Surprised as First Time Cruise Passengers on Ambassador Ambience
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- Join us as we tell you what surprised us as first time Cruise Passengers on Ambassador Ambience. There's lots we needed to find out from getting things fixed to dealing with seasickness.
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Everyone has been asking…. Ambassador Cruises Drink Prices Revealed!
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Always worth doing your research before you board especially if you are newbies. Ambassador drinks and drinks packages are some of the cheapest in cruising. If you buy them before you sail you would save yourselves about £10 a day between you. Also your gratuities are included when you purchase a package, which would have saved you another £120-£150. I roughly calculated that if you have more than 6-7 drinks and coffees a day, then a package is worth considering.
You’re so right. We were very last minute so didn’t get a chance to research either the drinks packages or the ports! We practically flew in from New York then set off for the cruise. th-cam.com/video/Oj2uxmMyj8Y/w-d-xo.htmlsi=p-EPLcMZ-yznbadg
Our gratuities were included in our fare though.
@@angelaalanI think gratuities are about £8 a day which some people resent but it means all employees in the bowels get a share as you never see them. Are you allowed to bring tea bags in & my favourite mug?
@seltaeb9691 Yes you can. In fact our cabin attendant gave us extra tea bags (we had just come off of eight months non-stop Travel) and told us how to get free water too😉. No problem taking snacks et cetera on board the only thing that seemed to be an issue was alcohol.
We have cruised with Ambassador Ambience in June and thoroughly enjoyed it. Angela and Alan, you gave a very honest opinion, wished we had seen your video first. Thank you for sharing and enjoy the rest of your travels.
Overall we enjoyed it too. We loved the Iceland experience. We definitely gave our honest opinion - we always try to - but hope you found it fair too.
Thanks for the video, especially as you aimed it at the 'first time cruising ' passengers. I still can`t see why you found the drinks packages difficult. I`ve recently booked Ambience for the first time and the Drinks Package is a MUST DO for me !!! Enjoy your future cruises.
Travelling as a couple, if one of you wants the drinks package, you both have to have it. Angela doesn’t drink so it would’ve been pointless for her. You need to have about 15+ drinks per day to break even. For us it just wasn’t good value but everyone’s different.
My cruise in 2026 is 31 days & drinks package will be £1100, I'm a light drinker if any & ordinary tea will suffice. How much are excursions on average?
We were in Iceland which is expensive in general. Ballpark figure £100 each, although some obviously cheaper and some more expensive.
We're glad to hear that you'll consider cruising again. Our channel has some ships and cruise lines that we have discovered and experienced in recent years, and some of the destinations they have taken us to, which might inspire you guys.
Equally, we are finding your channel is stimulating ideas and inspiration for our own travels 🌎
Thanks. We’ll hop over and check your channel out for some ideas.
Thank you for this. I’m going on my first cruise in March and all of this has been so helpful.
So glad it helped. There’s so many experts around but a first time cruise can have some surprising elements
Tanks for a very nice upload. My wife and i have been on many cruises around the world and we love it. I gonna keep following you guys / Greatings from a middle aged Swede / Adam
Thanks Adam. Have you been on Ambassador yet? If not would you? We’d be interested to hear an experienced Cruise tourists thoughts
@@angelaalan Hello. In fact, we have plans to cruise with Ambassador , maybe as early as spring. We are two "ordinary" workers who, just like you, have saved up to go on all the cruises and it has been worth every penny. We have traveled with Royal, MSC and Carnival and have experienced fantastic service every single time. Ambassadors, I have heard very good things about them and I hope you enjoyed the trip. / Adam
@adamroth9168 Loved the trip. Let us know how you enjoy it
I will certainly. I'm going to the fjords 7 nights may 16th. So here we go. I'm going alone so mm thanks for you reply. Take care
We’d love to hear how you get on. Bon voyage
Thanks so much for the information. I’m hoping to take my first cruise for my 70th next year. Very helpful thanks! 😊
Have fun and come back to our channel to let us know what you thought. 🛳️
@@angelaalan will do thank you
Hi iv got my first ambassador cruise on ambience in May. And my first cruise ever. I booked in October 23. Iv watched so many cruise videos over 2 years. Thank you for ambition vid . As you said until you do a cruise you can't compare. Thanks again for your information. Jack
Hope you enjoy it. It took us a couple of days to get into it as this came on the back of 8 months constantly travelling around the world, but we soon loved it. Come back and tell us what you thought.
