Martha1974

Thank you - we’re considering Marella because friends want to cruise with them in the Med (they don’t want 1-2 sea days to get out of the UK before they get to the sun!) and we’ve always said we want to do a cruise together. Personally I’d be happy never to fly again! Why would you spend 2-3 hours in an airport when you could arrive at a port and be on the lido deck with a glass in your hand in 30 mins??

I have replied to your query on the Ambassador board and at the time your question was showing as being posted 2 hours previously. I’m always happy to help but now feel the need to apologise that I have to go to work, go shopping, cook meals etc etc and therefore only have time to look at CC 2-3 times a day. I would imagine that there are lots of people like me that frequent numerous boards because they sail with (or plan to sail with) various cruise lines. Just saying….,

Sorry I can’t help with the questions about Liverpool (we’ve only sailed with Ambassador out of Tilbury so far) but regarding formal nights I hope I can make a useful contribution. We have so far done a 5-night cruise (1 formal night) and an 11-night cruise (2 formal nights). I’m not 100% sure but my take is that it is 1 formal night per week. On both cruises we have eaten in the MDR on formal nights where we estimate 85-90% will be in some kind of formal dress, but can’t speak about those that don’t want to participate. Having said that, based on observations of public areas (bars, theatre etc) we would say the majority of pax dress up (not necessarily black tie but certainly ‘dress to impress’). If you like Traditional Cruising I’d definitely recommend Ambassador. Ironically we’re just about to book our first Marella cruise so might see you on the Marella boards with questions about cruising with them!

I think I’ve read elsewhere on CC that it’s something to do with having to pay for an alcohol licence in some countries/ regions and that NCL don’t pay it so can’t sell alcohol. I have Absolutely No Evidence and can’t remember where I read it, so am now backing away quietly before I’m shouted down.

Happy birthday Iain! My husband and I were in Invergordon in April and while walking round the town we found the Seafarers’ Centre in the Church. We were made very welcome and offered tea and refreshments. When we went in there was a display screen welcoming “all passengers and crew of the *insert name of ship*”. Any passengers were directed to the right of the room and given tea and biscuits (donations accepted) and crew were directed to the left for similar refreshments (no donations required and is there anything else we can help with). My husband is ex-Royal Navy and was touched to see how well the ship’s crew were being looked after. I would encourage anyone visiting Invergordon to seek it out.

@Britboys If memory serves I think we were on the same cruise as you in December. We sailed on Ambience again in March and in my opinion the offering had improved (although I wasn’t unhappy with the product first time round). I agree with you regarding the pools (the ‘swimming pool’ is small and I’m not sure I understand the point of the ‘paddling pool’ at the other end of the lido deck) and about the quality of the food. I haven’t yet sailed with P&O so can’t agree or disagree on your comparison of the public areas. Overall for me as a no-fly cruise out of the UK I think the Ambassador product is pretty good for the price. My theory is that if I can take 2 Ambassador cruises per year or 1 with another line I’ll take the 2 😁🥂🍾

For our 2 Ambassador cruises we were about an hour early and killed a bit of time in the Asda store near the terminal, picking up a few last-minute bits that we needed. On both occasions we got to the terminal about 15-20 mins before our allocated time and joined the queue - no-one asked what embarkation time we were allocated and we were through check in and onto the ship in about 10 minutes. I appreciate if you were hoping for a early time and end up with mid-afternoon that’s probably not going to make much difference, but if you’re there within reasonable time I’d say it’s worth giving it a go.

Not that I’m aware of - my DH and I sailed with them in March and got talking to a Canadian gentleman who was sailing with his British wife. My understanding was that he was resident in the UK but still travelling on a Canadian passport. I think there is often an assumption that because they sail out of the UK and are very much aimed at the “British market” (whatever that means) that there are restrictions. However I also think they don’t make it easy for non-UK residents to book… I think Saga have a similar reputation. As previously suggested I’d contact them direct to discuss the options.

Glasgow is one of my favourite cities and it’s also my husband’s home-town. If you have time to get out of the city centre I would really recommend the Riverside Museum. It’s kind of a mixture between a transport museum and a social history of the city… hard to explain but well worth a visit.

I’m sure we’re not the only ones, but based on what we pack when we sail from Southampton or Tilbury we’d pay as much excess luggage as we pay for the cruise (or at least for the parking). Doesn’t help that my Scottish hubby likes to take his full ‘kilt order’ for formal nights… always gets lots of comments and compliments but nearly fills a case of its own!

Me too! I’ve commented on other threads about how much I like reading reviews and live reports of British Isles / UK cruises as they often include places I’ve never been (even though I live in the UK). Your descriptions of your day in and around Portland are inspiring, and your comments about your on-board experiences have me counting down to our next Princess cruise in September (even though that is Sky Princess round France & Spain, but hey, a ship’s a ship, right?)

