Ambassador for a first time cruise?

[swansea_lad]

Hi all

 

I have seen some great late deals on Ambassador Ambience, for example, 16 nights, Fjords, Inside Cabin for £399.

Would you recommend Ambassador for a first time cruise?  I am looking for a No Fly Cruise.  Thanks

[Sarnia 432]

We haven’t sailed with Ambassador yet, but have read some good reviews and are also tempted by the offers available.  We have a cruise booked with them next year.
 

We think there is no such thing as a bad cruise.  Will everything be perfect - no.  Will we enjoy ourselves, absolutely!

 

you could try posing your question in the first time cruisers forum

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/58-first-time-cruisers/

 

or read one of the “live from” reviews.  I particularly liked this one

 

Edited May 14, 2023 by Sarnia 432
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[SteveH2508]

13 hours ago, swansea_lad said:

Hi all

 

I have seen some great late deals on Ambassador Ambience, for example, 16 nights, Fjords, Inside Cabin for £399.

Would you recommend Ambassador for a first time cruise?  I am looking for a No Fly Cruise.  Thanks

We are experienced cruisers, having sailed with lots of different lines. we booked an Ambassador cruise in March to Iceland. We then booked the next cruise whilst on board. We have now booked another cruise in June (North Cape and Spitzbergen).

 

They are good value for money - if you find you don't like it you will not have spent a great deal of money. Go for it - you will have a blast! Be warned, cruising can be addictive.

[Milaandra]

We are sailing with Ambassador soon for the first time, so I can't comment on how it compares with other cruise lines.

If I was brutally honest, though, I'd suggest going with a more established cruise line and doing a week's cruise for your first one.  Just in case.  16 days is a long time if you end up hating it.

I'm a bit biased toward NCL, as you can see from my signature, but the new cruiser advantages include informal dress and freestyle dining (which they do very efficiently) which will feel more like going to a restaurant where and when you want.  The only disadvantage is that sea days can be a bit boring, and the service charges are higher.   The drinks package is a great value on NCL, where individual drinks are higher priced than on the UK lines.  I'd stick to a mid-ship lower level cabin for your first time and make sure you have cabins above and to each side of you, well away from nightclubs and the theatre...a few cabins away from the lifts, too.  I would stick with a smaller ship, but NCL has several of those, like the Jade, Dawn & Star.  (We didn't like the Spirit as much)  NCL also has a very lively and helpful board here and have ships that sail from Southampton.

Most people love cruising the minute they step on board, but not everyone, so I'd stack the deck. (no pun intended!)

Just my opinion 🙂  

[Host Jazzbeau]

@Milaandra's advice is spot on, even though I'm not an NCL fan.  If your itinerary may encounter rough seas, I would also suggest a cabin in the mid-aft quarter of the ship as well as low and surrounded by other cabins.

[SteveH2508]

My first eight cruises were with NCL. Unfortunately, their ethos and general service/attitude has dropped since then. The furore over the current lack of drinks service in UK ports and NCL's 'evasiveness' are evidence of that.

[Britboys]

I think Ambassador is quite a good choice for a first cruise. They do cater generally for a 50+ age group, so you need to be aware of that. There will be a couple of Formal Nights, where Jacket & Tie is required for men in the main dining room but you can opt out of that and use the buffet restaurant instead.

If you are sailing solo, they organise a number of events for passengers travelling alone.

[Milaandra]

Again, I haven't been on the cruise yet, and I'm hoping it will be great, but thus far I'm really unimpressed with their customer service policies.  They are friendly and polite, but in my experience, completely inflexible.

Every cruise line has strengths and weaknesses, and I'm hoping this weakness will be balanced by other strengths.  After getting caught by rail strike issues and/or train delays getting to or from Southampton on our last two cruises, we have been hoping that this cruise line would become our go-to because of the closer embarkation ports.

Edited May 17, 2023 by Milaandra

[tim_london0]

The solo events were pretty poor in my opinion.

 

Not helped by the fact that the definition of Solo traveller used was anybody who had been booked in a single cabin (even if they had booked as part of a larger group) and people booking into a double cabin who didn't appear to be "in a relationship" (meaning that about half the ship was invited.)

 

I thought the idea of getting solo travellers to meet up was so that they could buddie-up with other solos whilst on the cruise.    People who were already travelling as part of a group were not so interested in making new friends as they already had their buddies traveling with them

 

 

[yorkshirephil]

On 5/14/2023 at 12:45 AM, swansea_lad said:

Hi all

 

I have seen some great late deals on Ambassador Ambience, for example, 16 nights, Fjords, Inside Cabin for £399.

Would you recommend Ambassador for a first time cruise?  I am looking for a No Fly Cruise.  Thanks

We have cruised twice with Ambassador plus with several other lines and I would say they are ideal for a first cruise. Some of their current deals are brilliant, we would have been on the cruise you quote if it were not for the fact we were on a Cunard cruise. 

[gkbiiii]

I would avoid NCL as a single and do a line, that you are put at a table with fellow singles.  

[London-Calling]

On 5/14/2023 at 12:45 AM, swansea_lad said:

Would you recommend Ambassador for a first time cruise?  I am looking for a No Fly Cruise.  Thanks

Definitely!

My June cruise review:

 

Ambassador’s Ambience Ship: One Year On | WaterWorld by Malcolm Oliver (wordpress.com)