Ambassador’s Ambience Kicks Off 40-Day Cruise to the Caribbean

Ambassador’s Ambience Kicks Off 40-Day Cruise to the Caribbean

Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience recently kicked off one of the company’s longest cruises this year, a 40-day voyage to the Caribbean.

Sailing roundtrip from Tilbury, the “Jewels of the Caribbean Sea” itinerary is highlighted by visits to a wide range of destinations in the region.

As part of the voyage, the Ambience will become the only mainstream cruise ship to sail to Cuba in 2026, with a 13-hour visit to Havana scheduled for Feb. 16, 2026.

The cruise started with a visit to Ponta Delgada in the Azores after departing from the United Kingdom on Jan. 30, 2026.

The Ambience then crossed the Atlantic for destinations in Antigua and the British Virgin Islands, such as Antigua and Tortola.

Following its visit to Cuba, the ship is also scheduled to sail to George Town in the Cayman Islands, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and Fort-de-France in Martinique.

Other ports of call include Montego Bay and Ocho Rios in Jamaica, as well as Bridgetown in Barbados and Castries in St. Lucia.

Before arriving back in Tilbury in early March, the Ambience also sails to Basseterre in St. Kitts and St. Vincent.

Upon returning to the United Kingdom, the Ambience embarks on a series of spring cruises to Northern Europe, visiting Scandinavia, the Baltic, the British Isles and more.

For the summer, the 1,578-passenger ship adds visits to more destinations, including Portugal, Spain, Madeira, the Canaries and Iceland.

The vessel’s deployment is also highlighted by a 31-night cruise to the Mediterranean scheduled for early November, which sails roundtrip from Tilbury and features ports of call across North Africa, the Adriatic, Sicily and more.

In related news, Ambassador’s Ambience recently underwent a three-week drydock refurbishment in the United Kingdom.

The multi-million-dollar refurbishment included technical work, as well as improvements to public areas and staterooms.

Ambassador’s Ambience Resumes Service Ahead of World Cruise

Ambassador’s Ambience Resumes Service Ahead of World Cruise

Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience is resuming service today at the Port of Tilbury, in the United Kingdom.

After seeing several of its cruises transferred to a different ship due to a delayed drydock stay, the 1991-built vessel is returning for a 120-night world cruise.

Sailing roundtrip from its British homeport, the “2024 Grand Around the World Cruise” features visits to a total of 34 destinations across the globe.

After sailing to ports of call in Europe, the global itinerary is set to cross the Atlantic before arriving in the Caribbean and Central America.

The Ambience then transits the Panama Canal before continuing its way to the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.

The worldwide adventure also features a series of destinations in the Indian Ocean, Africa and South America on its way back to the UK.

Before resuming service, the Ambience underwent maintenance at a shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Originally set to be completed in early December, the job was delayed due to metal damage on the ship’s propellor shaft and stern bearings.

According to Ambassador, the problem was found during a routine inspection and required essential repair work, which led to additional time in the German drydock.

The two propeller shafts, each 20 meters long and weighing over 30 tons, together with their bearings had to be transported by sea to a specialist metal repair shop in Denmark, the company explained.

As a result, several cruises previously scheduled to sail onboard the Ambience were transferred to the Ambition – which saw the cancellation of a 38-night cruise to the Caribbean.

Ambassador Chief Plays Down 'Speculation' on the Lines Finances.

AMBASSADOR CHIEF PLAYS DOWN 'SPECULATION' ON LINE'S FINANCES

The boss of Ambassador Cruise Line, Christian Verhounig, has played down "speculation" about the line’s finances after it cancelled two festive cruises onboard Ambiance, stressing the decision was made "for safety reasons only".

Posting to his public Facebook page, addressing guests, officers, staff and crew directly, Verhounig said the line was left with no option but to cancel its Festive Market Getaway and Christmas and New Year Canary Islands cruises owing to an issue with Ambiance’s lifeboat stations, requiring unscheduled maintenance.

"I am sad we had no option but to withdraw these itineraries, a sentiment shared by my colleagues in the Ambassador management team," said chief executive Verhounig. "Events like these never happen at a good time, but technical issues and challenges are unfortunately part of a cruise company’s day-to-day life – and we, at Ambassador, will never compromise on the safety of our guests or crew, however, low the risk."

Verhounig went on to address the line’s financial health. "As a business, we have never been anything less than transparent, and we will continue to be so in the interests of our valued guests and employees. The recent changes to our operation were made for safety reasons only, and not, as some have speculated online, due to the financial position of the Ambassador.

"I want to reassure you that we are a financially robust business with trust arrangements in place and full insurance cover for incidents of this kind designed to ensure that all our guests are and will remain fully protected."

Verhounig apologised to guests affected by the cancellations, as well as the Ambassador crew and shoreside staff. "It was the last thing we wanted to do. I can only personally say I’m sorry, and I hope one day our guests will offer us the chance to make amends for the inconvenience and disruption caused.

