Princess Cruises in 2016 will offer a voyage from Los Angeles to the Panama Canal and back, something it hasn’t done since 2009.
Announced on Friday, the 19-day sailing on the 2,214-passenger Island Princess will kick off Nov. 20, 2016 and include stops in Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
The Island Princess in late 2016 and early 2017 also will offer a number of one-way, 15-day Panama Canal voyages between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles, as it has in been doing during winters in recent years. The trips will feature a two-day Canal experience that combines a Canal transit with a day at Fuerte Amador, where passengers either can tour Panama City and visit the surrounding rain forests, or tour the Canal’s Gatun Locks.
Two other Princess ships, the Coral Princess and Pacific Princess, also will offer Panama Canal cruises over the winter of 2016-2017, the line said on Friday.
The new sailings will open for booking on May 21.
Princess expanded its fleet in 2014 with the addition of Regal Princess, a 3,560-passenger vessel that is the second largest ever at the line.