Festive Events

[Martha1974]

On 12/11/2022 at 7:01 PM, Slugsta said:

We allowed 5 hours to get to Tilbury from Poole - which was just as well as there was a significant delay on the M25. Picked our son up from Tilbury station just after 6pm and went directly to the cruise terminal. They allowed us in straight away, we joined the queue and were in our cabin by 6.50 - which gave us time for a cocktail before dinner.

 

We had a good dinner but would be interested to hear what food is like usually (ie, was the 'festive' meal considerably better than the usual fare?). OH didn't want to see the show, so we explored the ship instead.

 

Breakfast on Saturday morning was something of a shambles but we were hardly going to starve!

We’re still on board and the food in the MDR has been as good as the event on Saturday, if not better (IMHO) but we have only had 2 evening meals so far. Haven’t done b’fast or lunch in there yet, just in the buffet but going gI’ve it a try tomorrow. Resorted to a 7:30 breakfast in the buffet this morning and it was lovely and quiet! 

[harz99]

Well we're booked for the event on 16th, because of the rail strikes it is now impossible for us to get to/from Tilbury from our home near Hartlepool, i don't drive and there are no viable coach alternatives. A request a couple of weeks back to change the booking to next year or for a credit against a future cruise was met with a refusal.

I was going to ring again today but found the offices are closed for a staff Christmas jolly - well that's £218 down the drain and any chance of me booking a cruise on their line gone forever.

Edited December 14, 2022 by harz99

[B17]

On 12/13/2022 at 11:34 AM, tigernut said:

You may be interested to read some of the negative comments about Ambassador’s festive events on the cruise dot forum page. I had been considering sailing with Ambassador as they have some interesting itineraries, but I had serious doubts after the collapse of Cruise & Maritime. After reading the latest comments, It definitely will not be one of my cruise lines of choice for future cruises. 

Thanks for the mention.  As I stated in my blog they cant recreate what they once had with Cruise and Maritime on ships four times the size in the same small amount of time.  Top that with the size of the terminal capacity at Tilbury embarkation lounge, it just doesnt work.

 

 

[B17]

On 11/23/2022 at 6:15 PM, Slugsta said:

I've just received an email for Ambassador telling me that boarding times have now been assigned - we have been given 7.30pm, which will barely give us time to find our cabin before dinner, never mind change! It would be fair to say that we are not terribly happy . . .

Wow and I thought we had it bad with a 5.40 embarkation for a 6pm dinner.  

Depsite my plea to Ambassador saying how when and where do you expect me to get changed? or would you like me to turn up to dinner in my boots leggings tshirt and anorak.  I was told 'they' expected people to turn up already dressed for dinner!  I explained that wasnt possible as we were staying in Southend on Sea with a days sightseeing.  Thankfully my agent stepped in and sorted it; after twice I appealed to their guest relations with a very firm stance on them not budging.  Even though we did manage an earlier time it was still a very tight schedule and I wont even go into the Chaos Total utter Chaos the following morning.  (Google will find my review on Cruise dot forum)

[B17]

Festive Fun or Festive Fiasco?

[Slugsta]

Yes, I saw quite a few people arriving already dressed for dinner, but there was no way we were going to sit in the car for nearly 6 hours in our posh togs. Ambassador also refused to budge for us, which didn't give a good first impression (although I know that other lines seem to have poor customer relations shoreside too).

 

Breakfast the next day was an utter shambles. We queued for some time outside the MDR, only to be told that they were only letting in people who had queued on the other side of the ship and we should go round and join the back of that queue. After a near-riot they did start letting in people from both queues alternately.

[Britboys]

On 12/13/2022 at 11:34 AM, tigernut said:

You may be interested to read some of the negative comments about Ambassador’s festive events on the cruise dot forum page. I had been considering sailing with Ambassador as they have some interesting itineraries, but I had serious doubts after the collapse of Cruise & Maritime. After reading the latest comments, It definitely will not be one of my cruise lines of choice for future cruises. 

I was on the 5-night Christmas Markets cruise that got back to Tilbury on Friday. There were still some problems with the aircon system leading to big temperature fluctuations in public rooms and cabins. My cabin was absolutely fine until late on Wednesday when the fan stopped. That meant my cabin went down to 14⁰ on Thursday afternoon but I left my cabin door open whilst I packed for disembarkation and it went back up to 19⁰. It was then 16⁰ in the morning, so not too cold. The other issue on this cruise was a shortage of staff, leading to fairly long waits getting served a drink at times. It did improve slightly towards the end of the cruise.

Food was pretty good throughout the ship, the staff in the main kept smiling in the face of adversity and the entertainment was very good.

I won't rush to book again but once I feel reassured about the aircon working properly, I would happily book Ambassador again.

[Britboys]

On 12/14/2022 at 11:21 AM, harz99 said:

Well we're booked for the event on 16th, because of the rail strikes it is now impossible for us to get to/from Tilbury from our home near Hartlepool, i don't drive and there are no viable coach alternatives. A request a couple of weeks back to change the booking to next year or for a credit against a future cruise was met with a refusal.

I was going to ring again today but found the offices are closed for a staff Christmas jolly - well that's £218 down the drain and any chance of me booking a cruise on their line gone forever.

Hopefully you have some travel insurance to claim on?

[Britboys]

3 hours ago, B17 said:

Thanks for the mention.  As I stated in my blog they cant recreate what they once had with Cruise and Maritime on ships four times the size in the same small amount of time.  Top that with the size of the terminal capacity at Tilbury embarkation lounge, it just doesnt work.

 

 

My embarkation last Sunday was fine. I arrived in the area an hour early so parked up at the nearby McDonalds and went in for coffee. Consequently I arrived on time to embark and joined a short queue. Documents checked (vaccination certificate and Covid Negative confirmation), straight through security and then another short queue to the check-in desk. That took a few minutes and then straight on to the ship. All in all, on board about 30 minutes after entering the car park.

[harz99]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

Hopefully you have some travel insurance to claim on?

no use as only one night, most UK travel insurance only covers you for stays of two night's or longer.

 

 In the event we managed to find a way of getting there involving a 75 minute bus journey to get to Durham and trains from there to London and on to Tilbury Town and anothet short bus ride to the ship.

 

Have to say the experiences at the check in and onboard left us slightly underwhelmed though, and Tilbury is not a place I'd consider sailing from in future either.

[harz99]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

My embarkation last Sunday was fine. I arrived in the area an hour early so parked up at the nearby McDonalds and went in for coffee. Consequently I arrived on time to embark and joined a short queue. Documents checked (vaccination certificate and Covid Negative confirmation), straight through security and then another short queue to the check-in desk. That took a few minutes and then straight on to the ship. All in all, on board about 30 minutes after entering the car park.

the problem with the Festive Events appears to be that there isn't sufficient time between the lunch event guests finishing up and leaving, and the evening guests on first dinner arriving for alloted check in at 1540/1600, so everyone is held up and delays built up with the result that diners for the 1800 sitting were still turning up at 1820, and so on. The second sitting was pushed back 30 minutes to 2030 as a direct consequence.

[Slugsta]

8 minutes ago, harz99 said:

no use as only one night, most UK travel insurance only covers you for stays of two night's or longer.

 

 In the event we managed to find a way of getting there involving a 75 minute bus journey to get to Durham and trains from there to London and on to Tilbury Town and anothet short bus ride to the ship.

 

Have to say the experiences at the check in and onboard left us slightly underwhelmed though, and Tilbury is not a place I'd consider sailing from in future either.

 

I'm glad that you were able to get there in the end but completely undertstand why you wouldn't rush back to Tilbury!