For those who may be interested in reading this, it's a long read. Here is a link to a journal on our trip to San Juan.

http://journals.aol.com/dfriia/RSSCDiamondSanJuanRT22005/entries/628

The link takes you to the first entry. You can then navigate to the subsequent entries using the link on the right side of the date bar at the top, or Bottom, (A Good Start> is the link to the 2nd entry).

Lots of information and too bad the Diamond is leaving.

Just FYI, We were on a 17 night cruise just before the world cruise and the menus in the main dining room did not repeat (that I could tell). Now Lattitudes and Signatures ran the same menu for a week at a time or so and the Mediterrenean grill varied, every other day, I think.

Colleen,

Thanks for the FYI. I asked Rolando specifically about the world cruise and he seemed to understand the question and was firm about the 14-day menu rotation, but that really did not seem like it should be right to us.

Debbie

Wow Debbie,

That was some journal and Clay must be a real character! I'm sorry you had mal de mer; I've been fortunate so far.

Have only been on Navigator, which was great, but some of your service experiences are disturbing, to say the least. Are you reassessing the World Cruise?

Thanks so much for all the time that took; I didn't know that was available on AOL.

Debbie, I LOVED this review!! I started laughing with the exploding mustard and by the time I got to the roof dogs, I was laughing so hard I was crying!
I am very sorry that you were seasick most of the trip and I hope you enjoyed yourself a little bit, at least!

Please tell Clay I love his writing syle!

Debbie,
A very cool way to do the review with the photos matching every port. Have not found how you did it yet-- through aol.
Jan

Kathy - Ha, character, that is a good word. He’ll love it! Yeah, it fits. Though, probably some would use the same term for me, too! We were not overwhelmed, in a positive sense, with our experience. We understood going into this quickie Diamond cruise that we could not compare it with a World Cruise on Voyager. After we booked, the WC we learned that Diamond was soon leaving the fleet and I think we again lowered our expectations with the understanding that the staff and crew might be in a state of flux. All that said, frankly our expectations were still not met. I am trying not to think about the WC commitment right now. When Clay asks, I tell him that I don’t want this to color my decision; we still have many months until the final payment date to make a final commitment.

Karen, we are funny people, intentional, or not. Yes, we did have fun. We were laughing a lot, too. Clay is wry. In case you don’t know, sometimes that can be hard to live with 24/7. But, we always make each other laugh and if you can’t have fun, you can’t have much of anything at all.

Kathy and Jan, if you are AOL members, you can find that feature on AOL by logging on and from the welcome screen, click on “AOL from A to Z,” it is on the left hand side of my welcome. Scroll to J for Journals, click it and that will start you right up. It is a really easy interface and a great function. I never knew about it either before the last few weeks. Clay has always kept a WORD.doc as a journal and just kept his pictures in separate files. Then, he just emailed attachments to anyone he wanted to share with. When we booked the WC, he told me that he would like to do it differently, in a way that he could just update his journal online and send people to the link. I started poking around and lo and behold, there was this great feature right in my face every day and I never noticed it. There are of course, some drawbacks, but it could not be easier or more convenient and it has the plus of pictures, which Clay had not even considered previously. Good luck with it if you are going to try it. And, hey, if it is not too private, share the link with us here. OK?

Debbie

I loved this review! However, it made me realize that when I am on a cruise again and have a complaint about the pool bar service, I am going to go to someone higher up to make it known. I am glad Debbie fought her own battle and won, sometimes these little service issues are what people remember when they get home. This review was hilarious in parts! Only one who has really been seasick can really appreciate some of her writing, as we all have to learn to laugh later once we are over it!

My question, will you be on the full WC next year?
If so, you are going to have to be our "resident scribe" as Marcie is for this one!

WOW - what a review. I felt like I was there EXCEPT for the sea sickness that I definitely wanted to not experience with you. They do NOT rotate the menus every 14 days - dont worry about that this is misinformation.

Debbie - I've ordered Eggs Benedict many times on RSSC - I've yet to get an order that had a dollop of caviar on top. I want your order!! :D

Masaki

Debbie, Clay; superb review with pics to boot, thanks for sharing, sorry to hear about the sea sickness...do hope you decide on the WC..it is a rare opportunity to do/experience...pls read Marcie's posts from this year's WC and u will see what a special treat you both are in store for...r/wes

Masaki,
Yes, I was sure that I had never heard here of anyone getting caviar served atop their regular Eggs Benedict! And, I was sure that if it was available, I would have heard about it from you, specifically! Take that photo with you next time and insist that it is the RSSC standard for serving Eggs Benedict.

Olivia,
Yes, we are booked on the next full WC, FLL to FLL, 12/27/05 to 04/28/06 in cabin #748. If anyone here has been in that cabin and has any feedback, photos or suggestions for a long cruise in it, we would love to hear them. We are planning at this point to be on this cruise. I am sure that Clay will keep up his usual trip journaling.

I asked Ted about the egss benedict on the Voyager. He ate them rather regularly. There was no cavier. He hates cavier and I would have grabbed it off the plate before he had a chance to send it back if I had seen it. I think you will get a better idea of the world cruise by reading the posts from Marcie, Paul, Joanna, Olivia, et al.

Oh and I should add, that I had friends on the Dianmond in late JAnuary, the same week we all learned about the ship leaving in June. They had a few service issues, too. Nothing major, and nothing they didn't get fixed but not Radisson style.

Example, someone ordered desert, tasted it and didn't like it and wanted something different. The waitor kept insisting that she got what she ordered. She agreed but wanted something else, it took a few minutes and a bit of arguing to convince him to get something else.

Debbie,

Sorry to hear that your cruise was not up to your expectations. From the rough seas, you being ill, (awful) to service issues (regrettable).
We have such good memories of our two Diamond cruises.
Please, tell Clay, I love his writing style. His journal was a "hoot" to read.

Betty

Debbie, there are several of us who will be on the first part of your journey, FLL to LAX. Our cruise has been named PARTY, and we will look forward to meeting you and Clay!

So, it is unanimous, I got the most special Eggs Benedict ever served. Well, I felt special at the time as well as appalled! As to the seasickness, it was a given that if I got near water I would be sick. The question is always not if, but when and how bad, so that was not totally unexpected. We were just surprised after all RSSC’s hype about the ship’s stable and smooth ride to find such a disturbing and unusual motion.

Wes, et al, I want to assure everyone that I have been following all the world cruisers’ posts from the day they announced their bookings here and on CC. I do not think I have missed a one and would like to particularly thank them for keeping all of us posted. I am working on a list of questions for Marcie. I hope she won’t mind using some of her special time aboard to answer them when we think we have them all ready for her.

Betty, et al, I will be sure Clay reads this thread.

Olivia, yes we did sign up at the PARTY roll call. A little worried about all of you at once. I will look forward to meeting you also, as well as everyone else, one at a time.

Debbie

I understand that ships all carry shots that take care of seasickness instantly. Has anyone tried one of these? Seems like a good alternative when you feel lousy for so long.

My sister has on several ocassions. It worked like a miracle.

Hey, that's not half bad as an idea. Hmmmm ...

Masaki

;)