The Ambition is an old ship that has been very tastefully refurbished.
Despite being small there are lots of lounges, bars and the deck area is quite spacious.
There is a really good ice cream station which was open every day.
Our deluxe suite at the back of the ship was magnificent.
Spacious, well furnished, large partly sheltered balcony and completely separate bedroom with proper door and own access to balcony.
Small round dining room table with 4 chairs and two dressing tables with own chairs.
A large sofa/sofa bed that comfortably sits 4 persons and a very efficient L’OR coffee machine (Nespresso like).
There is a chargeable mini bar and they provide two free bottles of still water per day.
As we were in a deluxe suite we got free premium wifi and one large bag of washing per week.
The wifi is expensive so this makes a huge difference.
The large bathroom had a large very efficient shower (no bath).
Evening entertainment like all the Ambassador Ships is of very high quality.
The high octane energy of the dance ensemble is amazing – they do far more production shows that other cruise lines we have been on and always mingle with/greet the audience at the end of the show.
There is no resident stage ‘orchestra’ but there is music around the ship – of particular merit Classic Inspiration (Lazlo and Rudolph) who perform 4 times daily and also had their own evening production show.
The guest entertainers catered for a variety of tastes and were of high standard.
There is a theatre group that put on a few plays as well as vignettes.
Again very high quality.
There are two main dining rooms – The Buckingham and the Holyrood and the main casual eatery is the Borough Market.
This caters very well for vegetarians and vegans and there is a different soup and a couple of hot main dishes every day.
Indeed Ambassador cater well for special diets, whether this is lactose free, gluten free, vegetarian/vegan.
Other diets such as Kosher and Halal can be ordered in advance.
The Holyrood which is the smaller of the two was for the suite guests.
The wait staff are very friendly and as efficient as possible considering the number of tables they each cater for.
The wine list is more than adequate and cheaper than most other cruise lines we have sailed with (average price around £25 per bottle rather than £40-£60) and Ambassador do NOT add a 15% gratuity to each purchase as for instance Cunard do.
The shore excursion programme was good and again the tours are reasonably priced.
The shops on board were average (actually more shops than on the larger Ambience).
There was a good ‘tuck shop’.
There is a good well sized library with plenty of jigsaw puzzles, but other areas such as the Purple Turtle bar and ‘play area’ are small.
The Cavern Night Club is very large and comfy.
Entertainment during the day was good and varied; guest lectures morning and afternoon on sea days and game shows, quizzes etc for all those who like these.
There is a ships photographer but service was fairly limited as he wasn’t always present on shore for early trips (we had an 8am start in Madeira).
They offer a package of 10 photos for £59.99 early in the cruise.
This is very good value and again much more economical than other cruise lines whom we have found are beginning to be very expensive.
There were plumbing issues – on three separate occasions the toilets got blocked at the back of the ship and one of the main lifts at the back of the ship that services the restaurants did not work for the entire time.
This built up queues and crowded lifts during peak meal times which was exacerbated by the large number of physically challenged guests on board.
Our itinerary was good – it would have been excellent but for the fact that we could not get into Morocco (where we were scheduled to visit Casablanca and Tangier) due to very rough high seas that closed the port and stopped even bigger ships from berthing.
Unfortunately we had wet windy weather for most of the cruise with rough seas on several days (although surprisingly the Bay of Biscay was calm during our return trip).
The Ambition is a SMALL ship and does not ride the rough waves as comfortably as larger cruise ships.
Our recommendation is to keep away over the winter months as there is more chance of calmer seas during the Spring, Summer, Autumn months.
All in all this was another enjoyable Ambassador Cruise (our 4th) and it is still GREAT value although the signs are the they are gradually raising their prices.
The staff work hard to be very friendly and welcoming and their motto is ‘enjoy yourself’
