits the wall, that’s when everything starts sliding off it,” Fangmeier says. “The point of resistance, stopping the momentum forward, makes all the pieces suddenly think, Oh, I’m still moving forward, because I’m not really connected to anything anymore . And that’s how we visualized it. The top layer would go first, and it would kind of take some pressure off the bottom layers, and so everything started sliding.”

The location was an additional challenge. Initially, the show looked into filming at the actual Panama Canal, but recent real-world events made that a no-go. “We checked in with the Panama Canal, but they weren’t really interested in having us film this in Panama after the [Ever Given incident at the] Suez Canal,” Fangmeier says. “[They said], ‘We don’t want to have anything to do with that.’ And then Netflix legal looked into it and said, ‘Yeah, but we can still call it the Panama Canal. It’s not trademarked, it’s a geographic location.’”

So in addition to animating the ship and its destruction, the VFX team also had to create a CG re-creation of the canal itself, using an Olympic rowing facility outside of London as a base and turning it into the “much more tropical” Panama Canal in post-production.

Once the slicing started, an extra element of chaos was injected. Some elements were shot practically — production built stages at Shepperton Studios in London to represent the decks of the ship, and stunt people ran through the halls getting “sliced.” But the majority of the sequence was CG, with some practical help.

“Deb Riley, our production designer, drew lines on the walls saying This is where the fibers would be ,” Weiss says. “Everything that crosses those fiber pads is going to be cut in half.”

“We had these LED strips set up that replicated the speed of the wires as the ship passes through,” Benioff says. “It was an incredible amount of prep work, and then an incredible amount of post work from the VFX team.”

The image of the backpacks being sliced is one of the most memorable of the sequence, and was executed via a combination of practical effects and CG.

“The special effects team actually [cut] those backpacks and timed it,” Fangmeier says. “They released them with a timer. So what we had to do is digitally stitch them back together, and then reveal the cut lines as they fall down.”

When it came to designing the visuals of people getting sliced by the nanofiber, the goal was to avoid going too far to the point of it seeming ridiculous.

“It’s nice to cut in the torso. Maybe nice right below the head,” Fangmeier says. “It got a little bit gruesome but not overly so. It wasn’t too exploitive. Like Kill Bill 2 — I still remember in that sequence all the arms getting cut off, fountains of blood squirting; it got pretty comical there. And that’s what we definitely wanted to avoid.”

“It was really fun in a gruesome sort of a way,” agrees Weiss. “There were really fun and funny production meetings about which department was going to do which thing and how they were all going to get stitched together.”

Fangmeier’s background gave him a unique perspective on bringing the whole project together, from an artistic and scientific point of view. A former computer scientist, he got his start in the entertainment industry while working with storm chasers to make three-dimensional models of how tornadoes were formed. As he put it, “The scientists walked in, and three days later, we’re filmmakers.” Ten years later, he worked on Twister , bringing that full circle, but his lengthy career includes work on Terminator 2: Judgment Day , Jurassic Park , and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World , as well as directing the Eragon movie.

So with his background, does Fangmeier think the show passes scientific muster?

“Well, we’ll just see what Neil deGrasse Tyson has to say about it.”

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Panama opens new cruise ship terminal at mouth of canal

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Panama on Tuesday inaugurated a new cruise ship terminal at the mouth of the drought-hit Panama Canal, hoping to attract more tourists to the Central American nation.

The facility in Panama City was built by a consortium led by China Harbor Engineering Company with an investment of more than $200 million, according to President Laurentino Cortizo.

"The cruise terminal will generate new tourist routes... attracting more visitors to our country," Cortizo said at an opening ceremony.

The terminal, which will be able to receive two cruise ships at a time, is the first on Panama's Pacific coast.

Another operates in the Caribbean city of Colon.

Panama received nearly 320,000 visitors on cruise ships in 2023, double the previous year, according to Denise Guillen of the Panama Tourism Authority.

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"The growth is exponential," she said.

The opening comes as authorities confront record-low water levels that have limited the number of ships able to transit through the Panama Canal, which usually handles about six percent of global maritime trade.

