By the Caribbean Journal staff

In 1967, Princess Cruises became the first cruise line to bring passengers through the Panama Canal.

Now, in another major milestone, Princess’ Caribbean Princess ship has become the first megaship to pass through the canal’s expanded Neo-Panamax locks.

“Marking our 50th anniversary taking guests to the Panama Canal in 2017 is a huge milestone so it’s equally thrilling that we will also observed the occasion by being the first cruise line to sail a mega-ship through the newly expanded locks,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises and Carnival Australia group president. “The widely anticipated expansion of the Panama Canal allows us to showcase this engineering spectacle to more guests than ever on our larger ships.”

Caribbean Princess recently sailed through the canal locks with 3,200 guests, the first of 13 scheduled crossings over the course of the 2017-2018 cruise season.

Princess is the only cruise line that offers a full season of Panama Canal cruises, from 10-day to 15-day sailings.

The ship recently underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation that added seven new food concepts and a new youth center.

The new locks opened in June of last year as part of the $5.4 billion Neo-Panamax expansion project.