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Ambience taken out of service

peajay

By peajay,
in Ambassador Cruise Line

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Albertina59

Albertina59

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, insidecabin said:

I recall they had to use escrow for passenger funds as they had difficulty getting the required package regulations cover.

 

ABTA would not cover them initially.

 

 

This surely is excellent news. I totally feared them going under both metaphorically and actually, phew. I completely support the fight for consequential  damages as well though. 

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insidecabin "Live from...." Rare

insidecabin

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Albertina59 said:

In that case I hope to receive my refund and hopefully some compensation as well. Had felt very silly dealing with them at all. This will be absolutely the first and last time. Thanks for your insights. 

We are still waiting for the right Ambassador cruise.

 

We never say never even after a bad experience we will still consider any line just set the expectations appropriately.

 

It's not high for Ambassador based on reviews and their history, we won't commit a lot of money.

 

All cruise lines have issues.

if you cut the ones with problems you don't have many left very quickly.

 

Ship broke they had to do something, wait till you get bumped for a totally voluntary  choice by a cruise line to redeploy a ship or take a charter.

 

 

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Albertina59

Albertina59

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

We are still waiting for the right Ambassador cruise.

 

We never say never even after a bad experience we will still consider any line just set the expectations appropriately.

 

It's not high for Ambassador based on reviews and their history, we won't commit a lot of money.

 

All cruise lines have issues.

if you cut the ones with problems you don't have many left very quickly.

 

Ship broke they had to do something, wait till you get bumped for a totally voluntary  choice by a cruise line to redeploy a ship or take a charter.

 

 

We have cruised quite a lot, the whole gamut from Thomson’s Island Escape through to the Caribbean with QM2, P & O, NCL. We sailed on the Magellan to the Baltic and have been impressed with Fred Olsen.  Already this year we have sailed on the Arvia and the Iona to Norway.  This  Ambition cruise appealed due to the itinerary and its similarity to CMV. I agree that very few cruises are completely trouble free, but to be bumped is a new experience. My main beef is that Ambassador have had problems with Ambience historically and could and should have cancelled earlier giving us the option to book elsewhere. We paid quite a lot for our junior suite and drinks package and had anticipated a lovely Christmas and New Year break. Our disappointment is huge. Certainly our trust in this cruise line is severely damaged frankly. Despite ‘commercially sound’ decisions by Ambassador, real paying clients have been let down at a very special time of year. 

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Wicko1669

Wicko1669

Posted
Posted

Helloo to you all, I'd like to share my Ambassador moments with you all. So, a big thank you to Ambassador Cruise Line for ruining my Christmas Plans for the second successive year, cancelling our Christmas Cruise last year was bad enough ...but again this year is beyond words..."you just couldn't make it up". To add insult to injury my mails to the Chief Executive and Head of Guest Services didn't even a get a cursory acknowledgement. So we will again start our Festive meal shopping trying hard not to dwell on this debacle, perhaps the old adage of "one bitten, twice shy springs to mind" that will cloud our judgment on the offers to sail with Ambassador again. Whilst I appreciate that other traveller's will have had their plans dashed this Christmas by Ambassador I suspect we will the only people to have had this esteemed accolade of being cancelled TWICE.

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GlynnPW

GlynnPW

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Wicko1669 said:

Helloo to you all, I'd like to share my Ambassador moments with you all. So, a big thank you to Ambassador Cruise Line for ruining my Christmas Plans for the second successive year, cancelling our Christmas Cruise last year was bad enough ...but again this year is beyond words..."you just couldn't make it up". To add insult to injury my mails to the Chief Executive and Head of Guest Services didn't even a get a cursory acknowledgement. So we will again start our Festive meal shopping trying hard not to dwell on this debacle, perhaps the old adage of "one bitten, twice shy springs to mind" that will cloud our judgment on the offers to sail with Ambassador again. Whilst I appreciate that other traveller's will have had their plans dashed this Christmas by Ambassador I suspect we will the only people to have had this esteemed accolade of being cancelled TWICE.

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?

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Wicko1669

Wicko1669

Posted
Posted

Hi Glynn,

Last year we took the option of a full refund from our 2021 Christmas cruise cancellation and gaining some on board credit as we had also booked an "Iceland Norther Lights" trip in March that went well with no complaints.We booked the "Christmas and New Year in the West indies" in September as it looked good value and perhaps naively thought that chances of a secund cancellation was remote and this was a different ship. How wrong could I be. Now waiting for a refund as I'm not letting Ambassador hold my money until 2025 for the possibility of another cancelled cruise.

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Pasty feet

Pasty feet

Posted
Posted

I bemoan the loss of Christmas and New Year plans and frankly am stunned that people are willing to deal with them anymore. Once trust has gone, that’s it. If we booked anything, I would have a nagging feeling it wouldn’t materialise. We were devastated, now simply furious. Ambassador knew full well this crisis was coming. I suspect the Ambition will be nabbed for the world cruise. Just refund us and we’re gone. 

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Albertina59

Albertina59

Posted
Posted
54 minutes ago, Pasty feet said:

I bemoan the loss of Christmas and New Year plans and frankly am stunned that people are willing to deal with them anymore. Once trust has gone, that’s it. If we booked anything, I would have a nagging feeling it wouldn’t materialise. We were devastated, now simply furious. Ambassador knew full well this crisis was coming. I suspect the Ambition will be nabbed for the world cruise. Just refund us and we’re gone. 

Just received Ambassador email offering 25% off future cruise in addition to refund. A sweetener, but not enough by a long chalk. 

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GlynnPW

GlynnPW

Posted
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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?

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GlynnPW

GlynnPW

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Pasty feet said:

I bemoan the loss of Christmas and New Year plans and frankly am stunned that people are willing to deal with them anymore. Once trust has gone, that’s it. If we booked anything, I would have a nagging feeling it wouldn’t materialise. We were devastated, now simply furious. Ambassador knew full well this crisis was coming. I suspect the Ambition will be nabbed for the world cruise. Just refund us and we’re gone. 

I agree with you completely Pasty feet

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Pasty feet

Pasty feet

Posted
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Well, we shall see if Ambassador go above and beyond to save their reputation. Personally our actual monetary loss is relatively small and relates to enhanced insurance. However, we require a full fare refund and have requested payments for the insurance and our huge disappointment and stress. Mostly this is academic and we fully expect them to duck this issue so once we have our refund we will be done with them completely. Any further sweetener offers now are simply delaying tactics. Just pay us up and let’s move on. 

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PurpleMoonlight

PurpleMoonlight

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Pasty feet said:

Since sailing was 11th December and today is the 20th, we can reasonably expect refunds by early January. At that point we will be booking something with another cruise line to make up for whole ghastly debacle. 

Have you informed Ambassador that you require a refund?

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