Martha1974

Thank you for taking the time to post - I’m UK based and love reading reports from visitors to see my home country through other people’s eyes. Have a fantastic trip - weather reports are very variable for the next week or so, I hope that won’t impact on your enjoyment of the trip. If nothing else it will give you a conversation starter with any British person you meet (“ isn’t it warm / hot /sunny /windy /rainy” **substitute weather conditions as appropriate). Happy cruising 🛳️😁

Please could someone currently on board the Sky Princess let me know if there are any extra benefits when booking another cruise while on board at the moment? We’re looking to book a Canary Islands cruise for Nov 2025 (interior) and can get $100 pp OBC. That’s plenty of OBC for us as we book with the Plus package and aren’t big on shopping, spa treatments or using the sanctuary. We’re sailing on Sky in September and are trying to decide whether to book now and get the $100 OBC or wait and book when we’re on board if there might be more benefits. Any information will be gratefully received.

Sorry to be picky, but you quoted Yorkshirephil quoting me, and my comment was specifically in relation to people comparing Ambassador to Cunard and Silverseas - I think your comparison to P&O takes that comment out of context somewhat so I just wanted to clarify.

We sailed from Tilbury and parking was very easy - booked as part of the cruise fare (but can be added on later) - can’t remember how much we paid but I think it was around £10-£15 per night. Luggage offloaded in the car park then a 2 minute walk across the road to the terminal

Sorry, to be clear that was on Ambience - haven’t sailed on Ambition yet, but I’d say it will definitely depend on the itinerary. As @Britboys said, I understand that Ambassador have meds available at guest services but we packed some so didn’t need to ask for them

We sailed to Iceland in March in an aft cabin on Deck 10 and there was some movement but nothing that I would say was bad (I’ve had worse sailing through the Bay of Biscay). I do get mildly sea-sick but with patches behind my ear I had no symptoms going north or south

We’re really looking forward to sailing on Ambition after 2 cruises on Ambience (just booked for March 2025 😱). Having looked at the deck plans there seem to be a lot of differences but I quite like that the ships are different and will have their own character. We have no problem with the fact that they’re both “pre-loved” ships from other lines. We also sailed with CMV on the Marco Polo and Columbus and loved both of them (lights blue touch paper and retires)!

Our two Ambassador cruises so far have had a shuttle where the town wasn’t in walking distance (Hamburg, Reykjavik and Invergordon) but my impression was that these were provided by the port authority / town rather than by Ambassador - there was no charge for any of them. All the others (Amsterdam, Kirkwall, Thorshavn) were well within walking distance (5-10 mins) so there was no shuttle.

We’ve sailed Ambassador twice and have really enjoyed it. However I did also hear people on one of those cruises making very unfavourable comparisons to Cunard, Regent and Silverseas. My response to that would be “look at what you’re paying and adjust your expectations accordingly”. We were very happy that we got very good food, very good entertainment and fantastic crew for the money we had paid and were very happy with our holiday (wouldn’t suggest for a minute that everything was perfect but any issues were rectified quickly) I haven’t sailed with Cunard so can’t say if that would be better or worse but for the fare we paid we were very happy (we paid much more for Sky Princess and in our opinion Ambassador knocked spots off that)

I totally understand, we’ve all got different priorities… if I could I through an airport and be in my seat on the plane in 30 mins I’d fly too. For you the drink on the lido deck is wasted time, for me it’s being stuck in a departure lounge getting stressed and anxious when I could be relaxing and starting to enjoy my holiday instead. However, the chance to holiday with friends is enough of a motivation for me to go through with it. Wouldn’t do for us all to be the same 🙂

Thanks both of you… looks like a couple of emergency sandwiches from the shop in Leeds Bradford might be in order so we can eat on the plane.

We’re looking at booking an itinerary on Marella Explorer sailing out of Corfu and the flight from our nearest airport doesn’t land in Corfu until 20:30. Does anyone have experience of flying in so late, and if so could you give me an idea of what time we could expect to get to the ship (assuming no flight delays / luggage issues etc) and whether or not there is likely to be food available once we get on board? Thanks in advance for any information 🙂

When we were on board last year we sat in Vines watching the crew “build” the waterfall… we were there for a good 30 mins and they weren’t finished by the time we had to leave for our dinner reservation. I think I probably found that more interesting than I would have found the champagne pouring part of the process. Will have to try and catch that part next time and compare the two

Yes, you’re correct that Sabatini’s, The Catch by Rudi, Crown Grill and the Chef’s Table are all extra-charge restaurants. In addition to the MDRs and buffet all the food offerings on the Lido deck (Slice pizza, Salty Dog Grill and Swirls ice cream) are included in your fare, as is Alfredo’s pizzeria and the food at the International Cafe. The only other extra-charge food options that I’m aware of are Gelato (in the Piazza) and the Sushi place (the name of which escapes me… Ocean Terrace possibly?) All of the above is from memory based on our one experience on Sky Princess in Sept 22, but I’m sure if anything has changed someone with more recent experience can add an update.