Following. We’ve recently booked our first Celebrity cruise (9-nights Barcelona -Rome) for October 2024 so will be following with interest (although that on is on Equinox not Reflection). Up to now we have only sailed out of the UK, but we plan to do a fly-cruise in June ‘24 before the Celebrity trip so I’m interested to see your tips for saving luggage space (although looking at the photo of the cases, maybe not 😁) I hope you all have a fabulous time - very jealous that your daughter’s girlfriend is doing her first cruise… as they say, you never forget your first 😝

I agree, I’m from the UK too and love reading live reports and reviews of British Isles / UK cruises either because they’re going to places I’ve never been or to experience places I know through someone else’s eyes (so to speak). Really enjoying this one - Cobh is on my to do list but haven’t made it there yet.

@BlackBox DH and I are relatively new cruisers (6 so far) but haven’t sailed with Marella yet. We’re planing a trip to the Eastern Med for next year so would be very interested to know your thoughts about your experiences. I hope you have a great time… they do say that cruising can become addictive so be prepared 😁

On our recent 11-night we had 2 formal nights. My husband took his kilt to wear on the first and a dark lounge suit for the second. He had so many comments/compliments about the kilt he ended up wearing it for both. It generally seemed that the dress code on port days was casual and on sea days was smart or formal. I guess that would change based on the itinerary and number of ports (we had a 50/50 split of sea days and port days)

Following. We’re booked on Sky for the 7 night France / Spain in September (only our 2nd time on board). Will be interested to hear about her changes post-dry dock. Have a fabulous time!

I understand that it's not the 'done thing' but from my last experience of Sabatini's (ordering a glass of wine before the food order was taken and actually getting it after the main course was served) I'll run the risk of offending people by taking a drink in with me.

Thank you for the up-to-date review, we sail again on 23 March (just ordered our covid tests) so it’s good to hear things are pretty good on board.

We're sailing on Ambience again at the end of March (11 nights Northern Lights cruise to Iceland). We did book it before we took the Christmas Markets cruise but would have been willing to cancel and sacrifice the deposit if we hadn't been happy. Overall impression was good - for us she's a good sized ship with plenty of food and drink offerings for the number or passengers. Yes, the cabins are tired and ready for a refurb but we spend very little time in the cabin so were happy that our interior was a good size, was comfortable and was kept spotlessly clean by Tony our lovely cabin steward. Yes, some of the public spaces were crowded, but it was a cold-weather winter cruise on a ship that (judging by the amount of seating on the pool deck and other outdoor areas) is really designed for a percentage of the passengers to be outside during the day... we expect that the cruise to Iceland will be the same but would imagine that on a warm-weather cruise it would be different. Yes, some people were complaining about the time taken to get drinks service etc, but from travelling on other cruises and reading other message boards this is by no means an isolated issue to Ambassador and is widespread across the industry. What I will say is that all the crew that we saw were going above and beyond to try and minimise delays and to provide the best service they could. I'm by no means an "Ambassador cheerleader" but we've taken other more expensive cruises and we think for the price Ambassador stacks up pretty well, but as I see it said many times on Cruise Critic - "your mileage may vary"! If you do decide to book for 2024 I hope you have a great time too.

Was on the same cruise as @Britboys - also happy to help.

I saw this listed on the menu and it made me chuckle - I didn't think of the issue of it being misheard, but you're right. The other one that made me laugh was the virgin Bloody Mary - called a Bloody Shame! For me the first drink is always a Mimosa on the lido deck (otherwise known as a Bucks Fizz to us Brits)

Thank you for your review - we’ve just booked our first Carnival cruise for the Western Med in October 2024… I know it’s 18+ months away but I’ve started looking at videos and reviews already so I’ve really enjoyed reading your thoughts and seeing your photos (not the same destinations I know, but it still gives a feeling for the ship)

We were on a cruise in September at the time of the Queen’s funeral (not a P&O cruise but another Carnival line) - formal night was moved from Monday (the day of the funeral) to Sunday and on the Monday the funeral was broadcast in 3 or 4 locations around the ship. It was easy to find if you wanted to participate and easy to ignore if you didn’t. I would imagine they will try and find a similar ‘happy medium’ for the coronation.

I’m not sure this will help much, but I’m in the UK and have just logged onto www.Princess.com and have been able to search for sailings from LA in August and they have come up priced in £GBP. If you’re also in the UK I’m not sure why your experience would be different unless you’re using a non-uk vpn, but to be fair I’m really not very tech savvy so others can probably suggest other solutions.

Thank you for a great blog! DH and I were on Sky Princess in Sept 2022 and I am delighted to hear that your experiences were so similar to ours (we’re sailing on her again in Sept 2023 so we’re hoping nothing much changes!) We didn’t use the Sanctuary as we had 4 port days and 2 sea days but next time there’s only 1 port we want to re-visit so we’re hoping to manage a couple of afternoons as a treat. Incidentally my opinion of 5-skies was the same as yours… I could appreciate the performances but didn’t really get the point of it - DH on the other hand thought it was brilliant.