British no-fly operator Ambassador Cruise Line has won plenty of fans since launching in 2022. Lisa James joined its ship Ambience for a Norwegian fjords adventure.
Turns out it’s not just the Brits who are fascinated with the weather. It’s also a major topic of conversation in Bergen – Norway’s second city and ‘gateway to the Fjords’. According to Visit Norway, it rains there for 200 days a year – although I’m sure our guide said it can be much more than that. Nevertheless, as we opened the curtains of the balcony cabin on our first port of call, we were thrilled to see the port bathed in glorious sunshine. Captain Hugh announced over the tannoy that we were ‘lucky with the weather’ and we were going to have a great day.
Not everyone agreed. “I HATE walking,” a young lad screeched at his mum after realising he wasn’t going on a coach trip. He – and we – were on a Bergen walking tour and, despite his mum’s attempts to placate him by saying they’d be going up the side of the mountain on an exciting funicular train, searching for trolls in the forest when they got there, then visiting an ice bar to see lots of cool sculptures, the little fella wasn’t impressed, and trudged along at the back of the group.
From left: Bergen, fjord, waterfall
We, meanwhile, were at the front, enjoying a stroll in Bryggen, the historic harbour district, through narrow lanes, past old buildings, to the famous Fløibanen Funicular, which would take us on a six-minute journey up the Fløyen Mountain for spectacular panoramic views of the fjords. Along the way, our guide Jérémie, who is French, explained he’d journeyed here to study, had fallen in love with the place and hadn’t left.
Our own journey to Bergen had begun 48 hours earlier, when my 13-year-old and I checked out of the Premier Inn London Victoria and walked the few minutes to Victoria Coach Station where we hopped on our £40 per person return transfer, which would drop us right at the door of Tilbury cruise terminal. We were going an a seven-night Norwegian fjords adventure on Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience, and, as tends to happen on coaches, we were already making friends on the way.
Ambassador claims to offer ‘the warmest welcome at sea’ and Alex, who checked us in – and whose ‘proper’ job is onboard pianist/singer – gave us the warmest welcome ever and we promised to go and listen to him later in Raffles Bar. We stepped onto Deck 5, the lower of Ambience’s three-storey atrium, and went to find our cabin on Deck 11.
It had two beds, a TV with a few channels, a fridge, safe, desk/dressing table, a very generous ‘walk-in’ wardrobe with plenty of hangers and drawer space, a small, but decent-sized bathroom with shower and a mirrored vanity unit big enough to store the huge hoard of toiletries my teen had packed, plus plenty of room under the beds or wardrobe area for our cases. We also had a small balcony with two chairs aside a little table. It was perfect for us.
Although it’s an adult-only cruise line, a handful of Ambassador cruises are labelled ‘multi-generational’, including our ‘Summertime Multi-Generational Fjordland’ itinerary. This meant the ship was at maximum capacity with many two or three different generations travelling together and some larger groups. There were also plenty of Ambassador’s core market, couples in their 50s, who – apart from one woman (more about her later) – didn’t seem to mind having kids on board.
There are no dedicated kids’ areas, but during the multi-gens, the crew throw themselves into catering for youngsters, putting on kids’ shows, pirate parties, organising family games, pizza making classes, competitions and teen meet-ups.
Entertainment is one of the areas that Ambassador regularly scores highly in reviews and the shows are impressive, with regular and ad-hoc performances. On board this particular cruise was Lance Corporal Richard Jones, the only magician to win Britain’s Got Talent.
Clockwise, from top left: Centre Court atrium, Botanical Lounge, Raffles Bar
Buckingham, the main restaurant on Ambience, has two evening sittings: 5.45pm and 8.30pm and passengers sit at the same table each night (for 2025, there will be no set seating on multi-gen cruises). At breakfast and lunch passengers are seated on arrival and will usually share a table with other diners.
The alternative main place to eat is the buffet restaurant Borough Market, which has the same food as the main dining room, plus more options, with staff serving from behind the counter. There are three paid-for options: Saffron Indian restaurant, Sea and Grass, and the Chef’s Table in the main dining room, which operates as long as a minimum of 10 guests have booked.
