ON TOUR: Ambassador Ambience

A first trip on a new British cruise line.

When CMV failed in July 2020 due to Covid-19 the UK lost an established homegrown cruise line and Tilbury Port its major passenger ship customer.  The strain of supporting five non-revenue earning ships for an unknown period had proven too much for the investors.

All was not wasted and under the leadership of Christian Verhounig as CEO, who held the same position at CMV, Ambassador Cruise Lines has emerged.  Again based at Tilbury and with its first ship Ambience, the former Regal Princess, due to join CMV as Amy Johnson when the pandemic broke out.

The market for Ambassador is essentially the same, the British over fifties.  In May Ambience will be joined by Ambition, a smaller ship able to turnaround (ie board holidaymakers) at a series of regional ports including Belfast, Bristol Royal Portbury, Dundee, Falmouth, Liverpool and Newcastle. 

For Tilbury, coach travel is offered from Victoria Coach Station in London.  Tilbury Station is a very short taxi ride to the terminal and the M25 is seven miles away.  Ample parking is available opposite the terminal.

With all the problems of launching a new company during an unpreceded period of lockdown, delays were inventible.  It was not until 20 April 2022, that Ambience set sail for the first time with a short cruise to Hamburg (Germany), followed by a seven-night trip to Norway.

BTN previewed the ship 2 May 2022 www.btnews.co.uk/article/19053.

Our 7-night holiday was entitled British Isles Discovery, a circumnavigation of the UK.
See www.btnews.co.uk/article/19639 in this issue.


Ambassador Ambience

With just under 1,400 passengers, boarding at Tilbury could not be easier, even for those who had not sorted out their pre-departure website procedures.  

The Ambassador App offered most of the information needed, including the daily dining menu and dotted around the ship were large touch screens offering all the information required (including where you are standing).  On port days the group departures were shown, where tenders were required, and the tour group assembly times.

Access to the cabin is by electronic key cards, they also work for all onboard extras, but are easily lost.  Take a lanyard with you.

Breakfast at the well named Borough Market runs from 06:30 to 10:00.  What used to be the cafeteria has been changed into various stations where your choice of food is served behind screens by the catering people.  If you have difficulties carrying items there are plenty of staff to help you.  Finding space is no problem with Saffron, the adjoining evening Indian fusion restaurant, daytime open to all.

Times for evening dining at the Buckingham Restaurant are fixed, either 17:45 or 20:15 with tables up to ten.  The staff were very efficient and the meals, nicely presented, with up to five courses plus tea or coffee.  The menu proved to be very varied with an option of steak, salmon and chicken available if there was nothing to your liking.  Vegan was always offered (with each dish marked up according to its content) and should you require a special diet Ambassador needs to be advised when booking the cruise (at no extra cost).   You pre-book your meals the day before with the maître d'.

Taking a seven-course ‘tasting’ menu was a special evening in Sea and Grass (£24.95 each) whilst the tastes and flavour of Goa (India) was a nicely served three-course meal for £14.95.

A full Tea was served from 15:30 to 16:30 in Borough Market and tea and coffee machines were available free of charge 24hrs in Borough Market, although special teas and coffee were served as extras at various bars.  

Alternatively, one could take breakfast and lunch in the Buckingham Restaurant and towards midnight the staff came around with what was termed ‘Late Night Nibbles’.

On boarding a note said that the cabin TV was not working (nor on the gym units) and it was hoped to fix it at Belfast with expert assistance.  As if by some miracle the system came back just as we were leaving, sadly to announce the passing of Her Majesty and with it cancellation of certain activities.  The ship mounted a special service.  We followed events on the massive screen overlooking the Lido Deck.

What you get with Ambassador is normal cabin maintenance, a turndown cabin service in the evening but (unless you are a suite customer) there is no courtesy room breakfast (charged at £9.50).  Also charged extra was ice cream (£1.50 a scoop) on the pool deck.  On the opposite side was the Al Fresco Grill, the beefburgers served plain with no toppings!  No charges, nor for a selection of pizzas.

