The Queen Mary 2 slid into the Panama Canal this weekend, easing forward into the new locks as guests leaned over rails for the view. Concrete walls closed in. Water rose. Cameras stayed out long after the announcements ended. For Cunard’s flagship, this was a first. For the 108-night World Voyage underway, it became one of those moments that travelers will still be describing years later.
On Saturday, Queen Mary 2 began her inaugural transit of the Panama Canal, entering the expanded lock system and completing an overnight stay at the Cocoli Mooring Station. By Sunday, the liner continued her passage, moving beneath the Bridge of the Americas and officially completing her first-ever transit through the canal’s newer locks. It marked a milestone not just for Cunard, but for the vessel herself, still the world’s only purpose-built ocean liner.
Why This Transit Matters
The Panama Canal has long been a defining passage for world voyages, but Queen Mary 2 had never previously transited the canal using the newer lock system. Designed for speed, stability, and transatlantic crossings, the ship’s dimensions historically limited where she could sail. The completion of this transit signals a notable expansion of where Cunard’s flagship can go and how it can be woven into modern global itineraries.
The canal transit came deep into a journey that stretches 108 nights and circles the globe, offering a shared moment of pause between continents. The liner’s stately pace contrasted with the precise choreography of tugboats, gates, and water levels that define the canal experience. It was less about rushing through and more about watching one of the world’s great engineering works do exactly what it was designed to do.
Cunard President Katie McAlister described the moment as a defining chapter for the ship and the voyage, calling the transit “another extraordinary milestone” for Queen Mary 2 and a centerpiece of the current World Voyage. The canal passage sits alongside a global itinerary that includes ports such as Los Angeles, Sydney, Cape Town, Hong Kong, and Singapore before the ship’s return to Southampton.
What Comes Next on This Voyage
Following the canal crossing, Queen Mary 2 is scheduled for an overnight stay at Fuerte Amador, Panama, giving guests time ashore near the Pacific entrance to the canal. From there, the ship continues north to Manzanillo, Mexico, before arriving in Los Angeles on February 2.
That call in Southern California carries its own weight. Queen Mary 2 has not visited Los Angeles in 17 years, making this a long-awaited return for Cunard on the West Coast. The visit also sets the stage for a rare meeting. While in California, Queen Mary 2 will reunite with her historic namesake, the original Queen Mary, now permanently docked in Long Beach. It will be the first time in two decades that the two Queens have shared the same destination, a moment likely to resonate with longtime Cunard guests and maritime enthusiasts alike.
The Panama Canal as a Cunard Calling Card
This weekend’s transit is not a one-off. Cunard has confirmed that Panama Canal crossings will remain a defining feature of several upcoming itineraries across the next two years, opening the experience to more guests beyond world voyages.
In September, Queen Elizabeth will transit the canal following a second summer season in Alaska. That sailing, a 21-night journey from Seattle to Miami, connects the Pacific Northwest to the Caribbean via one of the most dramatic shortcuts in global shipping. For travelers, it blends cool-weather cruising with a gradual shift toward warmer latitudes and an engineering highlight at the center.
Queen Anne, the line’s newest ship, is scheduled to make her own canal transit on January 22, 2027. The crossing forms part of a 56-night South America Discovery itinerary that spans more than 20 ports across South and Central America. The canal passage becomes a hinge point between hemispheres, threading together coastlines that would otherwise require weeks of open-ocean sailing.
Queen Victoria will follow shortly after, transiting the canal on January 10, 2027, as part of her World Voyage departing from Southampton. That sailing includes more than 30 ports of call and places the canal after visits to New York and Aruba, reinforcing its role as a gateway between the Atlantic and Pacific legs of a true round-the-world itinerary.
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Caribbean Journal Staff
2026-01-26 17:02:00