Hi everyone, this is my first post and first cruise.

We have booked a Xmas cruise on Constellation, the Ultimate caribbean cruise for 11 days. We have been getting really excited about this as it's our first cruise and we have done lots of research into it. Trouble is, our research has thrown up a problem and we are now not sure what to do. When we booked the cruise the only criteria we had was that it had to be between certain dates at Christmas and we wanted somewhere hot (UK is freezing in winter). The travel agent suggested Constellation as it was the only one for those dates available and she said it was a brilliant ship. We weren't absolutely certain about the itinerary but happy to get the dates we wanted on a ship that sounds beautiful, and accepted it as we weren't advised that there was any alternative.

Now we have found out that there is another possibility for the dates we want and a much more appealing itinerary - starting in Barbados, transiting the Panama Canal, ending up in Acapulco. We would absolutely love to do the Panama Canal but this cruise is on the Arcadia (P & O Cruises), and we can find very little information about the ship (apart from P & Os own website).

Has anyone cruised with P & O before, especially Arcadia and would you change from Constellation to get the better itinerary? I know this is probably our own fault for not doing our research before booking but we trusted the TA. We need to make a decision soon as full payment is due next month.

Thanks for any advice/help you can give. All comments appreciated.

Hi,
I think you will love the ship Constellation.
Celebrity is far better than P&O as I have been with both and hope to go on the Constellation
June 2007 to St Petersburg.

PS-
Our friends have been on the Arcadia and they did Arcadia and did not like it, their was another ship called Arcadia which they loved, I think the Arcadia is going back to Princess soon

Addict,

welcome to Cruise-Chat.com.

I have created a shortcut to this thread in the P&O Princess Cruises (Carnival plc) forum so that the thread can now be accessed from both sub-forums.

wayoverhere,

the current "Arcadia" was built for P&O Cruises. She is not one of the former Princess ships.

quote:

Arcadia" was built for P&O Cruises. She is not one of the former Princess ships.

Yes I know she was built for the Uk but was on the Artemis this year as was told she might go to Princess and P&O will take next ship out. But you never know what they will do.

Wow, thanks for the quick replies guys. I think the best advice always comes from those that have actual experiences. Any more thoughts gratefully appreciated.

Thanks again.

wayoverhere,

I really hope "Artemis" will end up on the German market sooner or later.

quote:

I really hope "Artemis" will end up on the German market sooner or later.

Why do you say that, I did a bad writeup on this ship.

We went on the Ultimate Caribbean cruise in Feb. 2005. We were on the Celebrity. We weren't sure about some of the ports because we weren't familiar with them. It turned out to be one of our favorite cruises. We fell in love with Costa Rica. We toured the rainforest by boat and saw monkeys, sloths, etc. Our tablemates went on the aerial cars and didn't even see a bird! I'm sure this changes every day, but we were so glad we took the boat tour.

We also visited Colon, Panama. Our biggest mistake was taking the railroad. The excursion was great and would have been fun if we had been to the Canal before. But we hadn't, and were disappointed that we did not get to see the locks.

We loved Celebrity and I'm sure that you will, too. The next few months will be so much fun, planning, packing, etc. We are going on our 6th cruise in November. If we could afford it, we would go several times a year! Have a wonderful time!

Thanks Nadine for the tips about the excursions. I think from what we have been hearing we will stick with Celebrity. Thanks again.