Carnival chief executive denies that wider Panama Canal will change cruising

Will the widening project currently underway at the Panama Canal -- scheduled for completion in 2014 -- result in a rash of new and unusual cruise itineraries?

Don't count on it, says the head of the world's largest cruise company.

Even though the industry operates a growing number of "post-Panamax" ships that are too big to fit into the current canal -- and thus limited in their ability to navigate between the Atlantic, Caribbean and the Pacific -- a wider canal only will have a marginal impact on operations, says Carnival Corp. chairman and chief executive Micky Arison.

Original source: USA Today