Canal administrator Ricaurte Vasquez said last week he hoped that traffic would return to normal by next February.

Source: AFP

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Choose Your Stateroom

Please select your stateroom or suite type and room category from the available options.

• Daily housekeeping
• Complimentary 24-hour room service
• Elemis Aromapure soap, lotion, shampoo
• Luxurious bathrobes
• Hair dryers, makeup mirrors
• Generous storage
• Fresh fruit upon request
• Ice service
• TV with On Demand movies, programming

Two lower beds convertible to one queen-size bed—our signature Mariner's Dream™ bed with plush Euro-Top mattresses, premium massage shower heads and a host of amenities are featured in these comfortable staterooms.

These expansive staterooms include include two lower beds convertible to one queen-size bed—our Signature Mariner's Dream™ bed with plush Euro-Top mattresses, premium massage shower heads, a host of amenities and an ocean view.

Filled with light from floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a private verandah, these staterooms include a sitting area, two lower beds convertible to one queen-size bed—our signature Mariner's Dream™ bed with plush Euro-Top mattresses, and bath tub with premium massage showerheads.

Signature Suite

• Whirlpool bath

These large, comfortable suites feature a spacious sitting area with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a private verandah, two lower beds convertible to one queen-size bed—our signature Mariner's Dream™ bed with plush Euro-Top mattresses, and one murphy bed for one person. The bathroom includes a dual-sink vanity, full-size whirlpool bath and shower, and an additional shower stall.

Neptune Suite

• Premium bathrobes, slippers
• Fresh flowers
• One-Touch concierge service
• Whirlpool bath (suite dependent)
• In-suite coffee, espresso
• Complimentary laundry
• Pre-dinner hors d'oeuvres served in suite
• Welcome glass of sparkling wine
• Priority boarding for tender ports, priority dining/seating requests, special disembarkation service
• High tea in suite on request
• Exclusive tote bag

With floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a private verandah, these spacious suites are flooded with light. They feature a large sitting area and two lower beds convertible to one king-size bed—our signature Mariner's Dream™ bed with plush Euro-Top mattresses. The bathroom comes with a dual-sink vanity, full-size whirlpool bath and shower, plus additional shower stall. Amenities include use of the exclusive Neptune Lounge, a private concierge and an array of complimentary services.

Your Ship: Oosterdam

Oosterdam, our second Vista Class ship, brings high style to the high seas with thoughtful upgrades and stunning artwork. Guests will have plenty to do on board when not taking in expansive views or stretching out in spacious staterooms. Begin with an exquisite breakfast in the Dining Room. Unwind with a massage at the Greenhouse Spa & Salon®, indulge in pre-dinner craft cocktails at Ocean Bar, followed by delectable Italian fare at Canaletto. Top off the night with chart-topping hits at Billboard Onboard.

• 1964 Guests
• 936 ft. Length
• 105.8 ft. Width

Dining & Onboard Activities

Each day on board offers delicious dining options, world-class entertainment and enriching activities.

Pinnacle Grill

The ultimate steakhouse at sea, with an exceptional menu of Prime steaks, seafood and wine.

Pinnacle Grill is the ultimate steakhouse at sea, where an exceptional menu and impeccable service make for one of finest meals you’ll ever have. The refined menu features a selection of 28-day wet-aged USDA Prime steaks — meticulously chosen to guarantee the finest quality — as well as classic steakhouse dishes and innovative recipes from James Beard Award-winning chef and Culinary Council® member, David Burke. Every dish is exquisitely prepared, beautifully plated and complemented by a vast collection of award-winning wines. Here, your meal is an event unto itself, a celebration of fine dining and a triumph of flavor.

*Meals at Pinnacle Grill are half price for kids 12 years old or under, or free when they order from the kids’ menu.

Canaletto is a relaxed setting with authentic Italian cuisine that is best enjoyed when shared.