Then there’s a grill on the pool deck, an ice cream stall, coffee shop, ‘late night nibbles’ around the ship after 11pm, and in-cabin room service and breakfast at an extra charge.
At dinner, we were given a sought-after table for two, although I would have been equally happy sharing a bigger table. One passenger on a table of eight told me: “It’s great, because you do different excursions during the day, then look forward to dinner when you can talk about what you’ve been up to.” The four-course dinners were good, with mains such as grilled salmon with dill mousseline sauce, beef tenderloin, braised lamb shank or baked aubergine parmigiana.
“No, no! You sound like you’re stroking a cat. You need to stroke the lion!” winced Oleksandr as we failed miserably in our harmonies during choir class. On longer cruises with more sea days, several choir classes are included in the schedule. But there were only two sea days on our cruise, and it was apparent Oleksandr knew he wasn’t going to work miracles with us. Never mind – we couldn’t sing, but we could enjoy a spa treatment, so we headed down to Deck 2.
An hour later, glowing from my aromatherapy facial, I waited in the spa reception for my teen to finish getting her nails done.
“I’m a teacher and all these kids are doing my head in,” said the woman sitting next to me – very loudly. “Well, it is a multi-generational cruise,” replied the lady on the other side of her, who was in for a formal night hairdo.
It turned out this was her 71st cruise and she’d travelled on all kinds of ships – big, small, ultra luxury, you name it – and knew a thing or two. (Also, she’d brought FIVE cases with her). “How does this compare?” the teacher asked.
Top row: Food in the main dining room, bottom row: Saffron restaurant
“It does need a bit of updating,” our expert replied.
Well, the ship is more than 30 years old, having started life as Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess in 1991, and entering service as Ambience in 2022. But the public areas – including the three-deck Central Court atrium, Raffles Bar, the Observatory and the light and airy Botanical Bar – were all upgraded when Ambassador bought it.
On the plus side, the seasoned cruiser added, there’s plenty of storage space in the cabins, the food is very good, being able to embark at Tilbury is a big bonus and, while ‘there’s a lot more to do on big ships, you have to book everything, so you can’t be spontaneous’.
Spa sessions get booked up on sea days and our appointments were late afternoon, which meant we’d miss our allocated sitting in the main restaurant. So, we’d booked a table at speciality restaurant Saffron, at £19.99 per person for three courses.
I was nervous, as my teenager only ever orders chicken tikka masala, which wasn’t on the menu. I really hoped the closest thing, butter chicken – tandoori chicken in a buttery tomato gravy with naan bread and Kashmiri pulao – would be OK.
I loved my choices. My starter was a vegetable khazana – a selection of Punjabi samosa, aloo and mutter tikki and paneer tikka. My main was Royal Indian Maharaja thali – small dishes on a platter, with rice, dal, aloo gobi, palak paneer, mushroom and green pea masala, Indian bread and raita.
Our waiter, Rajan, set me a challenge: “When I come back, I’d like you to tell me which of the small dishes is the best,” he said. Honestly, there were all so good, I couldn’t choose a favourite.
As for the teenager, she loved the food so much she asked if we could book again later in the week – which we did.
Eidfjord
In addition to Bergen, which is on most Norwegian fjord itineraries, we also called at:
Flåm, at the edge of Aurlandsfjord. The port for one of the best-known attractions on a fjord cruise, the vintage Flåm Railway, often described as one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. The train took us high in the mountains to Myrdal station, 867 metres above sea level. We disembarked en route to marvel at the majestic Kjosfossen waterfall. Despite people jostling to get the perfect photo and the baffling appearance from nowhere of a mysterious woman in red, swaying seductively to a Norwegian folk song, it was still an awesome sight. Our guide, Konrad, told us the strange woman was the mythical Norse forest spirit, Huldra, who, according to folklore, lures men into the woods to seduce them.
Haugesund, the Homeland of the Viking Kings. We took a small boat around Hardangerfjord, one of the longest fjords in the world. We got within touching distance of the Voringsfossen waterfall, close enough for the captain to draw a bucket of ice-cold water, which he decanted into glasses for us to drink.
Our final stop, Eidfjord, is an inner branch of the huge Hardangerfjord. Excursion options here include kayaking and exploring Hardangervidda National Park, but we chose to simply sit and enjoy the view.