"As well as offering our sincere and heartfelt apologies to all guests affected by these recent developments, I would also like to take this opportunity to apologise to the team - from those in the UK, who have been outstanding in coming together at such short notice to do their very best at this difficult time, to the staff and crew onboard, who have been so looking forward to hosting our guests over Christmas and into the New Year."

Explaining the specific circumstances of the cancellations, Verhounig revealed Ambiance had in the months of December and January been due to undergo a planned independent survey to renew its Passenger Ship Safety Certificate.

"The inspection covers hundreds of different safety, technical and operational checks onboard the vessel, which is conducted both at sea and in port across a two-month period," Verhounig continued. "This annual cycle is linked to the anniversary of the ship being built, and is not in any way related to when Ambassador actually started trading."

 

’WE’LL BE BACK STRONGER

Verhounig said one of the required checks involved the safe and secure lowering of the ship’s lifeboats. During an inspection of the lifeboat stations on Sunday 18 December, a surveyor observed a slight movement of one of the sheaves used for guiding the steel wire ropes that move and hold the lifeboats in position.

"When checking on this movement further, the inspection brought to light a hairline crack on the bracket holding these sheaves in position, and more of these were found in a similar position on other brackets," said Verhounig.

 

"While none of these would have interfered in any way with the ship’s safe operation immediately, these cracks could have led to potential issues in the future and needed to be repaired. Therefore, we decided to immediately arrange repairs and not to operate the itineraries."

He added: "Ambassador and Ambience will be back in operation in the New Year, stronger than ever."

Unscheduled Drydocking for Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience

Unscheduled Drydocking for Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience

Ambassador Cruise Line will go ahead with an unscheduled drydock for the Ambience repairs in Germany following a safety issue found on the ship over the weekend.

The ship was unable to be repaired in the UK, according to the cruise line, and will now sail to Bremerhaven for the work.

While the drydock facility was not named, it could be Lloyd Werft, which is a key drydock in Bremerhaven with a long history of working on cruise vessels.

“We do not compromise on the safety of our guests, staff, or crew,” Ambassador said in a statement. “Therefore, while we have already started work, unfortunately, we are unable to complete it at the Port of Tilbury and therefore Ambience will need to go into drydock.

“She has left London Tilbury this afternoon to go to Bremerhaven where the work and tests will be completed. Regrettably, this will not be concluded in time to operate our Christmas & New Year Canary Islands Cruise, which was due to sail on Wednesday, December 21 2022. We will email all guests this afternoon to further explain and communicate this. We would advise all guests on this sailing to please wait to receive this communication before contacting either us directly or your travel agent.”

The company’s Christmas cruise was set to operate over 15 days to the Canaries. The ship is now expected back in service on Jan 5. 2023 for a 42-night cruise to the Caribbean.

Ambassador Cancels Cruise Over Safety Issue

Ambassador Cancels Cruise Over Safety Issue

Ambassador Cruise Line has cancelled its three-day Festive Market Getaway sailing aboard the Ambience that was set to sail on Dec. 18.

The UK-based brand said that ‘following annual maintenance works conducted, an issue with the lifeboat station on board Ambience was identified,” in a statement.

“We have chosen to immediately address this as a precautionary measure and, as such, will not be able to complete the repair and post-repair test in time to successfully operate today’s sailing,” the company said. “It is never an easy decision to cancel any itinerary, particularly at this time of year, and we would like to apologise to all those guests who were due to sail with us today.”

The Ambience is expected to be back in service for a Dec. 21 departure for a “winter sun” itinerary sailing 15 nights to the Canary Islands for Christmas and New Year.

Ambassador Cruise Line has revealed plans to double its trade team

Ambassador Cruise Line has revealed plans to double its trade team

Ambassador Cruise Line has revealed plans to double its trade team following the arrival of head of distribution Nicola Harper last month.

The line is advertising for several new roles including national sales manager, business development manager, business development executive and trade support assistant.

 

Ambassador said the exact structure of the team would be agreed once the recruitment process had taken place, and interested candidates should apply to nicola.harper@ambassadorcruiseline.com

 

As part of its expansion, Ambassador will split its group and trade booking function into two “distinct” departments among its new-look distribution team.

 

Meanwhile, the line has also announced the departure of business development manager Moira Gregson, who is set to leave the company on 25 November to take up a new role.

 

Ambassador’s chief commercial officer Phil Gardner said the company had “stepped out of start-up mode” and “firmly into a day-to-day operation with all the regular workings of a business built for success”.

 

“Following the arrival of Nicola Harper as our new head of distribution last month, I’m delighted to announce our exciting plans as we look to ensure that Ambassador has the right commercial structure in place for distribution so that it serves our business in the most effective and productive way possible.”

 

“I would like to sincerely thank Moira for the great work she has done during her time with us and wish her well for the future,” added Gardner.