Well, after all the frustration it was wonderful to finally take this cruise!

I was a bit apprehensive about this cruise. First because it took so long to happen, and there have been some changes at Radisson that have been worrisome as well. We had booked a limo from LaGuardia and the ride to the pier was as lovely as that ride can be. One note to anyone cruising out of New York - don't plan to board until 1PM or so. We waited in the terminal from 12 to 12:45 as the previous cruise was just finishing dis-embarkation when we arrived at noon. (Also - don't book a flight before 1 or 2 PM when leaving NY either.)

We enjoyed our champagne on the pool deck and ordered lunch, which was delivered promptly and was good. We relaxed until about 2:30 when the cabins were ready. No luggage delivery was a bit of a shock - all the large bags were waiting for us outside the elevators. We found our luggage and got settled in. Our stewardess Julie was a gem and got our bar set-up ordered.

Sail away out of New York is something I won't forget. Sailing by Lady Liberty and that still impressive skyline is something I would recommend to anyone!

Though we didn't realize it we were on a Spotlight on Jazz cruise. We met some of the most interesting people - though we weren't up late enough to enjoy all the music it did add a lot to the cruise.

I found the food to be just as good as ever. Room service was prompt and that food was also quite good. The night we booked Portofino our table wasn't ready until 45 minutes after our reservation - which wasn't great, but when we went down we found they were filming a spot for a new show called Travel Spies (I think!) which explained the delay. We had had drinks with the host (unbeknownst to us of course) ealier in the day by the pool.

We were invited to dine with Joe and Heather Radd, cruise directors, which was a lovely treat. We discussed the sad business of saying goodbye to the Diamond - they were on that ship for several years prior to being on the Navigator. I wish I had had the chance to sail her. The seas were quite rough that night and Tim had to excuse himself - but they took good care of him getting some candied ginger and ginger ale from the kitchen. The next day the seas were so rough they closed the shops, recommended that we not go on deck, emptied the pool and finally even turned off all the passenger elevators! Room service was very busy that day - mainly with crackers and ginger ale, but we managed to at least get some real food down. For the first time ever I ordered a pizza from room service - it was very good!

Bermuda itself was lovely - our stop at St. George was cancelled due to weather, but we enjoyed Hamilton. Actually we enjoyed having no set schedule. We took no excursions and just wandered about on our own, and I really think that was one of the most relaxing things about this cruise! For you familiar with Bermuda I wanted to mention that Trimminghams is going out of business - never thought that would happen!

I have to say that I don't think the quality of a Radisson cruise has declined. The food was excellent, service was outstanding, and all the staff were helpful. The ship does show a bit of wear, but is well maintained and beautifully laid out. I did get billed for drinks at Compass Rose with dinner, though all I had was a gin and tonic. That's not enough to merit a complaint however. Given the 2 rough crossings I have to really compliment the staff - especially Julie - in taking care of us so well.

Our flight out of NY was an 11:30 flight, and the tour desk was very helpful in looking for alternatives as they knew we would most likely miss that flight. Again - thanks to our limo driver (and bad weather in NY) we actually made the flight!

Looking over this review it is a bit like the cruise itself - sort of lazy and not too organized on my part. Other than the weather it was the perfect remedy for a stressful spring! Again I want to say thanks to all of you for all the encouragement as we worked through the details of taking this cruise, and if there are any Radisson lurkers about I thank you as well. It was a wonderful trip and I can't wait to next be on a Radisson ship!