Festive Events

[MX-Drew]

Is anyone else going to one of the Christmas events on Ambience this December?

 

I thought it was not only (fingers crossed) a great night out with a 5 course dinner, a show then a stay overnight with breakfast in the morning but an opportunity to take a look at the ship and sample to some degree the food and service Ambassador offer before going all in on a cruise.

 

Tilbury is very local to us so it would be ideal, we did try CMV and whilst the food was fine everything else in our opinion was worse than dreadful so we really hope Ambassador will be better. 

[paulatsea]

On 8/3/2022 at 8:43 AM, MX-Drew said:

Is anyone else going to one of the Christmas events on Ambience this December?

 

I thought it was not only (fingers crossed) a great night out with a 5 course dinner, a show then a stay overnight with breakfast in the morning but an opportunity to take a look at the ship and sample to some degree the food and service Ambassador offer before going all in on a cruise.

 

Tilbury is very local to us so it would be ideal, we did try CMV and whilst the food was fine everything else in our opinion was worse than dreadful so we really hope Ambassador will be better. 

I’ve thought about this and it looks like a good night out and a chance to see the ship  - but it seems it’s only inside cabins and no tables for two - from what I have read ?

Otherwise I would def go.

 

 

[MX-Drew]

8 minutes ago, paulatsea said:

I’ve thought about this and it looks like a good night out and a chance to see the ship  - but it seems it’s only inside cabins and no tables for two - from what I have read ?

Otherwise I would def go.

 

 

I have just booked and there are outside cabins available (I have booked one) and there are tables for 4,6,8 and I think 10. There are no tables for 2. 
If you’re interested I suggest you give them a call, they are very easy to get through too.

[paulatsea]

33 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

I have just booked and there are outside cabins available (I have booked one) and there are tables for 4,6,8 and I think 10. There are no tables for 2. 
If you’re interested I suggest you give them a call, they are very easy to get through too.

Thanks - will do.

[MX-Drew]

26 minutes ago, paulatsea said:

Thanks - will do.

And to make it even better, it’s a freephone number. Other cruise lines should take note.😁

[Martha1974]

DH and I have booked an overnight event the night before we sail to the German Xmas markets. The Ambassador agent that we spoke to was super-helpful and booked us into the same cabin for the extra night so we don’t need to move anything the following morning. We’re hoping it will be a nice way to start the cruise (and it takes a bit of pressure off the travel time to get to Tilbury - at least if we’re stuck in traffic we’ll only be late for dinner, not miss the sailing). 

[Britboys]

Availability depends on the date of the event. I recently tried to book for the one on 10th December and it is sold out...

[paulatsea]

2 hours ago, Martha1974 said:

DH and I have booked an overnight event the night before we sail to the German Xmas markets. The Ambassador agent that we spoke to was super-helpful and booked us into the same cabin for the extra night so we don’t need to move anything the following morning. We’re hoping it will be a nice way to start the cruise (and it takes a bit of pressure off the travel time to get to Tilbury - at least if we’re stuck in traffic we’ll only be late for dinner, not miss the sailing). 

That’s a great idea - so you just stay on board.

 

[Martha1974]

3 hours ago, paulatsea said:

That’s a great idea - so you just stay on board.

 

That’s what they’ve told us. I did ask if we would need to disembark and go through security etc again but was told that we’ll be able to stay on board and use the facilities for the day… just a shame it’s Tilbury in December - not likely to be using the pool or hot tubs!! 

[LegalEagle2012]

Hi 

 

I have a group of 18 on the 9th December event.  All grades of cabin are still available but singles are almost sold out.

[davemorton]

Just looked at these, and it makes no sense to me.  There is an overnight event on Friday the 16th Dec, but it does not sail until Sunday the 18th, so what is happening on the Saturday night, just sitting empty? 

[Slugsta]

We're on the 9th December (with our son and his girlfriend). It will give us chance to check out the ship, especially accessibility. Tilbury isn't great for us, but we are going to see our friend in Southend after we disembark, so it should work out OK.

[Britboys]

On 9/25/2022 at 8:39 PM, davemorton said:

Just looked at these, and it makes no sense to me.  There is an overnight event on Friday the 16th Dec, but it does not sail until Sunday the 18th, so what is happening on the Saturday night, just sitting empty? 

According to the website, there is another Festive Event on Saturday 17th available to book...

