LATIN AMERICA U I S E C R
faces next winter. Norwegian Cruise Line has its first South America season since 2010, while Voyages of Discovery is dipping into the continent with a new selection of cruises that major on Central America and the Caribbean. Swan Hellenic, meanwhile,
is returning for the first time since 2013/14, offering 15-night cruises along the west coast of South America, with optional
side trips to the Galapagos and Machu Picchu. Sarah Weetman, head of
trade sales for Swan Hellenic parent company All Leisure Group, said: “South America is a popular destination because there is such a lot to see. A lot of customers have asked us to go back either because they were not able to go last time or because they want to see a different part of the continent.”
PANAMA CANAL HAL’s Maasdam on the Panama Canal
Montevideo, Uruguay
La Boca, Buenos Aires
When Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man behind the Suez Canal, came up with the idea of digging a channel across Panama to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, his aim was to provide an alternative to the slow, treacherous sea route around Cape Horn. He would never have guessed that 100 years on, sailing through the channel would become a must for people who love cruising, and those fascinated to see what, one century on, is still one of the world’s greatest engineering feats. In fact, de Lesseps never succeeded. After 10 years and with 20,000 men dead from yellow fever, malaria and snake bites, his project collapsed. Twelve years later, in 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a $10 million treaty giving the US the right to build and operate the canal (it was handed back to the Panamanians in 1999). Last year marked 100 years since it opened, which led to a surge in demand from people keen to celebrate,
and also to see the channel before a new set of wider locks, expected to open by 2016, doubles capacity. Although only 47.8 miles
long, it takes an average of eight hours to cross. Whether going from east to west or vice versa, ships are ‘lifted’ 85 feet above sea level by three locks, sail across the Gatun Lake and through the Gaillard Cut, a narrow channel nicknamed the Big Ditch as there were so many landslides during construction, returning to sea level at the other end. Passengers cannot
disembark while negotiating the locks, but they can see them in operation on excursions from Colon in Panama. There are also tours to Panama City and on the Panama Canal Railway, parallel to the channel. Princess, Celebrity, Holland America and Variety Cruises offer regular cruises through the canal, but many others sail through the waterway on their South America itineraries. Norwegian and Princess also offer half transits.
travelweekly.co.uk/cruise
February 2015 | Travel Weekly Cruise | 35
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