Taking the extras in some sort of order unlimited wi-fi was £90 for the week (it worked in most places), gratuities charged £6 per person per day, a man’s pedicure and foot massage at £29 and for a lady various manicures from £32.

Bar prices were reasonable (£3.50 for a Heineken) likewise the service charge at £6 per person per day.  An inclusive drinks package was available from £34.95 a day.

Ours was a balcony cabin with plenty of wardrobe/drawer space and a very practical shower room.  For some cabins the balcony space is offered with a picture window giving more room but this is only available for single bookings. Given that we hardly used the balcony I would have preferred what was effectively a larger cabin.  Something for Ambassador to think about.

With only one sea day it was difficult for Ambassador to fit in lectures but we did learn about D-Day, inevitably the Titanic and the wars of the Scottish clans (the word means ‘family’ in Scots Gaelic, spoken in the Western Isles and not to be confused with Irish Gaelic, spoken in Ireland).

Seating about half of the ship’s passenger complement, normally pretty full and with a massive thrust stage, the Palladium auditorium proved to be the perfect setting for both the lively and more sombre events on the cruise.  A ten-piece singing and dancing troupe provided a good standard of entertainment including a superb rendition of the big numbers from Les Misérables.  No live musical accompaniment mind you.  All the backing was recorded.  Every evening all three bar/lounge venues found themselves with small live groups and solo artists.  

The regular quizzes once again proved great fun, and even more so when members of the audience knew the answers better than the presenter.  And it is amazing to see quiet elderly couples performing in various dance sets.  I was unable to solve the ‘murder mystery’!   No crazy early keep fit activities on this ship.  It was either into the gym when the spa opened at 08:00, yoga – sometimes from 09:00 or the regular walk the deck most mornings at 10:00.  Arts and crafts was another ‘sometimes’ activity, all shown on ‘All Aboard’, the daily news sheet.

The pool is unheated seawater (and not tested!) and a pair of hot tubs are situated at the back of the ship, the three-deck stern one of the best places for sitting out although finding a space anywhere was very easy.  It is six laps to the mile around the Sun Deck.

Verhounig makes the point regarding family cruising: “We have also been absolutely overwhelmed by the success of our two multigenerational cruises, with both of them selling out. This style of cruise offering was a great opportunity for three and four generations of families to get together, from great grandparents all the way down to toddlers, in one safe setting. With permission, we also allow children to have their own cruise cards, which is always well received by families. Meaning children can be more self-sufficient, independent and enjoy the experience like they watch their parents do”.  

Two Tilbury daily dates are planned for 2023 (5 August – 7 nights and 12 August – 14 nights) offering exceptional value.  Hopefully the programme will be extended.
 
When it comes to special cruises cricket lovers will have close-up opportunities to meet David Gower, Mike Gatting and Devon Malcolm after returning from off-ship excursions in German Christmas Markets (5 nights – 11 December).  Holy Week (11 nights –3 April) brings on board Jimmy Cricket and other entertainers plus the Reverend Colin Beevers.  Other themed cruises included Gardening and Wildlife (15 nights – 24 November) and British Broadcasting legends (15 nights – 16 October).

Ambassador says that it is in a strong position to bring a new approach to the solo cruise market, as it can be argued it is extremely overlooked by the industry. A minimum of 89 cabins for solo travellers are available, all split over five different categories and offering very attractive single supplements against the equivalent twin fare.

How do you sum up Ambassador?  It really is good value for money and in particular, the off-ship excursions are well planned and very clearly set out on the ship’s website.  The product can improve (more English language training for the crew) and I prefer a large band that can perform around the ship, plus in the theatre.  

The senior management needs to be seen about a bit more. That sharpens up the whole team.  It would be useful for a downloaded daily news review to be available.  

We are considering next year’s programme and also might try Ambition.  

Ambassador, have a look at the school holiday programme.  Perhaps you can fit in more multigenerational cruises.

www.ambassadorcruiseline.com

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