In Italy, there’s nothing more important than coming together to celebrate the joy of great food. This is the inspiration for our onboard Italian restaurant, Canaletto. Enjoy amazing Italian classics like braised chicken cacciatore al forno, branzino ai ferri or garlic shrimp ravioli. And for dessert: tiramisù, cannoli alla Siciliana, gelato, and more. Including pasta made fresh daily. Buon Appetito!

Meals at Canaletto are half price for kids 12 years old or under, or free when they order from the kids’ menu.

Lido Market

A casual, modern marketplace, Lido Market offers the widest range of food options on board for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a late-night snack.

Explore a world of intriguing culinary possibilities in the Lido Market. Steps from the Lido pool, this modern marketplace includes a curated selection of delicious options that you can grab on the go or have made to order: Breadboard, with freshly baked breads and pastries; Wild Harvest, offering a bountiful selection of hearty salads; Homestead, serving up comfort classics; Distant Lands, featuring global cuisine; Sweet Spot, for ice cream creations and desserts; Roasting Pan, hand-carved meats, fish and other hearty entrees; Perk, freshly brewed beverages and chilled juices; Quench, premium coffee, beer, wine, and soda available for purchase; Rise, savory quiches, croissants and sandwiches, and more.

This casual poolside grill serves up the best burgers at sea, Nathan’s Famous gourmet hot dogs, golden French fries and more.

Dive-In offers a variety of casual culinary classics, using the highest quality ingredients. Enjoy a burger, grilled to perfection and served on a toasted brioche with our own trade-marked secret sauce. Savor a succulent Nathan’s Famous gourmet hot dog with golden French fries. Or choose a grilled chicken breast sandwich or juicy portabella mushroom stack. Dive-In is the perfect spot to dine poolside on the best burgers at sea.

24-Hour Room Service

Enjoy breakfast in bed or an early dinner on your verandah — entrées and more are available whenever you wish.

Sleep in and have breakfast delivered. Enjoy an early dinner on your verandah before an evening excursion. Order a salad, sandwich or entrée any time. Room Service is only a phone call away. All selections are included in your cruise fare unless otherwise noted on the in-room menu.

Explorations Cafe

Our relaxing café with panoramic views is your home for handcrafted espresso drinks during the day and refreshing cocktails in the evening.

At Explorations Café, sink into plush chairs and sofas in a comfortable environment. Sip elegantly prepared espresso drinks and nosh on fresh pastries from the coffee bar. You can also take in fantastic views, catch up on your favorite book or browse the web. 

The Dining Room

Our flagship dining experience is a welcoming and sophisticated setting for an exquisite breakfast, lunch or superb multicourse dinner.

For an elegant breakfast, leisurely lunch or unforgettable multi-course dinner, The Dining Room is your destination. For dinner, choose from classics such as Boneless Lamb Loin en Croute, Rosemary Roasted Chicken, as well as regionally inspired cuisine and artfully prepared vegetarian dishes. 

Crow's Nest

BARS AND LOUNGES

Enjoy cocktails and sunsets in this lounge, featuring panoramic views.

Holland America Line offers you a wide selection of lounges onboard. The panoramic view takes center stage in The Crow's Nest at the top of the ship, where you can relax just about any time of day and enjoy your favorite drink.

Explorer's Lounge

Elegant and refined, stop by for a glass of wine or your favorite cocktail.

The Explorer’s Lounge is an elegant and refined space to enjoy a glass of wine, a cocktail, or your favorite liqueur.

Enjoy cocktails and ocean views while listening to live music.

Holland America Line offers you a wide selection of lounges. This popular bar is at the top of the atrium and is the perfect locale for cocktails and dancing.

Gallery Bar

In this art-themed bar, order your favorite cocktail or try one from our signature cocktail menu.

This sophisticated venue is adorned with an eclectic and whimsical mix of artwork including portraits, landscapes, still life and abstract pieces. Order your favorite cocktail or try one from our signature cocktail menu.

Billboard Onboard

ENTERTAINMENT

Sing along, test your music trivia knowledge, or sit back and enjoy as chart-topping hits fill the room each night.