The post Ambassador Cruise Line review: It’s all about the Ambience appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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Turns out it’s not just the Brits who are fascinated with the weather. It’s also a major topic of conversation in Bergen – Norway’s second city and ‘gateway to the Fjords’. According to Visit Norway, it rains there for 200 days a year – although I’m sure our guide said it can be much more than that. Nevertheless, as we opened the curtains of the balcony cabin on our first port of call, we were thrilled to see the port bathed in glorious sunshine. Captain Hugh announced over the tannoy that we were ‘lucky with the weather’ and we were going to have a great day.
Not everyone agreed. “I HATE walking,” a young lad screeched at his mum after realising he wasn’t going on a coach trip. He – and we – were on a Bergen walking tour and, despite his mum’s attempts to placate him by saying they’d be going up the side of the mountain on an exciting funicular train, searching for trolls in the forest when they got there, then visiting an ice bar to see lots of cool sculptures, the little fella wasn’t impressed, and trudged along at the back of the group.
From left: Bergen, fjord, waterfall
We, meanwhile, were at the front, enjoying a stroll in Bryggen, the historic harbour district, through narrow lanes, past old buildings, to the famous Fløibanen Funicular, which would take us on a six-minute journey up the Fløyen Mountain for spectacular panoramic views of the fjords. Along the way, our guide Jérémie, who is French, explained he’d journeyed here to study, had fallen in love with the place and hadn’t left.
Our own journey to Bergen had begun 48 hours earlier, when my 13-year-old and I checked out of the Premier Inn London Victoria and walked the few minutes to Victoria Coach Station where we hopped on our £40 per person return transfer, which would drop us right at the door of Tilbury cruise terminal. We were going an a seven-night Norwegian fjords adventure on Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambience, and, as tends to happen on coaches, we were already making friends on the way.
Ambassador claims to offer ‘the warmest welcome at sea’ and Alex, who checked us in – and whose ‘proper’ job is onboard pianist/singer – gave us the warmest welcome ever and we promised to go and listen to him later in Raffles Bar. We stepped onto Deck 5, the lower of Ambience’s three-storey atrium, and went to find our cabin on Deck 11.
It had two beds, a TV with a few channels, a fridge, safe, desk/dressing table, a very generous ‘walk-in’ wardrobe with plenty of hangers and drawer space, a small, but decent-sized bathroom with shower and a mirrored vanity unit big enough to store the huge hoard of toiletries my teen had packed, plus plenty of room under the beds or wardrobe area for our cases. We also had a small balcony with two chairs aside a little table. It was perfect for us.
Although it’s an adult-only cruise line, a handful of Ambassador cruises are labelled ‘multi-generational’, including our ‘Summertime Multi-Generational Fjordland’ itinerary. This meant the ship was at maximum capacity with many two or three different generations travelling together and some larger groups. There were also plenty of Ambassador’s core market, couples in their 50s, who – apart from one woman (more about her later) – didn’t seem to mind having kids on board.
There are no dedicated kids’ areas, but during the multi-gens, the crew throw themselves into catering for youngsters, putting on kids’ shows, pirate parties, organising family games, pizza making classes, competitions and teen meet-ups.
Entertainment is one of the areas that Ambassador regularly scores highly in reviews and the shows are impressive, with regular and ad-hoc performances. On board this particular cruise was Lance Corporal Richard Jones, the only magician to win Britain’s Got Talent.
Clockwise, from top left: Centre Court atrium, Botanical Lounge, Raffles Bar
Restaurants
Buckingham, the main restaurant on Ambience, has two evening sittings: 5.45pm and 8.30pm and passengers sit at the same table each night (for 2025, there will be no set seating on multi-gen cruises). At breakfast and lunch passengers are seated on arrival and will usually share a table with other diners.
The alternative main place to eat is the buffet restaurant Borough Market, which has the same food as the main dining room, plus more options, with staff serving from behind the counter. There are three paid-for options: Saffron Indian restaurant, Sea and Grass, and the Chef’s Table in the main dining room, which operates as long as a minimum of 10 guests have booked.
Then there’s a grill on the pool deck, an ice cream stall, coffee shop, ‘late night nibbles’ around the ship after 11pm, and in-cabin room service and breakfast at an extra charge.