[Slugsta]

I've just received an email for Ambassador telling me that boarding times have now been assigned - we have been given 7.30pm, which will barely give us time to find our cabin before dinner, never mind change! It would be fair to say that we are not terribly happy . . .

[Martha1974]

49 minutes ago, Slugsta said:

I've just received an email for Ambassador telling me that boarding times have now been assigned - we have been given 7.30pm, which will barely give us time to find our cabin before dinner, never mind change! It would be fair to say that we are not terribly happy . . .

Oh wow, we got 6:20pm and I thought that seemed late… I assume the late sitting for dinner will be 8:15pm but I don’t think I’ve actually seen that published anywhere. 

[Slugsta]

Martha, I hope you enjoy your night onboard. 2nd dinner is 8.30, so we have our fingers crossed that we will manage to change for dinner. Don't think we have any hope of a nice, relaxed drink beforehand though!

[Britboys]

On 11/23/2022 at 6:15 PM, Slugsta said:

I've just received an email for Ambassador telling me that boarding times have now been assigned - we have been given 7.30pm, which will barely give us time to find our cabin before dinner, never mind change! It would be fair to say that we are not terribly happy . . .

Just a possible scenario - get to the terminal at 7.20, be in your cabin at 7.35, quick freshen & change and into a bar about 8.00 for a drink.... 🤞🏻

[Host Jazzbeau]

20 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Just a possible scenario - get to the terminal at 7.20, be in your cabin at 7.35, quick freshen & change and into a bar about 8.00 for a drink.... 🤞🏻

Just a question:  do you think the luggage will make to the cabin that quickly?

[Martha1974]

We didn’t get any luggage tags for the Festive Event. We’re doing the event tomorrow night then staying on board for the 5-night Xmas Markets cruise. We are keeping the same cabin so we will have tags with the right cabin number on and are hoping that our bigger case may get brought on for us, (Saturday night’s clothes are in the carry-on) but I’m guessing that the assumption is that people that are only on board for the night will have minimal luggage and will be able to self-embark. 

[Britboys]

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Just a question:  do you think the luggage will make to the cabin that quickly?

It's just an overnight event and so you are expected to carry on your own bag.

[Britboys]

13 hours ago, Martha1974 said:

We didn’t get any luggage tags for the Festive Event. We’re doing the event tomorrow night then staying on board for the 5-night Xmas Markets cruise. We are keeping the same cabin so we will have tags with the right cabin number on and are hoping that our bigger case may get brought on for us, (Saturday night’s clothes are in the carry-on) but I’m guessing that the assumption is that people that are only on board for the night will have minimal luggage and will be able to self-embark. 

I'm on the 5 night cruise. Pack warm clothing - it's going to be pretty chilly in Hamburg and Amsterdam.

[Martha1974]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

I'm on the 5 night cruise. Pack warm clothing - it's going to be pretty chilly in Hamburg and Amsterdam.

Base layers and thermal socks are all packed 😂! We’re just on our way down the A1 -going to have a quick stop at Lakeside for last-minute bits and to kill some time before we head to Tilbury for 6:20 embarkation. 

[Britboys]

2 minutes ago, Martha1974 said:

Base layers and thermal socks are all packed 😂! We’re just on our way down the A1 -going to have a quick stop at Lakeside for last-minute bits and to kill some time before we head to Tilbury for 6:20 embarkation. 

Good luck with Lakeside! I live just off the A1 only about an hour from Tilbury so travelling down tomorrow.

Enjoy!

[Slugsta]

We allowed 5 hours to get to Tilbury from Poole - which was just as well as there was a significant delay on the M25. Picked our son up from Tilbury station just after 6pm and went directly to the cruise terminal. They allowed us in straight away, we joined the queue and were in our cabin by 6.50 - which gave us time for a cocktail before dinner.

 

We had a good dinner but would be interested to hear what food is like usually (ie, was the 'festive' meal considerably better than the usual fare?). OH didn't want to see the show, so we explored the ship instead.

 

Breakfast on Saturday morning was something of a shambles but we were hardly going to starve!

[tigernut]

You may be interested to read some of the negative comments about Ambassador’s festive events on the cruise dot forum page. I had been considering sailing with Ambassador as they have some interesting itineraries, but I had serious doubts after the collapse of Cruise & Maritime. After reading the latest comments, It definitely will not be one of my cruise lines of choice for future cruises.