Review: Radisson Seven Seas - Diamond - [September 24 , 2004]

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Reviewer Comments:

Date: 24 September - 6 October, 2004

Itinerary: Istanbul to Athens via Dikili, Kusadasi, Rhodes, Santorini,
Mykonos, and Nauplion

Specifics: Jack and I have been on a dozen cruises on 7 cruise lines. This
is our third trip to the Med, the last two years were western Med on a 64
passenger sailing yacht. This was our first luxury cruise after mass market
and premium cruising since 1990. We have been promising friends that we
would do the Greek Isles and finally got there.

Initial tour: Istanbul via the ship's tour package. Definitely expensive
and worth every penny. The private limo with guide and driver. The
individual attention to details. Going where we wanted when we wanted. We
were at the Four Seasons Istanbul.. Our suite overlooked the Blue Mosque.
The food in the hotel was fantastic. The Four Seasons is a restored
seventeenth century prison with beautiful buildings around a central
courtyard. We left the door to the balcony open at night and could hear the
5:30 am prayer call at the Blue Mosque. Our private walking tour with a
guide of the mosque, the cistern, the hippodrome, Haggia Sophia and the
Topkapi Palace was one of the best tours I have taken in my travels. The
Blue Mosque is incredibly striking.

We had a four hour car tour on Monday before arriving at the Diamond at 4
PM. The tour was in a Mercedes 500 sedan and we went where we wanted and
stopped when we wanted. Bazaar 54 to buy a couple of rugs, the spice market
for Turkish Delight and saffron, a drive along the Bosphorus with a stop for
coffee and dessert at a seaside cafe. Guide and driver excellent.

The ship is incredible. One day on the bridge, I asked Captain Broomhall
how high the seas need to get before the ship felt any motion.

The food was exquisite. The buffets were way beyond what we had on any
other ship.. I loved the anytime dining with the best menu options I have
seen on a dozen cruises.

The shore excursions were first rate. We got to do the Classical concert in
Ephesus. We got to transit the Corinth Canal in a private charter. There
was never a full bus. Most tours were 16-30 people per group.

We never felt herded or crowded.

We had two days with the water platform down where we could swim, snorkel,
or kayak from the ship.

The bridge was always open.

Room service breakfast was light years ahead of anything we had in a dining
room on other ships. Don Vito, the alternative dining venue, was so much
fun, with singing, dancing, great food and wines.

We had a fully stocked complimentary bar. We had Glenfiddich stocked. We
had Aveda toiletries, and 12 channels of TV. A 24 hour open honor library
and video center. Gratuities included. Three cocktail parties. Four, if
you were a repeater.

Wines poured with dinner. The food was better than anything we had on other
ships.

Ports:

Dikili - the weak stop, a few hours. Not the best place to go but it was
added to give us a port a day.

Kusadasi: we did Ephesus and the Terrace Houses. Beautiful weather and
the ruins were just mind boggling. We also had a chamber orchestra concert
in the ruins that night.

Phodes: we did a bus highlight tour. Interesting port. Wish I had more
time in the old town.

Santorini: in-credible. I must have taken 100 pictures in Oia.
We loved Santorini. We had lunch there and watched the donkeys come up from
the tender location below Fira.

Mykonos: we wandered the town, and had lunch. We loved "little Venice"
and the windmills. And the pelican. We want to go back there.

Nauplion: we want to Corinth and then transited the Canal on the Canal
Vista.

Athens: two nights in the Intercontinental, with dinner in the Plaka at
Daphnes.

Overall, weather was perfect. The ship the best size for the Isles. The
luxury experience has hooked us. I can't imagine paying the same price for
a mini or a suite on mass market lines.

Radisson does it exceptionally well. We are booked for Tahiti before the
Paul Gauguin leaves the fleet.