Our Globe-Trotting Adventures
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We got the drinks package for half price when we booked, wouldn't have bothered with a package if we'd had to pay full price for it (not big drinkers). Since it also includes the gratuities, the half price offer was a no-brainer! If I were going again, I'd probably just pay the bar prices as I remember them being quite reasonable. Nice video, you are lovely people and obviously having a great time on your travels.
🥰awww thank you! Angela rarely drinks so it wasn’t worth us getting the package especially as you couldn’t even get a decent coffee with it. As you say the bar prices weren’t too bad so we stuck with that.
Don’t forget to subscribe to see what else we get up to xx
I am a seasoned cruise traveller but am trying this low budget trip in a gang of 10. We love the destinations and not having to fly. We’ve opted for the drinks package because with 6 days at sea we know from old we will be battering the bar bill and hot chocolates/speciality coffees, if it were just me and the hubby I wouldn’t have bothered but my friends are wayward to the point we are expecting to go over our 15 drink maximum 😂.
This was a great review, obvs we know the embarkation routines but we’ve never sailed from Tilbury so it was good to have a glimpse at their set up.
Cheers and happy travels 👍🏻
Hope you enjoy your ambassador experience.
We had the drinks package that included special coffees including alcoholic ones. My husband enjoyed an Irish coffee at breakfast time. It was included in our deal or we wouldn't have bought a drinks package. Great treat 😊.
That’s sounds like a great way to do a drinks package!
Re sea sickness. I can tell you a large number of regular cruiser take medication or use seabands. Personally I used to use stugeron travel pills and they worked a charm but I came to realise I didn't actually need them after 12 cruises !! That ship of Ambassador was pretty small, personally I don't go on anything much under 90,000. ton . Having a cabin mid ship on a lower deck is preferable but that's reflected in cost. If the sea is rough you'll feel it regardless of ship size but some ships cope better than others. I'll also say I think it's part a confidence thing, once you relax and except the movement you'll feel calmer and just go with it. I used to dread choppy seas but after going thru a hurricane force storm in the bay of Biscay in an aft cabin for a couple of days I figure I can cope with anything lol. My most solid ships for lack of movement are P&O Iona, Cunard Queen Anne and the most rock solid ship afloat...... Cunard Queen Mary 2.
Keep in mind the season you travel as seas vary accordingly.
I hope this didn't put you off cruises, it's a great way to see the world and meet lovely people. Happy traveling guys 👍 Vik
Angela used the wristbands for morning sickness too! It didn’t put us off….we’ve been through worse on a cross channel ferry 🤪⛴️
I love sleeping while the ship moves about.
Very informative video for newbies so well done. A couple of points: nothing is "free" you've paid for it with your ticket and a passenger ship is always called a ship never a boat.
Tap water in cabin is perfectly safe to drink, I neved buy it.
Glad you enjoyed it - thank you. We’re so used to travelling cheaply on land; cruise terminology is very new to us. We’re also aware we keep referring to our ‘room’ not our cabin 😂. Good tip about the water!
I know I’m a bit late in commenting here, but just another tip for any first time cruisers, if your cabin is set up as a twin and you’d prefer a double (or vice versa) if you ask your cabin steward they can usually rearrange the beds and push them together (or separate them) for you.
Good tip. We decided against it but we thought we could ask to move the furniture if needed. That’s an important for people to know though
Well thought out comments thank you A & A on AA., learnt a bit more for our first cruise.
Glad it was helpful! Let us know how your cruise compares.
Afraid not budget, but by the time you add everything up including all drinks excursions it would be worth you looking at Regent Seven Seas Cruises. We have just returned from a 27 day cruise Miami to Brazil with excursions in every port and never spent an extra penny. Price even included air fairs from the UK and back.
