The vessel Disney Adventure, operated by DCL-Disney Cruise Line, established a new benchmark when she completed the inaugural transit of the Panama Canal on February 2nd, 2026.
At approximately 208 000 gross tons and with capacity for about 6 700 passengers, she became the largest passenger ship by tonnage and carrying capacity ever to transit the interoceanic waterway, surpassing the previous record held by Norwegian Bliss with more than 40 000 gross tons greater mass. The passage was part of the ship’s repositioning voyage ahead of her scheduled entry into service in Asia later in the year, and the Panama Canal Authority’s records indicate that this achievement highlights both the expanded dimensions of contemporary cruise vessels and the Neopanamax locks’ ability to accommodate them.
The sea-borne transit of Disney Adventure required coordinated efforts by ship pilots, tug crews and canal operations personnel as she made her way through the complex of locks that link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Her dimensions — about 342 metres in length and a beam of 46.4 metres — positioned her well within the Neopanamax envelope devised to allow larger ships to navigate the canal’s passage, reinforcing the waterway’s role as a strategic conduit for global cruise deployments.
This milestone voyage forms a critical segment of Disney Adventure’s broad repositioning from Europe toward her new homeport in Singapore, from which she is to operate 3- and 4-night ocean sailings as part of Disney Cruise Line’s expansion into the Asian market.
The Adventure’s canal transit also sits within a wider pattern of increased Neopanamax cruise ship movements during the 2025–2026 season, with several other vessels scheduled to make their first passages through the locks and more than forty transits anticipated over the fiscal year.