Off topic - Anyone here ever cruise on the old Radisson Diamond?

[slidebite]

I remember taking our first Regent cruise in 2008. Around Mariner where they had various photos/plaques of the fleet. In addition to the ships we know and love (Navigator, Voyager and Mariner), there was a 4th somewhat peculiar ship, the Radisson Diamond. Unique for a cruise ship because it had a SWATH - style hull.

E: Just remembered, the Paul Gauguin was part of the fleet at that time too!

 

She was sold in 2005 and turned into an Asian gambling ship, but I have always wondered what it would have been like on board as a Radisson/Regent ship and how it would have handled the seas. Anyone here sail on it during the 13 year Radisson career?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_China_Star

 

Looks like it *might* still be active as a luxury Chinese ship (according to wiki) but I don't think I'll be making that trip to find out anytime soon 🙂

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by slidebite

[lincslady]

Sailed on her once.  She was a bit peculiar, obviously not really built to be a normal cruise ship.  The cabins were a bit strange, and the main lounge was useless;  my recollection is that it was long and thinnish, with no rake to the floor.  The nicest bits were the alternative restaurant, which was Italian and very jolly, and above all the main dining room, which sloped slightly  down to  huge windows and was a gorgeous room.  A table by the window was a lovely experience.  And, of course, she was Radisson!  Don't remember any problems with handling, but we were in the Med.

[Portolan]

We sailed on the Diamond twice.  Very unusual design which made it super stable and very slow.  Top speed as I recall was about 12 knots.

 

Three distinct memories:

1. The Grand Dining Room had a high ceiling with a huge window on the stern.
2. Returning to the ship by tender, we were taken up the channel between the hulls.
3. Passengers being invited to the bridge (which was open to us most of the time) to enjoy sailing by Dubrovnik in the early morning.  Some passengers in bathrobes.

 

 

 

[mrlevin]

We sailed on her in 2003 when her European season was cancelled and she stayed in the Caribbean.  To entice bookings it was all inclusive.  We had only 144 guests and had a Beatles tribute band and Beatles lecturer; it was a fantastic cruise.  Giuseppe was great CD and Don Vito's was a fun dinner experience.  The band played in the lower section of the theater with all sorts of screaming women whilst the more sane amongst us stayed in the upper portion.  It was a great ship.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

We sailed Diamond in 2004, Black Sea, back when that included Crimea. Lovely little ship, quirky for sure. Open Bridge on the pool deck which was great. And that absolutely stunning dining room. Awful Don Vito's claptrap.

[labonnevie]

We did Venice to Rome on the Diamond in 2004. We had previously only done a Navigator Alaska cruise and a Windstar cruise. We loved the Radisson service and food. Remember the tenders going between the hulls and being on the bridge for our sail into Dubrovnik. It was a fun ship, not sure how we’d feel about her now!

[RachelG]

Our first Regent cruise .  We sailed Istanbul to Athens with our boys who were 12 and 17 at the time.  We booked 2 cabins side by side and let them stay in their own room.  They loved it.  The housekeepers even commented on how polite they were.  The dining room was the most beautiful I have ever been in.  No real theater—it was an odd area.  But we loved that ship.

[slidebite]

Interesting to hear about it. I wonder why Regent/Radisson sold it? A little "too" unique?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

1 hour ago, slidebite said:

Interesting to hear about it. I wonder why Regent/Radisson sold it? A little "too" unique?

Yeah, plus it was very expensive to run.  And it was slow. As Rachel said, it had no real theatre.  And only one alternative dining area, and that was small.

[asnaleah]

We sailed on her twice, 1996 (Mediterranean) and 1998 (Panama Canal). Good sized cabins, beautiful dining room, excellent food and service. Small, intimate, very stable. There were water activities off the back. More yachting than cruising if that makes sense. Wonderful times, thanks for sparking those memories!

[DavidTheWonderer]

The captain admitted that as a ship, she left a lot to be desired.
But, largely because of that spectacular dining room, until recently she was the most beautiful ship in the Regent (then Radisson) fleet that I had been on.  "Recently" means until a couple of weeks ago when we spent 11 days on Splendor.

[bebop bonnie]

The Radisson Diamond was my first cruise....what a way to become quickly spoiled!  It was San Juan to San Juan in about 1993.  I still remember the Italian speciality restaurant, Don Vitos.. and the gorgeous wall of very high windows in Compass Rose, where someone dramatically raised and lowered the curtains every evening!!  And memories of the Paul Gauguin are still vivid in my head!  Probably because I still have a large conch shell I purchased in Moorea sitting on my desk!!

 

[moogwan]

And let us not forget the little, quirky Song of Flower!

[lincslady]

We so loved that ship,  crazy though she was.  And her Captain, the notorious Dag.

[DrHemlock]

Following our 2000 first-ever cruise aboard the Ren VII in the Seychelles, our 2nd, 3rd and 4th cruises were aboard Diamond.  Second and third were the usual Caribbean itineraries, but fourth was transatlantic from Funchal to San Juan.  

She handled very nicely in mid-ocean, gliding along what Capt. Broomhall stated were 15-foot seas.  Twin hulls apparently tended to cancel out each other's tilting and yawing.

