Silver Whisper Dec 19/17 Panama Canal Cruise

I must be doing something wrong as I cannot see a Roll Call for the Dec19/17 Panama Canal Cruise. Could someone point me in the right direction. Also, anyone out there taking this cruise?

I must be doing something wrong as I cannot see a Roll Call for the Dec19/17 Panama Canal Cruise. Could someone point me in the right direction. Also, anyone out there taking this cruise?

don't feel bad. 90% of the time, I am the only one starting a Roll Call and it stays that way all the way to the voyage. It's nothing to do with bad breath or anything else, just not too many visit Cruise Critics that sail on Silversea.

Thanks Carefree. Good to know.

don't feel bad. 90% of the time, I am the only one starting a Roll Call and it stays that way all the way to the voyage. It's nothing to do with bad breath or anything else, just not too many visit Cruise Critics that sail on Silversea.

Agree with above on the challenges in getting much roll call involvement on the Silversea boards. During recent SS cruises for the Amazon River, South Africa and Lisbon to Rouen, getting postings on the roll call was not easy.

As linked below from my live/blog, we did a March 2017 Panama Canal cruise. This trip was not with Silversea, but it included stops in Aruba, Cartagena/Colombia, Costa Rica and Cabo San Lucas. Happy to answer any added questions regarding the canal, its unique history, the serious engineering needed, etc. Much of that background and those details are on my live/blog, plus many added visuals, etc.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Panama Canal? Completed Feb. 28-Mar. 15, 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through the Panama Canal with our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Lots of fun, interesting pictures!! Those visuals start on the second page, post #26. See more at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

Did not want to miss anything at the Panama Canal, so I was up way before sunrise. In the first picture, it is still dark and you can see one of the three pilots boats approaching with their local experts to guide our Island Princess through these locks. In the background, you can see some of the nearby city of Colon and various port operations.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see these pictures larger!)

Here are elements rising of the third major bridge now being built to cross the canal. This will be called the Atlantic Bridge. Lots of poured concrete! And all high enough to allow large ships with tall masts to pass under this suspension bridge. Seeing this completed bridge will be another good reason visit back again in the future:

This picture shows as we approach the Gatun Locks on the Atlantic side. The “mules” or the electric tractors pull our ship through these narrow locks. Our ship was 106’ wide. The canal locks are only 110’ wide. That allows only a two-foot margin for each side. That makes it very important for keeping things very precise and straight. None of the ship power and/or navigation controls are used to guide our ship through locks. The canal has 55 of these “mules” and they now cost about one million dollars each. We started at sea level and these three Gatun Locks took us up, UP, UP to a height of 86’ to cross Gatun Lake and through the Culebra Cut. That means each of these three locks must be filled with enough water to raise up our ship nearly 30’ for each of these three chambers on this side of the canal.:

For most of the early part of canal transit, we were on the ship’s front/forward 10th deck. Right above us and shown in this picture were passengers on the 11th level focusing intently on the activities in front of the ship as we are going through the first set of locks.:

This picture give a better, closer look at these “mules” and the very steep inclines that they must go up to pull ships through this initial series of locks. That name or phrase of “mules” goes back to the old days for canals in the 1800’s when those creatures pulled the boats along canal routes. These current tractors are electric-powered and these are the third-generation of this design to be used during the past 100+ year history here.:

Finally, here is the view from the rear of our ship looking back towards the Caribbean Sea and the Gatun Locks were were passing through. You can see the large concrete construction for the Atlantic Bridge.:

Don't forget to look into pancanal.com, a live webcam of the locks. Your friends can watch you as you go through the locks, and the resolution is almost good enough to read signs held up by passengers.

I must be doing something wrong as I cannot see a Roll Call for the Dec19/17 Panama Canal Cruise. Could someone point me in the right direction. Also, anyone out there taking this cruise?

There isn't a roll call yet, because nobody has started one. You're not doing anything wrong. Go to the roll call section and start one. But as Carefreecruise points out, you may not get any replies.

Go here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=897 and give it a shot. You may have good luck, or you may not.

IME (10 SS cruises) we've had enough for a M&M exactly once before now.

Ironically, our 10th cruise is coming up and it's on an expedition ship - and we have eight members on our roll call. Go figure. This is by far the biggest response I've ever had.

Thank you everyone for your ideas, input and the great photo tour through the canal. Fascinating!! I will be back to you with a few questions Terry as time goes on.

Thank you everyone for your ideas, input and the great photo tour through the canal. Fascinating!! I will be back to you with a few questions Terry as time goes on.

Appreciate your nice comments and follow-up. YES, happy to share any added info and answer any questions. For you and/or others, just post on my live/blog for this Panama Canal trip and I will be happy to respond.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Just finished June 2017 sailing from Portugal to France along the scenic Atlantic Coast, plus great pre- and post-cruise experiences. Many interesting pictures and details on history, food, culture, etc., from my live/blog at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

Thanking all of you for your good natured and thorough response to my question. It is appreciated.

I just returned from my first cruise on SS and the roll call was very, very, very slow.........actually there were just 4 of us

on it for nearly 6 months......so the rolls call are quiet. I still had a fantastic cruise:D

Hi D

So glad you had a great cruise. We are counting the days until ours.

R