We’re learning so much from everyone’s comments. Thank you. What we’re realising is that expectation plays a big part in whether you perceive a cruise as being budget, or good value.
Smaller ships do roll more than larger in general (in general you want one that is 80,000 tons or more we have found, which is why we havn't sailed on Ambassador ourselves). We have found the smallest ship we don't get seasick as much on to be a 2000 capacity minimum.
Some cruise lines are very cheap in Thiftyness on the sailing that leaves immediately before Chrismas (ie, gets back on somewhere like 19-24th December). These usually have the lowest amount of people on board, but is usually a warm up for a Christmas saling. We have booked these for many years for around 1000 for a balcony per person (2000 total) for 14 nights on Cunard, and sometimes other lines (P&O and NCL). Cunard also sqews older demographic, but we like the music on board (there is at least 6 venues on each ship playing live music every night, where Ambassador has a far smaller choice in our experience). NCL and MSC were too "young" for us at 46...
But as the pre-Christmas cruise is the "test" Christmas cruise you even usually get some Christmas foods...
That’s really helpful information. Thank you for your great comments.
Our first cruise was with Ambience last year. We fond it excellent value for money as it included a full drinks package and wifi. All crew we met were excellent and friendly, we had no problems with the food in the main dining room but the buffet was overcrowded and difficult to navigate and find a table. Car parking was a bit steep at £84 for a 7 night cruise. We are going on another cruise with them in May and the all inclusive fare was just over £900 each ( ocean view) which seems quite good value to me.
Sounds like you had a very similar experience to us. We’d like to try other cruise lines for comparison but we’d happily sail with Ambassador again 🚢
we are keen to try marella next year as they are all inclusive
@martinstride6721 That sounds like a sensible next move.
If you were a single traveller you would be shocked at the almost 100,% single supplements fare. Two people on my last trip paid less than I did, they were on deck 8 in an ocean view cabin, I was in a single cabin deck 4. But I go with Ambassador because it is the cheapest smaller ship and I accept that it has limitations like very tired cabins and the dining experience is not as classy as other cruise lines. I could get cheaper passage on the very large 4 000 to 6 000 cruise ships but I prefer smaller ships as I always am a solo passenger.
I would recomend Marella cruises too as they are all inclusive including flights, tips, drinks ect I have allways crusied with them going back to when they were thomson cruises! Never had a bad cruise or experience with them! OBV some things are extra such as specialty dinning (but only around the 30 pound mark to book those resturants and well worth it ...bigger portions and wine glasses ect ..or thats HOW it used to be lol) ),room service, spa ect but still overall great value for money! On 1 of our cruises we met a 1st time couple and they didnt know to bring at least a suit and a nice dress for formal night (it is optinal and you can go eat at the buffett ) and they DID ask their trvel agent at the time and they gave them totaly wrong info on things like that! BUT Marella is usualy smart /casual in the resturants apart from the 1 formal night!
That’s good to know. We paid, comparatively, very little for our cruise (under £50 per night) and Angela doesn’t drink alcohol so we weren’t disappointed but all inclusive makes planning and budgeting so much easier!
@@angelaalan Glad i could help well worth a look as i said Marella have Standard all inclusive incuded in your cruise fare BUT you can Upgrade it to include specialty coffees ect ....just have to look at the cruise you want and the price of the upgrade for that cruise! and then you can make your own minds up if it's worth it OR not for you both Also on the plus side thier ships tend to be mid range 1000 to1,924 passengers (as they are older ships from royal carribean or celbrity cruises ( they used to have smaller ships that i have cruised on BUT sadly the covid crisis did those ships in and have now gone to scrap sad realy as they were popular ships ) ..they even have the celbrity Galaxy in thier fleet NOW the marella explorer .....AND if you REMEMBER THE BBC TV SERIES The Cruise its the SHIP that launched Jane McDonald into stardom and upon the british public 🤣😉 ...Each to thier own as the saying goes!😉
ALSO sea sickness! i suffer from it and only EVER been bad once coming out of gran canaria harbour ...I took the advice of focusing on the horizon BUT it was dark when we departed and the harbour lights wer not going up and down OR side to side BUT in a circular motion that made it worse! focus on the horizon IS agood way BUT only if your actual at sea with no land insight 🤣 ....SO i ALLWAYS take tablets with me and have them an hr before we sail just incase! ......