2 pianos - 60 Years of Chart Toppers - 100s Of Songs.  Sing along, test your music trivia skills or just sit back and enjoy as the hits fill the room each night.

World Stage

World Stage features innovative cruise ship shows and a two-story LED screen that creates a vivid wraparound display.

World Stage, the largest theater on board is home to a variety of performances day and night. Our exclusive EXC® Talk lecture series features captivating regional stories told by local experts and narrated by your Cruise & Travel Director. In the evenings, Step One Dance Company, vocal sensation Cantaré, BBC Earth in Concert and more take the stage.  Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam  and  Rotterdam  bring the World Stage experience to the next level by surrounding you in spectacular sight and sound with a two-story, panoramic LED screen.

Rolling Stone Lounge

Our 7-piece band brings you the best in rock, pop, country and more.

Dance to your favorite songs with one of the best bands at sea. From rock and pop to country and beyond, we provide the perfect playlist live, each and every cruise.

Onboard Shopping

Enjoy a wide variety of duty-free shopping onboard.

Enjoy a wide variety of duty-free shopping in such signature shops as The Vault, Diamonds and Gemstones by Merabella, which offers the best diamonds at sea, brought to you by Effy.

Fitness Center

Take a class in our professionally staffed Fitness Center.

Stop by the professionally staffed Fitness Center equipped with the latest cardio and weight machines. Try one of our classes on indoor cycling, Pilates and more or work out at your own pace. You can also head out for fresh air and exercise on deck, where you'll find basketball and volleyball courts, and two refreshing pools (available on select ships). Some classes may have a nominal fee.

Holland America Line Navigator

Personalize your cruise experience with our free mobile-friendly tool.

Personalize your cruise experience once you’re on the ship with our free mobile-friendly tool. Plan your daily activities, browse and purchase shore excursions, view restaurant menus, make dining reservations, check your account balance and more. 

Casino Action

The Casino offers games for all levels.

Your Holland America Line ship’s Casino offers a wide array of gaming options. Whether you prefer slot machines or want to try your hand at blackjack or poker, our dealers and staff are available to provide complimentary instruction — and we offer many engaging tournament options. The Casino is only open at sea.

Unleash your competitive spirit in our new family game room.

Unleash your competitive spirit at High Score!, our new family game room. By day, it’s a secret hideaway for kids and teens, where they can engage in a fast-paced flurry of four-person air hockey or contend for bragging rights in the video arcade. At night, the entire family is welcome to bond over board games, skee-ball, a tilting labyrinth and family activities.

Pickleball at Sea

Enjoy complimentary lessons, tournaments, and courts with amazing top-deck views.

Play the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. with Holland America Line, the exclusive cruise line partner of the Professional Pickleball Association. All our cruise ships feature pickleball courts with amazing top-deck views. The equipment and courts are available for a match anytime, so long as the weather allows. Frequent pickler? Join a pickleball tournament at sea and put your dink shot to the test. Hesitant amateur? Learn the basics at complimentary beginner’s lessons, starting in spring 2023. Commemorative starter kits will soon be available in our retail shops — purchase as gifts for avid players or as souvenirs, so that you can always look back on your pickleball cruise memories.

Kids ages 3 to 17 can enjoy an array of activities. Registration required for children under 13.

Holland America Line's youth activities program, Kids Club, offers an array of entertaining events for kids and teens ages 3-17, supervised by a full-time, professionally trained staff. They'll have an opportunity to join other kids their age for arts and crafts, sports, video game competitions, scavenger hunts, challenging team games and themed parties. Note: Kids Club is not offered on cruises of 25-days or longer, including all Legendary and Grand Voyages. We will offer a selection of children’s activities throughout these longer voyages for any children who may be onboard.

Recently Viewed

How a Panama Canal change brought big ships like the Dali to Baltimore

Maryland officials saw economic opportunity in the larger ships. then one hit the key bridge..

The ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge this week was one of a new, larger class that began plying the route from Asia to the East Coast via the Panama Canal in 2016, when locks in the canal were expanded to make room for the bigger vessels increasingly favored by shipping companies.

