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Name: Monte Mathews
Email: montem@gothaminc.com
Age: 51
Occupation: Creative Director
NumberOfCruises: 9
TravelAgent: No
Ship: Radisson-Diamond
SailingDate: December 19, 1998
Itinerary: Panama Canal
FoodDiningRoom: 85
CruiseDirector: 95
CabinComfort: 90
FoodRoomService: 85
CruiseStaff: 95
CabinAmenities: 90
FoodLidoDeck: 90
DiningRoomService: 90
CabinQuietness: 95
FoodMidnightBuffets:
CabinSteward: 99
ShoreExcVariety: 85
FoodVariety:
DeckService: 99
ShoreExcValue: 65
GoodForHoneymoon:
CasinoStaff: 85
PrivateIsland:
GoodForFamilies:
LoungeService: 90
TenderService: 95
GoodForSeniors: 95
BeautySalonStaff:
EntertainmentLounges: 80
WheelchairAccess: 99
ExerciseFacilities: 95
EntertShowLounge: 80
OverallPortsofCall: 85
BeautySalon:
EntertainmentPoolside: 90
CruiseActivities: 90
Casino: 90
AirSeaProgram: 10
MedicalFacilities: 90
ShipCleanliness: 99
EmbarkDisembark: 85
DiscoNightclubs: 80
DeckSpace: 95
Stabilization: 99
ShopsOnBoard: 95
SpaceRatio: 99
OverallCruiseValue: 75
Submit: Submit Review
Date: 29 Apr 1998
Time: 17:42:00
Remote Name: 207.113.36.113
Remote User:
Comments
The Radisson Diamond is a beautifully maintained ship. The cabin
and restaurant service are gracious. Carrying only 360
passengers, the ship is the size
we like to sail. The single seating at all meals, the excellent
wines that are all-inclusive, the tips included in the fare, the
enormous amount of passenger
space, the ease with which one could find a deck chair, the
wonderful cabin service, the Christmas festivities are all to be
applauded. The passengers are
a very well-heeled and upscale lot --not a boor in the bunch. In
fact I can't think of another cruise in which there was such
homogenity. They were
absolutely delightful people. Even the children (about 20 of
them) were extremely well-behaved and a pleasure to be around.
That said, unfortunately, this
cruise did not compare with other comparably priced cruises we
have taken on Cunard/Royal Viking, Renaissance and Seabourn. I
think it's important to
realize that with per diems in the high $500. a day range, one
expects a superb travel experience. If this trip had been at a
lower price point, perhaps we
would not have judged it quite as harshly. In my opinion, the
value is simply not there. And there are some places where this
was nowhere near a five star
experience.
The most obvious example of Radisson's failing to match the
standards of the upper end of the cruise market was unfortunately
the attrocious
Air/Sea arrangements which pretty well poisoned us before we ever
boarded the ship. Without going into the excruciating details,
the routings were
absurd. Not one single request was honored and the air travel
department, apart from being the most inept we have ever dealt
with was also the most
inefficient and impolite. In the end, we discovered we had not
even been sent return tickets. We received no help at all while
we were on the ship from the
extremely inefficient purser's office. And when we finally docked
at the end of our cruise, we had to spend half a day going
directly to the airline itself to
get replacement tickets. Disgraceful. Giving the excuse that this
was Christmas travel season hardly helped since we had booked and
paid for this cruise in
June. And because the arrangements were so completely untenable,
we ended up having to upgrade our own flights only to discover
there were plenty of
seats available on not one but three airlines.
This is one area where Radisson should clean up their act.
Ground services are clearly not their strong suit:
Unlike other lines, you're responsible for your own luggage pick
up at the airport. Unlike Seabourn, there is no hospitality
extended to passengers whose
flights arrive ludicrously early in the day for a 5:00pm sailing.
