Jackie posted this on Cruise Critic and the pictures brought back such fond memories that I thought i would post it here as well.

Diamond for sale again

Our first cruise 9/03 B2B to Med was on this sweet ship - only 111 onboard, bar was empty 85% of the time, closet tiny, paid for all drinks, did not know one person prior to trip but boy we loved it! So much so we booked it for 1/04 and met so many who have remained a part of our lives for 6 plus yrs - OH that dining room was beautiful!

Always wanted to sail on her, timing was just wrong, as we were focused on family cruising back then. By the time we were ready, there were too many other ships we wanted to try.

Looks like a really nice ship.

Perhaps Ngaire should buy it and eliminate the "middleman."

I really like that idea, Ted!

Wow, the Diamond looks faboulous! Would love to sail on her again.

oh! David loved this ship as did I..... yes small. but with character. Only complaint was slow if you were looking for ports, but these days with my deck chair requirements....how i love the Diamond. Yes Joanna, we loved it the first time, and went on for a back to back.

Who was with us when we got stuck in the Gulf stream and it took us 3 days to get from FLL to Cozumel? I can't remember if that was the DDD cruise?

NOT us...was not DDD cruise

Must of been my Diamond cruise before DDD then?

The Diamond was our introduction to Radisson - a 19-day transatlantic crossing from Rome to San Juan - in October-November 2000. The wait staff - mostly waitresses - was just terrific; the best we’ve ever had on a cruise! Lorraine W was the cruise director, and Kenny Smiles made the crossing with us. The ship's problem - it’s just too slow!

If I recall correctly, we left Funchal the day after the 2000 presidential election, and when we lost the satellite some hours later, they were still counting the votes in Florida. Very little info between then and eight days later when we came out of the mid-Atlantic void and again picked up the satellite off Puerto Rico, only to learn they were still counting. That's where I got my 'handle' – no pretense to nobility, it's just a request to count Florida; obviously we can't!

The ship seemed a bit beat up when we saw it from a distance in Hong Kong harbor when we came in on PANDA in the fall of 2007, but if the pictures Karen posted are a current indication, it looks to be in good shape now. The Diamond might be a good addition to the fleet if Regent wanted to position a small ship in French Polynesia. The other shortcoming is lack of storage space in the suites; after all is was initially designed as a seminar/cruise ship. But you don't need a great deal of closet and dresser space to cruise the South Pacific.
HAPPY REMINICESES!

Our first cruise was on the Diamond in 1999, it was supposed to be from Rome to San Juan but a late season hurricane caused us to divert to Barbados. Radisson did an outstanding job of getting passengers back to the US and getting the boarding passengers to Barbados for the next cruise. We stayed on the ship an extra night and flew on a charter the next day to Miami. I will always remember the beautiful dining room and our friendly Captain, Jon Blindheim and his wife Leen. We sailed with them another time on board the Song of Flower, another unique small ship that we were very fond of.

Just checked, I made 23 cruises on my beloved "Diamond"! Would do it again in a flash. Captain "baby" Dag, Fabrizio, Barman Guiseppe!DonVito,Engineer Einer. Ushi, Daniel, Karina... the list of memories goes on.

Boy, she looks good if these are recent photos. We sure loved that ship !!

we are on board in hong kong on navigator

and just by chance captain bleinheim and his wife leen came on board to visit us today

and possibly we will see the old diamond on way to viet nam


man that would be great!!!

We were looking to book a cruise on the Diamond several years ago. But then it was sold... Too late!
Would love to see her come back for a 2nd life. Would definitely sail on her.