Officials in Maryland had seen the economic opportunity presented by the larger ships, which made the long trip up the Chesapeake Bay more worthwhile to ship owners. The port installed four new cranes capable of handling gargantuan container ships and had its harbor dredged to the 50-foot depth needed to fit them, putting it in a club of three East Coast ports then ready to welcome the world’s largest vessels.

“We knew the payday was coming for the Port of Baltimore,” said James White, then the executive director of the Maryland Port Administration.

Baltimore bridge collapse

But the Singapore-flagged Dali’s crash into the Key Bridge on Tuesday has raised new questions about the risks big ships pose to American infrastructure.

“There is a real challenge here,” said Benjamin W. Schafer, a civil and systems engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University. He said the hulking vessel stuck in the Patapsco River appears unfathomably large butted up against the fallen bridge, even if the 985-foot Dali isn’t among the very biggest container ships.

The new Panama Canal locks, capable of handling larger ships, opened in the summer of 2016, reshaping international supply chains. Accommodating the new ships, which can carry as many as 14,000 containers, required huge investments by agencies operating ports and the federal government to ensure that cranes, berths, harbors and shipping channels were big enough.

Abe Eshkenazi, chief executive of the Association for Supply Chain Management, said the allure of larger ships was straightforward.

“It’s a volume question,” he said. “If you could put more products on a particular vessel and get it to the ports quicker, you’re beating the competition.”

The shipping industry had been turning to bigger vessels before the expansion, presenting a problem for authorities in Panama, said Joseph L. Schofer, a emeritus professor of civil and environmental engineering at Northwestern University.

The canal could accommodate container ships up to only 966 feet long and 107 feet wide, a standard known as Panamax. That limit meant the canal’s operators were missing out on cargo carried aboard new, bigger ships.

“They really wanted to make sure they were meeting the needs of their customers,” Schofer said. So they launched the expansion plan.

As work got underway in Panama, ports in the United States began installing larger cranes and having deeper harbors and channels dredged out.

“The planning on this was almost 10 years in the making,” Eshkenazi said, adding, “The readiness of the U.S. ports and the related infrastructure had to be assessed.”

Experts did not recall the risk of a large ship running into a bridge as being a top consideration as East Coast ports rushed to build infrastructure to accommodate the behemoths that were becoming increasingly common in international shipping. Instead, efforts were focused on projects that include dredging deeper shipping channels and a $1.7 billion plan to raise the height of a 90-year-old bridge as port authorities vied to capture cargo carried on what are called neo-Panamax ships.

The Maryland Port Administration did not respond to a question about any work it did to assess the risks posed by bigger cargo ships as the port invested to welcome them. White, who left the port administration in 2019, said it was unclear whether additional protections for the bridge could be justified, given the rarity of crashes involving ships.

“There’s a lot of Monday-morning quarterbacks out there saying you should have bumpers or tug assist,” White said, adding, “If you require tug boats at every bridge crossing, the ship owners don’t want to go for that expense.”

Even before the canal expansion, big ships were known to run into bridges. In 2013, the Overseas Reymar, with a gross tonnage of 40,000 tons, hit the Bay Bridge in the San Francisco area, according to a U.S. Coast Guard report. But there were fenders protecting the bridge, and they appear to have worked. The bridge itself wasn’t damaged, no one was hurt, and repair costs were initially estimated to be a few million dollars, the report said.

Still, the 95,000-gross-ton Dali — which passed through the Panama Canal on its way to Baltimore — was far bigger, and experts say it’s unclear what additional protective measures might have prevented the crash. Schafer, of Johns Hopkins, said there’s “little evidence that it’s economically feasible to create a protection system for a cargo ship that is coming at a full, straight-on blow.” But he emphasized that a more robust system — whether by upgrading maritime safety practices or developing structures that might divert errant ships before they get too close — is crucial for preventing a replay of the deadly and disruptive incident.

As part of its investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board has asked Maryland to provide information on any structures meant to protect four state bridges from ship strikes, an indication of a broader agency interest that has echoed among bridge engineers, transportation safety officials and others.