Instead one is shuttled to the pier for a very long wait on
plastic chairs in an airport-like
waiting room for hours and hours. Anybody who has ever travelled
on Seabourn would be appalled at how poorly this is handled. The
ship was built for
shorter cruises. This means that the closet space in the cabins
is quite limited. Our 9 day cruise necessitated more clothing
than the closets could
reasonably accomodate. Overall the staterooms are pleasant and we
loved our balcony. But you'd find far more space on Renaissance
1-7. The
bathrooms are minute.
The cabin service however is wonderful. The stewardess was
marvellous. The Dining Room is a stunner-- often called one of
the
most beautiful rooms afloat. When it comes to food, we are very
high maintenance as we live in New York City and travel
extensively and enjoy great
restaurants. The menu on the Radisson is extensive and that may
be the problem: There are a number of 'dogs' on the menu--
indescribably poor
pheasant for just one memorable example. We quickly learned to
trust our wonderful waitress and she steered us clear from
further 'gourmet' offerings.
Overall, there seemed to be a problem with temperatures too. Meat
never arrived as ordered. There's an alternate Italian dinner
offered on the Lido deck.
It's plenty of fun with singing waiters and audience
participation but the food there is just abominable. Having lived
in Italy, I found it incredible that they
could destroy Osso Buco they way they did -- since it is a very
simple dish to prepare. We did enjoy the breakfast and lunch
buffets. Frankly I think the
food there was better than the Dining Room. And our Christmas
lunch buffett was spectacular-- particularly the ice sculptures
of Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
The ship is marvellous if you like days at sea. Because of its
hull configuration, it moves at a maximum of 12 knots an hour. It
is famously stable but we still
knew we were at sea on several occasions.
The intinery allowed a day at sea between each of the five
ports. These were wonderful days of sun. The deck
staff brings complimentary teas and soft drinks and waters
constantly, often without being asked. Heaven. The ports were not
the high point of this cruise.
Dreadful Cozumel where we took an absurdly overpriced 'Jeep
Safari'-- an absolute joke -- especially since Radisson
passengers have pretty well been
everywhere. Avoid it like the plague--which is apt since we were
viciously attacked by mosquitoes. At Grand Cayman, we avoided the
offerings -- mainly to
avoid the passengers from the seven other ships that were there.
We heard nothing good about the Turtle Farm or swimming with the
sting rays from
those passengers who took those trips. Our next port was San
Andreas, an island off Central America that belongs to Columbia.
It was Christmas Day, the
shops were shuttered and we did a quick tour round the island by
cab. The obivous reason the ship dropped anchor at this rather
downscale island was to
lower the watersports platform and get out the waverunners and to
allow Santa Claus to arrive by speedboat. The Diamond's Christmas
celebration was
really well done--lots of fun and lots of laughs. Following
another day at sea, we went through the Panama Canal. I cannot
begin to describe how much I
enjoyed this experience. I found the whole thing totally
fascinating and certainly the highlight of the whole trip. I have
also never been so hot in my entire
life. When the ship is in a lock, it is suffocating! I spent most
of the time in a swimsuit coming in and out of our balcony just
to cool off. But it was well worth
while. The final port and our disembarkation point was Puerto
Caldera, Costa Rica. This again was a first for me and I was
totally taken with this beautiful
country. We had a rather extensive tour-- which is too bad really
because we were all exhausted by the time we got to the beautiful
Costa Rica Marriott
where we stayed an additional three days. I have many fond
memories of our time on the Diamond and we made some wonderful
friends. Would I go
back? I wrote the Chairman of the line to tell him of our
displeasure at the airline situation, the purser's response, the
wasted half day in Costa Rica
chasing down our missing airline tickets. He wrote back finally
and offered no real explanation or apology. He did enclose two
$500. discount coupons for
another Raddisson cruise to be taken within a calendar year. But
getting to the ship was such a nightmare and as long as Silversea
and Seabourn are still
sailing, I doubt we'll use them.
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