At dinner, we were given a sought-after table for two, although I would have been equally happy sharing a bigger table. One passenger on a table of eight told me: “It’s great, because you do different excursions during the day, then look forward to dinner when you can talk about what you’ve been up to.” The four-course dinners were good, with mains such as grilled salmon with dill mousseline sauce, beef tenderloin, braised lamb shank or baked aubergine parmigiana.
Sea day
“No, no! You sound like you’re stroking a cat. You need to stroke the lion!” winced Oleksandr as we failed miserably in our harmonies during choir class. On longer cruises with more sea days, several choir classes are included in the schedule. But there were only two sea days on our cruise, and it was apparent Oleksandr knew he wasn’t going to work miracles with us. Never mind – we couldn’t sing, but we could enjoy a spa treatment, so we headed down to Deck 2.
An hour later, glowing from my aromatherapy facial, I waited in the spa reception for my teen to finish getting her nails done.
“I’m a teacher and all these kids are doing my head in,” said the woman sitting next to me – very loudly. “Well, it is a multi-generational cruise,” replied the lady on the other side of her, who was in for a formal night hairdo.
It turned out this was her 71st cruise and she’d travelled on all kinds of ships – big, small, ultra luxury, you name it – and knew a thing or two. (Also, she’d brought FIVE cases with her). “How does this compare?” the teacher asked.
Top row: Food in the main dining room, bottom row: Saffron restaurant
“It does need a bit of updating,” our expert replied.
Well, the ship is more than 30 years old, having started life as Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess in 1991, and entering service as Ambience in 2022. But the public areas – including the three-deck Central Court atrium, Raffles Bar, the Observatory and the light and airy Botanical Bar – were all upgraded when Ambassador bought it.
On the plus side, the seasoned cruiser added, there’s plenty of storage space in the cabins, the food is very good, being able to embark at Tilbury is a big bonus and, while ‘there’s a lot more to do on big ships, you have to book everything, so you can’t be spontaneous’.
Spa sessions get booked up on sea days and our appointments were late afternoon, which meant we’d miss our allocated sitting in the main restaurant. So, we’d booked a table at speciality restaurant Saffron, at £19.99 per person for three courses.
I was nervous, as my teenager only ever orders chicken tikka masala, which wasn’t on the menu. I really hoped the closest thing, butter chicken – tandoori chicken in a buttery tomato gravy with naan bread and Kashmiri pulao – would be OK.
I loved my choices. My starter was a vegetable khazana – a selection of Punjabi samosa, aloo and mutter tikki and paneer tikka. My main was Royal Indian Maharaja thali – small dishes on a platter, with rice, dal, aloo gobi, palak paneer, mushroom and green pea masala, Indian bread and raita.
Our waiter, Rajan, set me a challenge: “When I come back, I’d like you to tell me which of the small dishes is the best,” he said. Honestly, there were all so good, I couldn’t choose a favourite.
As for the teenager, she loved the food so much she asked if we could book again later in the week – which we did.
Eidfjord
Ports of call
In addition to Bergen, which is on most Norwegian fjord itineraries, we also called at:
Flåm, at the edge of Aurlandsfjord. The port for one of the best-known attractions on a fjord cruise, the vintage Flåm Railway, often described as one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world. The train took us high in the mountains to Myrdal station, 867 metres above sea level. We disembarked en route to marvel at the majestic Kjosfossen waterfall. Despite people jostling to get the perfect photo and the baffling appearance from nowhere of a mysterious woman in red, swaying seductively to a Norwegian folk song, it was still an awesome sight. Our guide, Konrad, told us the strange woman was the mythical Norse forest spirit, Huldra, who, according to folklore, lures men into the woods to seduce them.
Haugesund, the Homeland of the Viking Kings. We took a small boat around Hardangerfjord, one of the longest fjords in the world. We got within touching distance of the Voringsfossen waterfall, close enough for the captain to draw a bucket of ice-cold water, which he decanted into glasses for us to drink.
Our final stop, Eidfjord, is an inner branch of the huge Hardangerfjord. Excursion options here include kayaking and exploring Hardangervidda National Park, but we chose to simply sit and enjoy the view.
The post Ambassador Cruise Line review: It’s all about the Ambience appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