Kevin Longley, a spokesman for the American Society of Civil Engineers, said some of the group’s most active members began discussing new ways to protect bridges immediately after the 9,090-foot-long Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River. The organization intends to release an action plan to avoid a similar disaster in the future.

The year the new Panama locks opened, a report by the International Monetary Fund identified almost $18 billion in investments at East Coast and Gulf ports, far more than the $5 billion cost of the canal expansion itself.

Among the most dramatic projects was a $1.7 billion push to raise New Jersey’s Bayonne Bridge by 64 feet. Engineers designed a road deck higher up in the bridge’s arch, giving ships more space to pass beneath. The project was completed in 2019. In Charleston, S.C., a decade-long, $580 million project was completed in 2022 that gave the port a 52-foot-deep harbor — the deepest on the East Coast.

The Baltimore port faces an uncertain few months. But the investments to make way for larger ships appear to have paid off in recent years. Last year, the port handled 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo, beating the previous record, 44.2 million tons, set in 2019. In August, the 1,200-foot Ever Max became the largest ship to ever visit the port — an ongoing sign, officials said, of its ability to handle giant vessels.

Concerns about the dangers of big ships have in recent years prompted at least one agency that operates bridges on the East Coast to pursue new safeguards. Officials at the Delaware River and Bay Authority are in the middle of a project to protect a pair of bridges that carry a stretch of interstate highway between Delaware and New Jersey. The $93 million job was backed with $22 million in federal transportation grant funding.

Dali , Maersk Ship

Shipping channel

Patapsco River

Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post

James Salmon, a spokesman for the authority, said he was left speechless when he saw the news out of Baltimore. He expects the system being installed in the Delaware River would have protected the bridges there in a similar situation. The project involves installing eight 80-foot-wide stone-filled barriers known as dolphins near the bridge. The project is on schedule to be completed next year.

“Today’s ships are faster, bigger and can be more impactful than ships were of yesteryear,” Salmon said. “Our current fendering system has served its useful life, and it needed to be upgraded and enhanced.”

In 1980, a smaller container ship lost power and hit one of the piers of the Key Bridge, then three years old, according to a National Research Council report. It destroyed a protective concrete structure, but the bridge otherwise withstood the incursion.

After Tuesday’s collision, Schofer, of Northwestern, suggested there could be low-cost ways to quickly offer protection, such as anchoring old ships near bridges to serve as a temporary barrier.

“I would want to take a strategic look at where the risks are,” he said.

Even as the cleanup of this week’s wreckage is just getting underway, some bridge experts have suggested that the replacement for the Key Bridge will need to accommodate even bigger ships.

“We don’t want a design exactly for what we’re seeing right now,” said Rachel Sangree, a bridge engineering expert at Johns Hopkins, “but always be thinking ahead.”

Jeremy Merrill and Steven Rich contributed to this report.

How it happened: Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit by a cargo ship . The container ship lost power shortly before hitting the bridge, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said. Video shows the bridge collapse in under 40 seconds.

Victims: Divers have recovered the bodies of two construction workers , officials said. They were fathers, husbands and hard workers . A mayday call from the ship prompted first responders to shut down traffic on the four-lane bridge, saving lives.

Economic impact: The collapse of the bridge severed ocean links to the Port of Baltimore, which provides about 20,000 jobs to the area . See how the collapse will disrupt the supply of cars, coal and other goods .

Rebuilding: The bridge, built in the 1970s , will probably take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild , experts said.

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Why the Panama Canal Didn’t Lose Money When Ship Crossings Fell

A water shortage forced officials to reduce traffic, but higher fees increased revenue.

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By Peter Eavis

Low water levels have forced officials to slash the number of ships that are allowed through the Panama Canal, disrupting global supply chains and pushing up transportation costs.

But, remarkably, the big drop in ship traffic has not — at least so far — led to a financial crunch for the canal, which passes on much of its toll revenue to Panama’s government.

That’s because the canal authority introduced hefty increases in tolls before the water crisis started. In addition, shipping companies have been willing to pay large sums in special auctions to secure one of the reduced number of crossings.

