Ventura or celebrity- constellation

[dogben]

Has anyone been on both of these lines please.? We have been on the Celebrity Mercury but not the Constellation. And never been with P&O at all.

Having trouble to decide which ship for Caribbean.

Many thanks

[tom_uk]

I've been on Galaxy (sister ship to Mercury) twice, Oriana & Ventura.

 

There are significant differences between Connie and Ventura. I think the Constellation holds almost 1000 fewer passengers despite being not that much small in GRT terms: Ventura is about 113,000 GRT, Connie about 90,000. So I would expect Connie to feel 'roomier'. Another big difference will be the currency on board: Ventura (like all P&O ships) will use British pounds on board, Constellation will use US$; depending on where you live and in which currency you have your money, one of these may well be quite a bit better than the other.

 

There are considerable similarities between P&O and Celebrity: both lines feature traditional dining, with formal nights.

 

On the assumption that this is for 2009/2010, it looks as if the two ships are doing quite similar 14 night cruises. If it was me, and having been on Ventura but not on an M class ship - and if the prices were likely to be similar - then I might try Constellation.

[Elaine0138]

We have been on Summit sister ship to Connie and Ventura. For me it would be to Connie, there is no comparison between the ships, food or service.

[Redland81]

I go on the Ventura at the end of the week and have been on the Century and the Summit and I'd choose Celebrity every time - a lovely cruise line. The staff are really nice and friendly and you feel special. Some may say that they do it just looking for a good tip but both lines the staff rely on that. The food was outstanding on Celebrity as well. This time we went with P&O as they fly from Cardiff which makes it easier for us

 

jane

[K8T]

Hi

 

Definately Celebrity, unless you have children.

 

Although we haven't been on the M Class ships, been on Century and Galaxy and both are more upmarket than the Ventura, which is a beautiful ship, but lacking the class of Celebrity and the other PO Ships.

 

Kate

[chyanmor]

we have been on ventura but not on any of the celeb ships. I think after our trip to the caribbean we perhaps would look more closely at what the ship had to offer ie movies under the stars which would be great in the caribbean as you generally have decent weather for it.

 

The staff, furnishings, food and drink are all good on ventura and I would book her again and as it was our first cruise in the caribbean we didn't really think about that a majority of the evening entertainment would be inside not out on deck.

 

Huw

[GlasgowGuy]

Has anyone been on both of these lines please.? We have been on the Celebrity Mercury but not the Constellation. And never been with P&O at all.

Having trouble to decide which ship for Caribbean.

Many thanks

 

Hi,

 

We've cruised on both Celebrity and just returned from a poor cruise with P&O. Constellation is a beautiful ship with excellent food and entertainment. If I had a choice of P&O or Celebrity it would be Celebrity every time.

 

I cant stress strongly enough how much better the food and service is with Celebrity, knocks P&O into a cocked hat.

 

GG

[Norfolk Brit]

Hi,

 

We've cruised on both Celebrity and just returned from a poor cruise with P&O. Constellation is a beautiful ship with excellent food and entertainment. If I had a choice of P&O or Celebrity it would be Celebrity every time.

 

I cant stress strongly enough how much better the food and service is with Celebrity, knocks P&O into a cocked hat.

GG

 

This thread raises a rather interesting question: as we are on the P&O forum, one would expect the majority to be in favour of that line. So far, no-one seems to have recommended it over Celebrity.

 

Mary

[msg_girl]

I've sailed on Ventura, Millenium (sister ship to Connie) and Century. As always there are pros and cons. P&O offer direct flights to the ship with little luggage handling hassle. I'm not sure where Connie is sailing from but if it is US either Florida or San Juan then you have to factor in the forced overnight in the US and the need to go through US immigration - if this is Miami it adds a significant hassle factor.

My dining room experience with both was equally good, slight differences, P&O offering part silver service with served veg whereas X serve plated meals and if you want a reasonable quantity of veg you have to ask! Also the waiters tend to press you for a good rating, didn't get any of this with P&O. If a good cup of tea is important to you then P&O win hands down. Buffet X is better with more choice.

Entertainment, depends what you like comedians on X will probably be American and I find this difficult since I don't always know the background to their material, theatre performances were all good. I sailed on Ventura with Tate Talks and they were great - if you like art!

Sun decks - space is tight on Ventura if you like to lie in the sun, M class seemed to be better and loved the thalassotherapy pool.

Smoke free indoors on Ventura. Good variation of bars and public rooms, not much dancing space although not that different on M class but fewer Americans like to dance.

When I travelled on Millenium it was a bit tatty in places - damaged art work, bathroom furniture etc. Ventura is very new. Also M class ships do seem to suffer from pod propulsion problems which can caused missed ports, I'm sure there will be an update on the X board.

Key question is how much you will enjoy travelling with 3000 brits vs 2000 americans alongside the pound vs the dollar.

 

Which would I choose - difficult question, I had a fabulous time on Ventura, Tate Talks and dinner with the commodore were highlights but equally enjoyed Millenium and Century. My choice would be based on ports of call and cost since I know I would enjoy both!

 

Hope this helps, G.

[jocap]

Before you book, check on the "extras". Does your ship charge a compulsary "service charge" of around $10 per day? Is there a 15% tax on every drink, down to the necessary bottle of water? Can you take a bottle of wine on board without being banished to the "naughty room"? This is no problem if money is no object, but as one who is stinging a little after discovering that my pre-paid service charge of $10 per day per person on NCL is rising by $2 p.p.p.d. without a by your leave, I'm now very wary of the great American cruise lines. We've booked on P&O for Oct now, because they are more in line with the British way of thinking.-jocap.

[Gerrym]

Unfortunately P&O cannot compete with Celebrity, IMHO.

 

Celebrity is at least a star more than most P&O ships and at least 2 stars above Ventura.

 

As a previous poster said, you would expect a P&O forum to be slightly biased towards P&O, not the case here for sure.

[lostinvegas]

Its a bit strange all this talk about X being better. We almost booked on Galaxy before booking Ventura. I did a lot of research on Galaxy before eventually booking with P&O. In all my reaserch is seemed everyone said X is 1/2 star to a star better. But on closer inspection I could not fathom why? most of the reviews complained about the same things people complain about on here. The overiding complaint was the ship looking tired and ready for retirement.

 

The thing that came out most was the X staff are better and more atentive to guests needs. Personally after experiencing the P&O staff on Oceana I am not sure what they could do to be any better?

 

I am not saying anyone is right or wrong its just I could not see from the reviews why X was particularly better.

 

Chris

[sheilauk]

We have sailed on Oriana, Aurora, , RCCI Navigator, Grand princess and Celebrity Century.

 

We only sailed on Century in Oct 08, but have already booked with her again for May 09. In my opinion, the Celebrity offering is slightly more upmarket, but the pricing level is the same or slightly lower than P&O. We certainly found the service more attentive and having had a problem with our cabin last year, we had a visit from the Captain to apolgise, now you don't get that with P&O.