Open bridge was a never-to-be-duplicated privilege on any of our subsequent cruises aboard Regent or Oceania.

Giuseppe was levels above any other cruise director we've sailed with on R or O.  We were thrilled to find him as hotel manager aboard Navigator a few years later.  No idea where he is now, though I had the feeling he was heading toward an onshore career to stay in one place with his new son and beautiful (as in "Oh, my!") wife.

Sure do miss that boat.

[fudgbug]

57 minutes ago, moogwan said:

And let us not forget the little, quirky Song of Flower!

We LOVED the Song of Flower and the Hanseatic when it was Radisson!

 

[Portolan]

4 hours ago, moogwan said:

And let us not forget the little, quirky Song of Flower!

Never sailed on Song of Flower, but passed her in the Baltic in 2003 on board the brand new Voyager captained by Dag who had brought A model of SoF with him which was displayed in the Voyager's forward lounge.

[Dolebludger]

We were on the Radisson Diamond in the Caribbean around 2003. Our rooms didn’t have balconies, but they were fairly spacious as I recall. Our cruise was an experiment for Radisson in that it was the first one with drinks at the bar included in the fare. It must have been popular, because it was the most crowded Radisson/Regent cruse we’ve been on. I don’t recall everything about it, but I do remember that it was very slow. It cruised at about ten knots. 

[slidebite]

19 hours ago, moogwan said:

And let us not forget the little, quirky Song of Flower!

Wow, who would have thought doing google searches for old ships would lead to untouched, time capsule mid 90s web pages

 

http://www.signaturetravel.com/static/flower1.htm

 

http://www.signaturetravel.com/static/flower7.htm

 

 

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

18 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

We were on the Radisson Diamond in the Caribbean around 2003. Our rooms didn’t have balconies, but they were fairly spacious as I recall. Our cruise was an experiment for Radisson in that it was the first one with drinks at the bar included in the fare. It must have been popular, because it was the most crowded Radisson/Regent cruse we’ve been on. I don’t recall everything about it, but I do remember that it was very slow. It cruised at about ten knots. 

That's funny, Richard.  The Diamond was our first non-PG cruise, in 2004, and I remember being shocked that we had to sign for a beer at lunch.  Quite put out, we were!  Can't remember, but I'm thinking wine was included at dinner because I don't remember signing.

[lincslady]

We cruised several times on Song of Flower before Diamond, starting in about 1994.  I feel sure it was always all drinks included - I imagine the first ship to be all inclusive? and Diamond certainly was when we went on her quite a few years later.  After signing up for drinks on other lines, and being hassled  to order them on one of the cheaper ones some years before, this made a huge difference to our enjoyment.  Truly, not huge drinkers, but just not having to sign each time, and socialising with others  without the problem of whose turn it was to pay made such a difference to the cruise. 

 

Feel free to correct me if I am misremembering;  it is quite a while ago.

[caviargal]

I did and still remember it most fondly!  The bathroom was fabulous, the food and service wonderful.  It was the perfect size as well.

Edited March 2, 2023 by caviargal

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

I was in my early fifties and had just been recently widowed in June, 1992 and my children suggested I take my first cruise alone. I booked  a Christmas- New Years Cruise on the Raddison Diamond. 
it seems that when I arrived onboard, some of the crew knew my situation. I was personally greeted by the senior staff members, including the Captain. 
At that time, there was dancing in the main dining room. It was wonderful. Staff members sat with me and I danced the whole evening. 
My cabin was quite large. I made several friends aboard and had lovely dinners with them. 
I will never forget this experience, transforming from a sad widow to seeing  a wonderful life ahead!

PS… that was 31 years ago. I remarried many years ago and my DH and I still sail Regent several times a year!

[slidebite]

What a nice story

[ClayS]

My first cruise ever was on the Diamond, Rome to Barcelona! This was probably summer 1995, as best I can remember. I was 10 years old, and my sister (14) and myself were the only kids aboard. We took the trip with my parents and grandparents and it was such a cool experience. I remember being totally enamored, as I loved big machines and the Diamond was certainly an interesting one. The service was extremely personal, and I can still remember the cruise director was a woman named Trudy with whom we all became friends. Because the ship was so small, many of the crew wore multiple hats and she and the three (or so) entertainers served as tour guides on the chore excursions. The passengers were mostly middle aged and well heeled, and there were only about 300 of us. I remember they let me drive the tender at one port and they also drove up the center channel of the ship at another. It was really a cool vacation.

The only experience that was even close was several years later when my family took a cruise on the Song of Flower in the Baltic, Hamburg to Stockholm around 1999 or maybe early 2000s. That was truly an intimate ship with only 180 passengers or so. The itinerary was really fascinating to some interesting ports, and as this was only my second cruise (after my Diamond voyage), she made the Diamond feel large by comparison. I remember one night eating dinner at the captains table, and the woman seated next to me was a solo cruiser. After chatting, I discovered her son was the lead singer of the band Train! They would become more popular after we met, but I remember her sarcastically referring to her son the rockstar. When I told her I knew the group, she said, "Oh, you know Charlie's little band?!" Such good memories; thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Those were my only two Regent cruises (Radisson then), but I hope to try their newer ships one day!

Edited January 4 by ClayS
Added to the post