Ambassador Cruise - Ambience Ship Visit Sep 2023

The journey from Kent in the morning rush hour was actually ok, it only took an hour through the Dartford Tunnel despite heavy traffic on the M25.

Tip: Dont take the first right into the docks with the freight traffic, keep going as the passenger terminal is on the right further on.

The ship carries a Wimbledon and London theme throughout.

They only book 1400 guests on Ambience even though the capacity is 2000 so you find there is a lot of space.

There are a lot of dining choices such as Saffron, the onboard Indian restaurant, you can only book once on board and not in advance. Sea and Grass is a premium tasting menu experience.

There are 786 seats in The Buckingham Restaurant and although that’s a lot, it doesn’t look or feel big because of the way they have partitioned the walls, you can only see a small part of the restaurant at a time.

The food was delicious with a 5 course served menu. I don’t eat meat and they cater for all intolerances and tastes.

They have other food offerings as well like the Borough Market, where you can choose from a few styles of cuisine and is a casual sit anywhere style.

I would recommend booking your evening meals in Saffron, Sea & Grass, and Buckingham Restaurant before sailing

The Chef's Table is another on board culinary experience. This is a VIP experience and payable on board or in advance.

They have a 686 seated theatre with 2 shows a night to coincide with the dinner timings so again the theatre is never full.

What I liked about the ship was that although it is a big ship, all the areas are smaller spaces like the bars, restaurants so they feel more intimate.

Shopping is abundant on board with all your usual designer shops, etc

There is a fitness centre, saunas and spa on board so you can book in spa treatments and nail salon. You can access the general spa areas for free to relax but any massages, etc are all chargeable.

Dotted around are lots of touch screens to find out what is going on and how to find your way around the ship.

You can also use these to look up your personal cruise planner to see what you have pre-booked.

The public areas are modern and light and airy, I would say the cabins need an update to bring them up to the same standard. The cabins are roomy, comfortable and have all the amenities but personally I found the use of darker woods a little dated, but everything was perfectly functional.

The staff are very friendly and welcoming and will help you with anything you need.

The Christmas Cruises they operate will be decorated with a Christmas feel.

There is a drop off area to embark and there are no charges for drop off. You can pre-pay for parking so all you do on the day is drive up, park the car, go through security and onto the ship, all very easy really.

The cruise is paperless and you can check in a few days beforehand on-line (no app as yet) and just turn up at the port ready to embark

If you need any more information, just pop me a message on claire.summers@travelcounsellors.com