THE one thing you very PROB aint experience Angela and Alan yet is the weird phenomenon of LAND sickness ! .. on of cruises round the canaries the port got canclled so spent 2 days at sea ...WHEN we finaly docked at the next port of call i got of the ship and walking round (because id got used to the motion of the ship) ...walking along it felt like (even though i was on terra firma) that i was getting the feeling that you get on being onboard the ship at sea ...was a realy strange and weird feeling lol
Also concerning the bottle of water in your cabin ALL cruise lines do that charge even Marella unless you do the all iclusive upgrade then its free
@@angelaalan if you want some more info and history of the Ambeience you can look at the wiki page on it ! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Ambience
Alan had Land sickness 🤣 I (Angela) have always focussed on the horizon previously but always with terrible results which is why we’ve never cruised 🚢 (see our Maldives Adventure day 🤮)
I'm booked to go on this ship in July to Norway. Looks like I'll have to bring a cafetiere at the very least. It does look really basic, both the cabin and facilities. Never been on a cruise before so your comments have been very helpful.
Yes it’s very basic but that’s reflected in the price. We were perfectly happy with it because for us it was more about the destination. We’ve definitely had worse accomodation 🤣
I’ve now been on my ambassador cruise.The food varied from amazing to ok. Staff lovely and helpful. My bed was quite uncomfortable so didn’t sleep well. But I wasn’t expecting luxury and I would do a cruise again if the cost and destination were right.
@tonishepherd7042 That sums up our experience too. We’d use Ambassador again, but we wouldn’t think of the ship itself as a destination.
If you guys include southern Sweden in your plans, then you are more than Wellcome . There wii be beeds and food waiting for you. Vi live in Växjö / Adam & Camilla
That’s very kind. Thank you!
Thank you both for a very interesting video. I’m in the process of finding out as much as I can for our first cruise and have been thinking Ambassador might be a good choice for a first one, so I was very pleased to hear your comments and opinions. As a total newbie I was a bit alarmed to see how much the ship was rolling in bad weather, it’s all too easy to think these big ships won’t be affected, so that was an eye opener. Also, I was wondering if the bunk beds got in the way at all when you were in bed? They look like they stick out a lot! Hoping you see this message and can reply, many thanks, Helen
Hi Helen. We’re glad you found our video helpful. We were sailing through a notoriously rough area of the oceans where the North Sea meets the North Atlantic at that point, so don’t let that put you off.
The bed weren’t a problem. They stick out maybe 8 inches/20cm but weren’t in the way at all.
Let us know about your first cruise - we’d be interested to compare notes
Looks like very good value and plenty to do on board. The drinks packages seemed very expensive though. Maybe try a cruise with a drinks package included in the price as a good comparison for your next cruise. Great tips for newbie cruisers
We thought it was good value and something for every one on board. Thanks for your comment
Your gratuities are included in the drinks package @ £6 a day. If you book a drinks package before you go the package price is less.@@angelaalan
@gojojo Gratuities we’re included in our cruise price. As we booked last minute and were travelling in between we didn’t get to look at the drinks packages in advance - but that’s a good tip for next time.
As ship rock and roll in a storm, but the bigger the better. Ambience is mid-sized. Cabin location is important if you are prone to sea-sickness. You need the lowest cabin, amidships, for stability.
That’s kind of what we were told. We were advised midship middle deck. Seemed to work for us!
@@angelaalan (I meant to say all ships...)
@WaterWorld1 Angela gets sick on a canal cos she’s so sensitive to the movement 🤢🤣
Thanks for the Video,were going this week as first timers and not holiday'd since 2019,bought the drinks package,but just wondering how busy the resturants,bars and theatre gets,thanks
We think the cruise we were on was full. The buffet restaurant did get incredibly busy for breakfast and lunch. There were enough bars to be able to find somewhere comfortable to be. We were second service for dinner, so later for the evening performances and although some shows were busier than others, it never felt over crowded. Hope this helps.
