GlynnPW

Hello Fellow Travellers ~ I have today (3rd Feb) received a refund of my out-of-packet expenses for, rail fares, hotel stay and excess insurance cover from Ambassador. I received no more or less than I requested for my costs. I haven't received an email notification from Ambassador regarding this. I simply checked my bank account and there it is. So I now feel I am back at zero - well, sort of. I am sure like me you all bought stuff only because you were going to be away for 38-days over Christmas and New Year. Now I would Ambassador to address the matter of compensation for our holiday which Ambassador cancelled, despite there being nothing wrong with MS Ambition. The ship did after all operate Christmas Market visits, a Cricket themed break and a Canary Cruise at the time we were supposed to be onboard. I haven't changed my opinion of Ambassador as they haven't done anything with their stated desire to encourage my 'advocacy' or 'exceed my expectations'. Still waiting on that score. I hope very much that you are all well and keeping your heads up and looking for your next holidays, which by now you all deserve.

Oh Alastair, that must have been such a relief. It is becoming obvious that we are going to be kept waiting for the our expenses (and obtaining comp will take even more effort). Ambassador's customer care only seems to extend to customers who actually get to travel. Everyone else (us) it left behind.

"Cruise Critic readers vote Ambience 2nd favourite UK ship!" Marvellous. Meanwhile, little old me is still waiting for the return of my 'out of pocket' expenses. Not to mention any tangible compensation consideration for my cancelled 38-day cruise. Just imagine, it might have been the number 1 favourite if it hadn't been put out of service for 50 days to get the essentials fixed. Just imagine!

I'm sorry to hear they are still dragging their feet, but pleased to hear you enjoyed your trip to Barcelona. I hope you have some good news soon. I received a message today requesting my payment details for reimburse of our "out of pocket expenses" - they expect to refund this by the end of January. To think we should still be at sea!

We certainly did Pasty feet - Cornwall is beautiful (I'm there now) but we paid for and expected sunny Barbados on Boxing Day didn't we. It is very easy for people to say never mind, get over it, but I for one (like you and the 800 Fellow Travellers I am sure) keep thinking about how things should have been.

Hello Albertina - Yes, good news here too. I have just checked and payment has arrived. Thanks for your alert. I checked several times this morning and saw nothing, so I guess this happened late in the day (and on a Saturday). Thank you for your alert, as I probably wouldn't have checked again today. They refunded the deposit and the final remittance separately. But hey it is there, and it ours once again. Phew! Alastair and Pasty feet I hope this reassures you that it's on the way. Let us know. I hope this news lifts some of the tension of dealing with Ambassador in the lead up to Christmas. But, if they think that's the end of it they can bloomin' well think again. And yes we will convene re recompense in the New Year. Until then, my best festive wishes to my Fellow Travellers.

This is another example of how their treatment of us demonstrates a reasonable and just cause for financial compensation. I understand Alastair's depth of feeling, given Ambassadors shoddy attitude and support towards us Option 6er's. However, I do believe like 'Pasty feet' that we will get our refunds, albeit way too late. Take strength Fellow Travellers in the knowledge that we stick together.

I heard from them today and I'm told the refund 'has been actioned today'. They will indeed push it to my card, so we'll have a few more days to wait. My 'out of pocket' expenses will be dealt with separately and they'll advise me of 'progress' by the end of January 2024. No mention whatsoever of financial compensation (which took up a considerable portion of my original complaint). I'm not going to let that drop. Most of the reply was repeated waffle with weird deflection wording. What do you make of this?: As you already know, we had to make the difficult decision to cancel our planned Christmas and New Year sailing to the West Indies and Dutch Antilles. This was due to unforeseen circumstances that arose after we switched Ambition's scheduled operation to accommodate sailings originally planned for Ambience. After? I hope all my Fellow Travellers issues are resolved as soon as possible, and refunds and expenses recovered quickly. Let's keep the pressure on for compensation, because after all, as Alastair noted, we are only getting OUR OWN money back. Our loss of time, for the marvellous time we should be having NOW hasn't been appropriately recognised. Let me know how you get on and do have a Merry Christmas 🙂