In the 12 months through September, the canal’s revenue rose 15 percent, to nearly $5 billion, even though the tonnage shipped through the canal fell 1.5 percent.

The Panama Canal Authority declined to say how much money it earned from auctions. At a maritime conference last week in Stamford, Conn., Ilya Espino de Marotta, the canal’s deputy administrator, said the auction fees, which reached as much as $4 million per passage last year, “helped a little bit.”

But even now, during a quieter season for global shipping, auction fees can double the cost of using the canal. This month, Avance Gas, which ships liquefied petroleum gas, paid a $401,000 auction fee and $400,000 for the regular toll, said Oystein Kalleklev, the company’s chief executive. Auction fees are ultimately borne by the company whose goods are being shipped.

The canal’s financial stability in the face of a dire water shortage shows how the people who manage crucial links in global supply chains are adapting as climate change disrupts operations. It also helps that there are no viable alternatives in Latin America to the canal, an engineering marvel that opened in 1914 and handles an estimated 5 percent of seaborne trade.

If delays continue and the cost keeps rising, however, shipping companies may find ways to avoid the canal. Last year, as the canal became backed up, ships that wanted to travel from Asia to the East Coast of the United States began going through the Suez Canal, a far longer voyage that uses much more fuel.

Many vessels are still using a western route from Asia even after the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea forced shipping companies to avoid the Suez Canal and go around Africa. Mr. Kalleklev said that, after his vessels had delivered their cargo and were empty, they now typically returned to the United States via the Cape of Good Hope.

Though Panama is one of the world’s wettest countries, a sharp drop in rainfall last year deprived the canal of the water it needs for locks that raise and lower vessels into and out of the 40-mile passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Climate experts say such water shortages may become more common.

The weather pattern known as El Niño initially causes hotter and drier conditions in Panama, and scientists say climate change may be prolonging dry spells. Last year, there was 1.85 meters (six feet) of rainfall in the Panama Canal’s watershed, well below the historical annual average of 2.6 meters, according to the canal authority. Rainfall in the watershed was below average in six of the last 10 years, including years that were the second, third, sixth and seventh driest since 1950, the authority added.

To conserve water, the authority gradually reduced passages from a normal range of 36 to 38 vessels a day to 22 by December . But higher-than-expected rainfall and the canal’s water conservation measures enabled it to since raise crossings to 27 a day.

Though the number of passages is still below normal, the canal is in decent financial shape, analysts said.

Verónica Améndola, an analyst for S&P Global Ratings, expects that the canal’s revenue in the 12 months through next September will be roughly the same as a year earlier, primarily because of the toll increases. S&P Global estimates that the cost of shipping through the canal will rise to $10 a ton from $6 a ton.

This is good news for Panama’s government, which relies heavily on payments from the canal and is facing skepticism about its deficit from investors in the international bond market. The canal authority expects to pay the government $2.47 billion this year, down modestly from the record $2.54 billion that it paid last year.

Canal tolls and dividends were 24 percent of government revenue in 2023, said Todd Martinez, a co-head for the Americas at Fitch Ratings who analyzes Panama’s government finances.

“The good news is that the drought doesn’t have a terrible near-term impact on Panama’s public finances, because the canal has a lot of pricing power,” Mr. Martinez said. “But the bigger problem is the government can no longer keep relying on the canal to solve all of its other fiscal problems.”

Faced with the prospect of permanently lower rainfall, the canal authority plans to create a big new reservoir that would supply enough extra water to handle an additional 12 to 15 passages a day. Lawmakers still need to approve the project, which the authority estimates will take four to six years to complete. Panama has elections in May, but Ms. Marotta, the deputy administrator, said last week that all the presidential candidates had told the authority that they supported the reservoir.

“There’s a great understanding in Panama that life without the canal would be very difficult to deal with,” said Sebastian Briozzo, an analyst for S&P Global Ratings.

Peter Eavis reports on business, financial markets, the economy and companies across different sectors. More about Peter Eavis