We were booked on the Ambition sailing of 22 March 2026 from Tilbury destined for the north west coast of Norway ‘Land of the Northern Lights’. Unfortunately we were diverted while at sea. We were advised that this was due to poor weather in the area. The cruise then became a Baltic city cruise (not one we would have chosen to book). We can only presently trust that the change of route was not reasonably foreseeable before we left Tilbury as we would have withdrawn had we had the opportunity.
Moving on to describe the ship. This is the smallest ship I had cruised on in may years. This came with advantages and disadvantages. The diversion was one disadvantage as possibly a bigger ship would be able to weather more adverse conditions. It had its advantages in that there were fewer passengers. I was advised that it was nearly at nominal capacity, but did not seem crowded.
The staff/passenger ratio seemed good compared to the larger ships. There was rarely a delay in ordering drinks etc and the staff seemed happier, friendlier and more relaxed than on some larger ships.
We used the Buckingham restaurant for breakfast. The system was unusual in that we were directed to shared tables but only the tea/coffee and orange juice were served. The remainder was by buffet. Compared to a normal buffet I found that this worked well, maximising seating and assisting in the general flow. I found the buffet itself to be reasonable but there was occasionally a queue for eggs which were cooked to order (an advantage or disadvantage). The opening time was limited to 0800-1000, with a limited food facility available longer on Deck 11.
Main meals were by allocated sitting and table. Again this was restricting, however there remained the buffet option. The meals were OK but that was about where it ended. There was great use of large shaped plates to take the eye off the portion sizes which were sometimes on the smaller size. The quality was generally OK but not great. I did not finish a steak as it was too tough for me. It may have helped to have been given a steak knife. The service, however, was great.
We used two of the three speciality meal options – ‘Dining under the Stars’ (DUTS) and ‘Saffron’. I felt that there would have been a better ambience in Saffron if the lighting was lower. We were assured that DUTS was inside as March is not suitable to be dining outside. The room was freezing and heated by infra red lamps above your head. While making my head exceptionally hot, the chill quickly returned when they were timed out. There was also very loud machinery (possibly air vent?) noise meaning there was no real ambience. The meal itself and the service was excellent.
We had an inside cabin which, while compact, was well set out and kept spotless by our cabin steward. The ensuite could be a little too compact for larger passengers.
The Theatre company were very good and hard working. There was no live ‘orchestra’. I did not find this a detriment. We arrived at the shows early which meant there was no issue with seating. There were plenty of bar waiters if you wished. The layout is odd in that each seating row has bench seats at the rear but then further individual seats at the front. This meant that you could get a bench seat only for someone (quite legitimately) to sit on the same level and immediately in front of you.
In general I found the musicians in the bars not to be to my taste, not in relation to the content but the style of play. The Cavern bar was great if you like quizzes.
The Spa was good with 2 saunas and a relaxation room overlooking the sea and a steam room. These were free to use, with towels and robes freely available. The gym looked good but I did not partake.
We had the drinks package as part of a promotion. The cocktails were good and the wine not bad. The choice of beers was extremely limited unless foreign sounding beers brewed under licence by Heineken is to your taste. For the full price drinks package to be economical both people in a cabin would have to enjoy their drinks.
Disembarkation was a farce. We had to leave our cabin at 7.30am (prior to the ship actually docking) but did not have clearance to leave until about 10.45am. Meanwhile we were encouraged to wait (twiddling our thumbs) in the theatre. Yes we could have used the ‘do it yourself’ disembarkation, but the times still did not match with the time to leave the cabin and, having packed for the snow, we had more luggage than usual.
In conclusion, this is a budget line which means there are compromises. It is a generally a good ship with some good points and some which start to head towards a deal breaker. I would consider using it again if circumstances were right but it would not be my default position.