Yes, it would certainly have been lovely to meet and make new friends without all this dreadful baggage hovering over us at Christmas. We've been lucky enough to book a 3-day stay over Christmas in Padstow so we're looking forward to that (and it's only an hour away). However, Christmas in the Sun had been our dream and expectation since February. Maybe next time eh! And, maybe some of the Fellow Travellers here will be there too. I just wont be booking it with you know who! Let's see what tomorrow brings (not holding my breath though) 🙂

Thanks for the update Alastair - I hope you get everything you are asking for. Asking you to contact your Insurance provider is surely taking the Mickie, as insidecabin notes.

Hi Albertina59 - well, they certainly didn't leave me dumbstruck 🙂 - I've heard nothing yet. But great to hear that Alastair has some movement. Hopefully better news all-round soon. I did email the CEO again today (which once again didn't receive an acknowledgement) I have also shared a few feelings with them on their Instagram page. Their post on 30 Nov reads: Sail Away for Less 🚢💜 'Tis the season for gifting, so why not gift yourself a cruise? With up to 59% off all 2024 and 2025 season cruises all through December, there is no reason not to treat yourself! Find your next cruise today Well, I just couldn't hold myself back

Ditto that

Cruisehive had an earlier article where they noted that they hadn't had sight of the 'compensation' offer, therefore I updated them with a copy of the cancellation email we all received, which offered the 6-options. They pretty much are published 'the options' as per the email (omitting all the apology waffle). So, I guess we can see where CruiseHive's interests lay.

They aren't offering that.

Yes I share your feelings completely. If we get a refund tomorrow I will be dumbstruck (believe me that is very rare 🙂). They haven't demonstrated in any way a satisfactory resolution for those of us who chose Option 6. And yes PurpleMoonLight, those of us who chose to accept a full refund have received a confirmation email (although the wording is generic to cover all options).

In his own words, CEO Christian Vernounig wrote: "We would like to offer you 25% off any future cruise of up to 14 nights booked prior to 31 March 2024 in addition to offering you a full refund for your cancelled West Indies Christmas cruise." Bearing in mind other cruise lines are currently offering up to 33% off in their current 'sales', without being overly specific on durations offered. Christian can think again!

Ambassador cancelled the cruise on 7 December, therefore 14-days is up on 21 December (tomorrow if we don't need to deal in working days).

I agree with you completely Pasty feet

Hello Fellow Travellers. I have advised Christian Verhounig that I am not interested in his revised offer. He says “ we did our absolute best to ensure we put together a comprehensive and generous package to compensate for the cancellation of your cruise”. But clearly the best was not absolute enough. If it was they wouldn’t feel the need to the “enhance” their offer. And anyway, what the heck is “enhanced” here?

Oh Wicko, that is sickening. Many of us empathise with your upset I am sure. My disappointment has now changed to niggling anger and I cannot wait for our refund to be issued so I can sail away to a more reliable company. Did you choose to wait a year by transferring your cancelled 2022 cruise to this year? Or, was the Christmas 2023 cruise a new booking?

AMBASSADOR AUTO SAYS: "We are currently receiving an extremely high number emails, with our response time often exceeding 7 working days. Due to this, we are prioritising emails from guests who are travelling within the next 4 weeks. If you are travelling after this time, please allow up to 14 working days for a response to your email." That's nice isn't it! I hope that very soon I will not need to 'bother' Ambassador ever again. Until that time, I will continue looking for an alternative company that provides 'no fly' cruises, whilst I 'bother' them for the return of my money.

Have any of the 800 (A22335) dispossessed by Ambassador who opted for a FULL REFUND (option 6), received the mentioned " Cancelling Invoice" yet?

I for one will not be moving across to another cruise after they cancelled my Christmas and New Year