Ambassador Cruise Line is a British cruise line headquartered in

Purfleet Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater ...

, England. The company launched and announced the purchase of its flagship '' Ambience'' in May 2021 and commenced sales to the public in the following month. Ambassador Cruise Line tailors towards premium-value no fly cruises which target the adult market, including over 50s, with sailings for families during summer months. Ambassador Cruise Line operates from eight ports in the United Kingdom: London Tilbury,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Edinburgh Leith Edinburgh Leith was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. There was also an earlier Leith ...

, Bristol Royal Portbury, Falmouth,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

with London Tilbury and Newcastle being the home ports of ''Ambience'' and ''Ambition'' respectively. The cruise liner offers cruises to destinations such as the British Isles, the Baltics, Scandinavia, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, as well as Cuba and the Caribbean.

History

Ambassador Cruise Line was established in 2021 by Christian Verhounig, who was the former CEO of Cruise & Maritime Voyages which went into administration in 2020. In 2023, Ambassador cruise line announced that their ships will have internet connections from

Starlink Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 130 countries ...

and that Ambience would sail the grand round-the-world cruise in 2024. Ambassador sponsored the 2025 World Indoor Bowls Championship in January 2025.

Launch of ''Ambience'' and ''Ambition''

'' Ambience'' set sail for the first time on 20 April 2022, with a short cruise to

Hamburg, Germany Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, followed by a cruise to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. ''

Ambition Ambition, Ambitions or Ambitious may refer to: * Ambition (character trait) Music * Ambitions (album), ''Ambitions'' (album), a 2017 album by One Ok Rock * Ambition (Tommy Shaw album), ''Ambition'' (Tommy Shaw album), 2014 * Ambition (Wale al ...

'' launched on the 10 May 2023 after being named by British sailor

Shirley Robertson Shirley Ann Robertson, OBE DL (born 15 July 1968) is a British sailor and Olympic gold medallist. She is the first British woman to win Olympic gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Early life Robertson ...

OBE and then set sail for the first time on the 12 May 2023 from

Port of Tyne The Port of Tyne comprises the commercial docks on and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England. History There has been a port on the Tyne at least since the Romans used their settlement of Arbeia to supply the g ...

, Robertson's birthplace, before heading down to France and Spain.

Ambassador Group and ''Renaissance''

On 9 January 2025, Ambassador Cruise Line and (CFC) announced that they would merge, forming the Ambassador Group, with completion by the end of that month. CFC's ''

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

'' will join Ambassador's ships but will continue to serve the French market under the CFC brand. To meet the same emission standards ( IMO Tier III) as the Ambassador ships, ''Renaissance'' will receive engine upgrades in January 2025 which will then allow her to go into sea areas in which stricter controls are required and to plugin and turn off her engines when in suitably equipped ports.

Ambience dry dock

Ambience is due to go into dry dock in January 2026 this is for planned maintenance and an upgrade to add electrical equipment that will allow the ship to turn off its engines when in a port with suitable connection (known as cold ironing)

Ships

Current fleet (Ambassador Group)

References

{{reflist https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2025/02/ambassador-launches-2025-uk-ship-visit-program-for-group-tour-organizers/ Companies based in Essex Cruise lines 2021 establishments in England