Panama Canal Cruises and Information.

The Beginnings of the Panama Canal

As early as the 16th century, Europeans dreamed of building a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Spanish kings considered building a canal to carry treasure from their South American colonies back to Spain, but no attempt was made. Such a project became possible only in the 19th century, with the machinery and knowledge produced during the Industrial Revolution, the transition from an agricultural to a mechanized economy.

In the 1830s and 1840s, while Panama was a province of Colombia, a number of European and U.S. studies were conducted to determine where and how such a crossing could be built. In 1850 the United States and Britain signed the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, in which they pledged to cooperate if either one undertook such a project. That same year, a New York company began construction of the Panama Railroad, along the same general route as the present-day canal. It opened to traffic five years later, carrying many gold seekers to California during the gold rush. During the rest of the 1800s, the U.S. government frequently sent in troops to protect the railroad from bandits and military threats, under the authority of a treaty signed with Colombia in 1846.

In the late 1870s a private French company won a concession from Colombia to build a sea-level canal in Panama and soon raised enough money to begin construction. The company was directed by Ferdinand de Lesseps, a French engineer and diplomat who had overseen construction of the Suez Canal in Egypt. Excavation in Panama began in 1882, but the company quickly ran into problems caused by the difficult terrain, climate, tropical diseases, labor shortages, and a flawed design. In 1888 it ceased work and went into bankruptcy. Reorganized a few years later as the New Panama Canal Company, it barely managed to keep the concession and prevent the equipment from deteriorating. At that stage, the French company sought another sponsor for the project.

Cruise Agency Specializing in Cruises through the Panama Canal.

Panama Canal cruises have become one of the most popular ways to visit the Panama Canal. Cruises feature great food, entertainment, interesting ports of call and fascinating tours of canal and history leading up to its completion. There are a number of different cruises and itineraries for the Panama Canal offered by most of the major lines.

• Carnival Cruises

• Princess Cruises

• Norwegian Cruises

  Panama Canal Cruises