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If you want no children on board then I agree with Solender that Arcadia is the one or maybe Artemis. If having children on board is not a problem, then I would recommend Oceana. We did this trip Dec 2008 and had a wonderful time. The reason why it is an all day transit is because the Cruise ships only go at about 9 knots. Yes it can be boring at some points, but you can always wave to the merchant ships as they go by. Also the cruise ships pay a lot more money to go through the canal. Oceana does an exceptional buffet on transit day. My suggestion would be to go from Acapulca to Barbados as it is a very long flight approx 16 hrs and I would not want that at the end of my trip. The journey back from Barbados is approx 8-9hrs depending were you fly from. It would be interesting to go through once the Panamax locks are open as there would be more cruise ships sailing. We passed 2 on our trip, goodness know what speed they were doing. The only drawback with Arcadia is that there is no main Atrium were you can gather for the Captains Gala Party. The pool even when covered is not the place, other than that she is a lovely Ship. Hope this helps.

We very much enjoyed going through the Panama Canal on P&O Arcadia. You can do this going from Barbados to Acapulco or in reverse. You should understand that, though absolutely fascinating, the canal is a commercial waterway and you have to follow the merchant ships through. This is very slow and takes all day. From one end to the other there are only commercial facilities and there are no on shore visits while in transit.