vhagues

Thank you Seaknots, don’t worry, I take no notice of negative comments anyway! 👍🏻🤣

On 8/15/2022 at 6:25 PM, yorkshirephil said:

This is the email Ambassador sent out:

Dear Guest,

We would like to sincerely apologise to every guest and trade partner who saw the recent announcement in the national press regarding our decision to Charter Ambition to the Scottish Government, in order to facilitate the Scottish resettlement program for the Ukraine population to support those displaced by the war in Ukraine.

We are disappointed that this announcement was shared prematurely without the appropriate advance communication and consultation we had intended for our valued guests.

To that end, we would like to alleviate any current concerns or unnecessary uncertainty by now providing an additional explanation.

As a new brand in the cruise industry, we, ourselves, were adversely affected by the war in Ukraine. Ambience’s initial launch was delayed and many of our esteemed crew incurred additional unforeseen personal challenges. We personally felt the impact acutely and the experience heightened our interest in wanting to support those most detrimentally affected by the devastation of the war.

When the opportunity to work with the Scottish government to support the Ukrainian population presented itself, we felt morally obliged to accommodate such a worthwhile cause and amend some of Ambition’s initial itineraries for 2023. We had fully intended to communicate this decision via the appropriate channels, extending the courtesy and respect to our guests and trade partners you would expect. Now, belatedly we are hopeful that despite the incongruous news, you will join us in confidence and understanding to support this humanitarian strategy.

Let us explain what this will mean:

• Ambition will be in Scotland from early September 2022 for 6 months and will then go into dry dock for soft refurbishment of public areas and cabins and her engine upgrades, rendering her one of the top 10% of sustainable ships afloat, like Ambience.

• This means that her inaugural season will unfortunately be delayed until mid-May 2023. We are working internally to ascertain the impact of this across our scheduled itineraries and will be able to offer you, our valued guests, recompense for the inconvenience you will incur as a result of this delay.

• Guests will be able to receive either a full refund or an enhanced incentive to transfer to a comparable sailing or a discount against any Ambassador sailing in 2023. If you desire a full refund, this will be offered without compromise on any Ambition sailing up to, and including 11th May 2023. Ambition cruises departing after 12th May 2022 will be operating as scheduled. Please note that in securing a full refund, any additional incentives will not be valid for future, separate re-bookings. These offers will be communicated to you by email on or before 26th August, at which time you will also be able to choose an option online for your affected sailing. Please note you will not be able to action any cancellations or transfers until you receive this email, and we will not be able to manually action this through our call centre. Please do not contact us before you have received this email.

Your patience at this time is welcome. As ever, our guests remain our number one priority, as do the values by which we operate our business.

We hope to be able to offer you a wonderful experience on board Ambition once we establish clarity around this realignment and fully explore all available options for your compensation offer.

Kind regards,

Christian Verhounig / CEO | Ambassador Cruise Line

Ambassador Cruise Line

Copyright 2022 Ambassador Cruise Line is a trading name of Ambassador Cruise Holidays Limited. Ambassador Cruise Holidays Limited is a company registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 13299365.

Ambassador Cruise Line, Gateway House, Stonehouse Lane, Purfleet, Essex, RM19 1NS.

What I can’t understand is why Ambassador, a new British Cruise. line that wants to build up their business, and yet they think ditching fare paying passengers, who are “their number one priority” is in favour of housing refugees at anchor in the Clyde for months is a good move. I think it’s a bad business decision and I for one will be cancelling our booked cruise to the fjords. The £300pp OBC does not make me want to give them another chance! 😡🤬

V Hagues. Dissapointed, angry and let down!

Anyone from the uk going on Panama Canal cruise January 2017?