On 16 May, Disney Magic (1998/ 83,338gt, below) paid $283,400 in tolls to transit the Panama Canal, the highest amount paid by a cruise ship. The Magic was repositioning from her regular winter home port of Port Canaveral to Los Angeles, from where she will operate to the Mexican Riviera this summer. The 50-mile waterway is becoming increasingly busy and waiting times for commercial vessels at both ends increased by 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2007. Although cruise ships have priority and do not have to wait, the number of such vessels rose by 30 per cent during the same period. A US$5.25 billion expansion plan has begun, to be completed in 2014.
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