We have used CPS when sailing out of Mayflower and out of QEII and have been very happy both times (I would say 20-30 mins from joining the queue to getting the luggage out of the car). On both occasions there were 4 ships in Southampton, and I would agree with others that the biggest variable is traffic through town, although we have been pretty lucky that way too. On a side note (and I hope no-one else ever actually has to experience this), but in March 2022 when we weren't able to board at Mayflower (because my husband tested positive for Covid on the quayside) CPS had located the car in the car park and brought it back to the terminal faster than I could get out of terminal building to go and meet them. A small thing, but at a very stressful time it made a big difference! I had visions of sitting waiting hours to get the car back. A gentleman in the same situation had parked off-site and they wouldn't/couldn't bring the car to him but nor could he get in a taxi because of his positive covid test. He ended up walking 2+ miles to the car park to retrieve his own vehicle.

When we docked at Mayflower Terminal last September we were told self disembarkation would start at 07:30, but in reality it started earlier than that (approx 7:15 from memory) and we were in our car in the CPS car park by 07:30. I would say that, barring any other unforeseen circumstances you should be fine to make a 10:00am train, but would advise checking which terminal you arrive into as Mayflower is quite close, but the QEII and Ocean Terminals are at the other end of town. That way you can decide to have your leisurely breakfast and leave it a little later to disembark if you're at one of the closer terminals.

I wish it was a memory for me too 😂 Not quite there yet, but not a million miles away!

Thank you - we’re considering Marella because friends want to cruise with them in the Med (they don’t want 1-2 sea days to get out of the UK before they get to the sun!) and we’ve always said we want to do a cruise together. Personally I’d be happy never to fly again! Why would you spend 2-3 hours in an airport when you could arrive at a port and be on the lido deck with a glass in your hand in 30 mins??

I have replied to your query on the Ambassador board and at the time your question was showing as being posted 2 hours previously. I’m always happy to help but now feel the need to apologise that I have to go to work, go shopping, cook meals etc etc and therefore only have time to look at CC 2-3 times a day. I would imagine that there are lots of people like me that frequent numerous boards because they sail with (or plan to sail with) various cruise lines. Just saying….,

Sorry I can’t help with the questions about Liverpool (we’ve only sailed with Ambassador out of Tilbury so far) but regarding formal nights I hope I can make a useful contribution. We have so far done a 5-night cruise (1 formal night) and an 11-night cruise (2 formal nights). I’m not 100% sure but my take is that it is 1 formal night per week. On both cruises we have eaten in the MDR on formal nights where we estimate 85-90% will be in some kind of formal dress, but can’t speak about those that don’t want to participate. Having said that, based on observations of public areas (bars, theatre etc) we would say the majority of pax dress up (not necessarily black tie but certainly ‘dress to impress’). If you like Traditional Cruising I’d definitely recommend Ambassador. Ironically we’re just about to book our first Marella cruise so might see you on the Marella boards with questions about cruising with them!

I think I’ve read elsewhere on CC that it’s something to do with having to pay for an alcohol licence in some countries/ regions and that NCL don’t pay it so can’t sell alcohol. I have Absolutely No Evidence and can’t remember where I read it, so am now backing away quietly before I’m shouted down.

Happy birthday Iain! My husband and I were in Invergordon in April and while walking round the town we found the Seafarers’ Centre in the Church. We were made very welcome and offered tea and refreshments. When we went in there was a display screen welcoming “all passengers and crew of the *insert name of ship*”. Any passengers were directed to the right of the room and given tea and biscuits (donations accepted) and crew were directed to the left for similar refreshments (no donations required and is there anything else we can help with). My husband is ex-Royal Navy and was touched to see how well the ship’s crew were being looked after. I would encourage anyone visiting Invergordon to seek it out.

@Britboys If memory serves I think we were on the same cruise as you in December. We sailed on Ambience again in March and in my opinion the offering had improved (although I wasn’t unhappy with the product first time round). I agree with you regarding the pools (the ‘swimming pool’ is small and I’m not sure I understand the point of the ‘paddling pool’ at the other end of the lido deck) and about the quality of the food. I haven’t yet sailed with P&O so can’t agree or disagree on your comparison of the public areas. Overall for me as a no-fly cruise out of the UK I think the Ambassador product is pretty good for the price. My theory is that if I can take 2 Ambassador cruises per year or 1 with another line I’ll take the 2 😁🥂🍾

For our 2 Ambassador cruises we were about an hour early and killed a bit of time in the Asda store near the terminal, picking up a few last-minute bits that we needed. On both occasions we got to the terminal about 15-20 mins before our allocated time and joined the queue - no-one asked what embarkation time we were allocated and we were through check in and onto the ship in about 10 minutes. I appreciate if you were hoping for a early time and end up with mid-afternoon that’s probably not going to make much difference, but if you’re there within reasonable time I’d say it’s worth giving it a go.

Not that I’m aware of - my DH and I sailed with them in March and got talking to a Canadian gentleman who was sailing with his British wife. My understanding was that he was resident in the UK but still travelling on a Canadian passport. I think there is often an assumption that because they sail out of the UK and are very much aimed at the “British market” (whatever that means) that there are restrictions. However I also think they don’t make it easy for non-UK residents to book… I think Saga have a similar reputation. As previously suggested I’d contact them direct to discuss the options.