Cruise passengers have made a huge mistake when they set out on one of the world's most iconic routes.
Gary Bembridge, a cruise ship expert who posts videos providing travel advice on tips for Travelers YouTube channels, recently shared his thoughts on visiting the Panama Canal.
Located in Central America, the highly popular tourist destination is considered one of the major feats in engineering history, according to the Queen Elizabeth Award for Engineering.
However, in one of his recent videos, Gary went on to outline the mistakes cruise passengers often make when visiting this engineering wonder, and continued to point out one “huge” error.
Gary said: “Depending on the size of the cruise ship you book, there are two completely different routes, not just the Panama Canal you will transport. This is a big problem. In my view, one route is a better experience. Others It's more essential than people.”
“The original route, which opened in 1914, uses a set of locks I experienced, but only ships of a certain size can fit and use what is known as Panamax ships.
“As the size of the cargo ships increased, a third of them could pass through the old canal locks, so in 2016 a new set of locks was constructed and opened on each side. – Ship size ”.
He continues, which doubled the capacity of the vessels that could pass through the canal system, allowing many larger and mega cruise ships to navigate the new locks.
The ships include famous ships such as Queen Mary 2, Kunard Queen Anne, Celebrity Edge Class ships, Norwegian Bliss, Primary Class, and Sun Princess.
Gary said the original 1914 canal was worth a trip as it was more dramatic and interesting visual, and especially provides more to history fans.
The Panama Canal allows ships to navigate between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans via a 48-mile route. This means that the vessel can avoid the vast 15,000-kilometer trekking around South America.
The canal, which first opened on August 15, 1914, reportedly transports 4% of trade worldwide and 16% of US-born trade, WWF writes.
It also states that a whopping 12,000 to 15,000 ships cross the canal each year. This is primarily used by the US, and is equivalent to about 40 each day.
