Good bits: ship is old but comfortable, lovely bars/lounges, food good, staff friendly and helpful, cabin clean and comfortable with lots of storage space.
However, after an efficient and speedy embarkation process which started our cruise on a positive note, everything started to go downhill.
The muster station drill was carried out the pre-pandemic way, everyone visiting their muster station at a set time.
We were crammed into a corridor, on a very hot day, to be shown how to put a life jacket on.
Nobody checked our cruise cards, so we need not have turned up really.
The next day, the itinerary for the voyage was changed significantly.
The first change was due to the strike action in French ports.
This was known about before sailing, so why the last minute change? The knock on effect was to add in another French port and cancel the visits to the Scottish islands we had booked the cruise for.
The beautiful islands in the Hebrides were then replaced with – a visit to Aberdeen.
No effective explanation was offered for the changes, we had calm seas throughout the cruise.
The changed itinerary was not one we would have chosen to book.
Generally, the organisation was poor.
Getting on and off the ship involved endless queuing, wasting so much time.
It was so noticeable because of our experience on other ships.
Some waiting is always inevitable, but Ambassador seem to adopt a shrug of the shoulders attitude instead of trying to improve the situation for passengers as other cruise lines do.
It’s a shame because we were looking forward to supporting a British cruise company offering “old fashioned” service from British ports.
Unfortunately we won’t book with Ambassador in future.