She looks good. I see they have matched the wavy lines to the Louis colours and also that they have installed a pool on deck.

since the 13th April, she is under repairs at Elefsina, Greece (after the Pireaus). Will be ready soon for cruises from Pireaus to greek isles and Turkey.

quote:

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New cruise vessel "Sea Diamond" unveiled
April 30, 2006

Louis Hellenic Cruises on Friday unveiled its new cruise vessel 'Sea Diamond', scheduled to begin three- and four-day cruises in the Aegean from May 1.

Merchant Marine Minister Manolis Kefaloyiannis and Tourism Minister Fani Palli-Petralia attended the inaugurating ceremony. Kefaloyiannis praised Louis Hellenic Cruises’ contribution in the rebirth of the sea cruise industry in Greece, while Mrs Palli-Petralia congratulated Kostakis Loizou, Louis Hellenic Cruises’ president, for his efforts to promote sea cruise and tourism in general.

"Our vision is to link our company’s growth with the revival and strengthening of Greek sea cruise sector, Greek tourism and the country’s economy. With our new vessel, Sea Diamond, we make another step towards this goal," Loizou said.

The new vessel was built in Finland in 1986, initially under the name 'Birka Princess' and was fully renovated in 1999. Louis Hellenic Cruises bought the vessel for 35 million US dollars and spent another 10 million US dollars for renovation works.

Sea Diamond is a 22,412 ton vessel with a capacity of 1,250 passengers in 570 cabins.

Athens News Agency

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I have a friend who visited the Sea Diamond last friday, and he didn't like her inside, the cabins look like cabins of ferries, which is not very good for a cruise ship, and the saloons was not great. But the ship was built in 1986 and owned by Louis cruises, which offer low cost cruises, so it' s still that.
I will see her this summer, I will tell you my own impressions.

MORE than 1,500 passengers and crew were evacuated from a stricken cruise ship off the Greek coast today after it hit rocks and began to list during a tour of the Aegean islands.

The Greek government said it was a “miracle” that there were no deaths or injuries between the moment the 472-foot Sea Diamond ran aground off the island resort of Santorini and when the rescue operation was completed this evening.

The ministries of defence, merchant marine, public order and tourism launched a massive rescue operation designed to prove that this sea-faring nation was highly qualified to tackle disasters at sea.

The operation involved two Greek naval frigates, seven helicopters, two passenger ferries and the island’s large fleet of fishing and tourism vessels, which all rushed to join in the rescue half a nautical mile from the shore.

Hundreds of schoolchildren were reported to be among the passengers, many of whom were spending the Easter holiday on group lecture tours. Passengers climbed down the side of the listing ship on escape ladders and scrambled on to boats. Many were seen hugging each other and wiping away tears once they reached Santorini.

“Thank God, our feet are touching ground,” said a Greek passenger, Efstathios Fotidi. “We heard a loud noise ... a few minutes later the ship started listing.”

There were reported to be British holidaymakers aboard the ship but most of the passengers evacuated to the island port of Thira during a three-hour operation were American.

Fani Pali-Petralia, the tourism minister, said: “This resembles an Easter miracle. Not a single person was injured, not a single person even got their feet wet.”

The crash in shallow rocky waters as the ship approached the island caused a rift in the hull and an intake of water which forced the captain to order the evacuation.

The Sea Diamond, operated by Cyprus-based Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, was still in danger of sinking this evening after tilting 15 degrees.

A large tug boat, the Leon, was pulling the vessel towards the shore in an attempt to prevent it from sinking. Some of the crew of almost 400 and maritime rescue experts remained on board to assist in saving the ship.

The cruise company pledged to the Greek government that it would provide an explanation as soon as possible as to how the incident occurred in broad daylight and under good weather conditions.

The 22,412-tonne ship’s “black box”, the electronic recording device which traces every movement of a ship or plane, is to be examined by investigators.

According to legend, Santorini was home to the legendary lost city of Atlantis, which was destroyed and sank beneath the sea following a giant earthquake and volcanic eruption.

The ship had begun a tour of Greek Aegean islands on Monday, starting off in Athens and then visiting several islands with the focus on the current Greek Easter holiday week.

Michael Maratheftis, the local spokesman for the cruise company, said it would accommodate the passengers on Santorini before trying to put them on another ship tomorrow so that they can continue their holidays.

[ 04-06-2007: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]