Princess Cruises was the first cruise line to sail through the Panama Canal in 1967 now, 50 years later, it was the first cruise ship to traverse the newly expanded Neo-Panamax locks.
Mega cruise ship, the Caribbean Princess, was the first to use the newly opened Agua Clara locks on the Atlantic side of the canal with more than 3,000 guests.
The locks opened in June 2016 as part of a 10-year, $5.4 billion expansion of the Neo-Panamax part of the canal.
Before the expansion, only cruise ships with a maximum width of 106 feet could enter the locks. However, that has changed with the expansion.
The Caribbean Princess, at a width of 118 feet and 112,894 tons, sailed through the expanded locks for the first of 13 scheduled crossings on October 26.
"Marking our 50th anniversary taking guests to the Panama Canal in 2017 is a huge milestone so it's equally thrilling that we will also observed the occasion by being the first cruise line to sail a mega-ship through the newly expanded locks," said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia group president.
"The widely anticipated expansion of the Panama Canal allows us to showcase this engineering spectacle to more guests than ever on our larger ships," Swartz added.
During the canal crossing, passengers were treated to detailed commentary and traditional Panamanian cuisine.
Guests were also privy to some of the ship's recent upgrades. The ship underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation and now features seven new food and beverage offerings, an updated youth and teen center, more interconnecting staterooms and updated decor.
Princess Cruises offers three ways to experience the Panama Canal-roundtrip from the East Coast on 10-day sailings, roundtrip from the West Coast on 19-day sailings or a full transit from ocean to ocean on 15-day sailings.
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