I was a bit surprised that you said the entertainment was aimed at the over 80’s. Certainly not the case in my experience.
The initial shows we saw featured lots of old ‘standard’ cabaret songs from the 1950s and before. As 50-60 yr olds we were in our prime in the 1980s. Later shows catered more to our taste/age
Rough idea on cost of drinks without drinks package please superstars.
We get more comments on the drinks package than anything else! Hope this is useful
Thanks for helpful vlog. My wife and I are going on our first cruise this July - one week ottoman odyssey cruise with Marella. We originally booked a two fare Easter cruise with Marella but this got cancelled because of current situation in Yemen.
Could you suggest that you try Marella cruise because they are a good price and are all inclusive for most items. Drinks package is excellent and represents great vfm.
Glad it was helpful! Don’t get Alan started on the drinks package🤣. Hope you have a fabulous time. Come back and let us know.
Hope you have your travel documents. If you don't drink a lot you may not want drink package. The Purple Turtle is a wine bar. If the drink package doesn't include coffee or tea it may not be worth it. Don't like deck parties. Lots to do on a Sea Day. Go to the gym, play table tennis, eat. Didn't take pictures on formal night? Need Drivers License and room key. Cabin Key is also used for all purchases on the ship. Food is included when you pay your fare. Won't go to Saffron. That's why you may have suffered from sea sickness.
Angela can get sea sick in a bath! 😂
What a lovely couple in youthful middle age!
Thank you x
Hi love the video we want to wash elephants where do we get that package. Also Just park asda app 10 mins down the road from tilbury port £48 for 11 nights we used the just park app
Good tip for parking. Thanks John
We bathed with the elephants in Krabi, Thailand. There’s a few places you can go but do your research. We loved Krabi Elephant House Sanctuary because the elephants are free to roam and completely unrestrained 🐘 THE ULTIMATE ELEPHANT EXPERIENCE | KRABI ELEPHANT HOUSE SANCTUARY
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Trouble with that at Asda is security of your car. Best to use their one that is very secure at about £280 for 31 days on my cruise to be. I live in Scotland so it's a long trek.
Isn't coffee and tea free in some areas
Yes - there’s a little in your cabin and from a machine in the buffet restaurant, but nothing ‘speciality’.
The male th airline that diverted to Bermuda over Christmas was in the daily mirror news yesterday a lot of passengers were injured, and seat belt sign wasn’t on so people got up to go to the toilet also they were dishing out meals when the went straight into tuberlance and most who were standing up bump their heads on the ceiling twice. One woman broke three bones in her neck.
That’s shocking
Hi, so what actual free drinks can you have with your meals please?
We got tea/coffee after our meal in the main restaurant, but it was essentially the same vending machine coffee as the buffet presented more nicely. Every thing else was chargeable.
Can you bring drinks onboard?
No. We were able to bring food/snacks on board but we didn’t try bringing drinks on. Your bags are scanned as you come back on board and apparently alcohol is taken and kept until disembarkation.
What did you think of the food? We were very disappointed and that is the first time I have ever said that about any cruise line. Large ships do rock about a lot as well. I speak as someone who spent two and a half days being thrown about at sea on the P&O Iona in August in Norway. With regard to food and drink on a cruise you can do it cheaply, we just eat and drink what is provided and never do drinks packages or speciality restaurants. If you want the odd drink just get it at the bar it is a lot cheaper. I take hot chocolate sachets with me for the cabin - the bar charges £4.00 for a cup of hot chocolate.
We thought the food was ok (but we had travelled over 12 countries for 7 months at this point!) Good tips about the drinks👍
Why dont you say where you are docked & visiting! My cruise isnt until 2026 in the Med for 31 days. I will only drink ordinary tea & occasional beer. The drink package was £1100. I dont think so.
This was one of a series of vlogs around the Faroe Islands and Iceland. You can see more of our Cruises here:
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@@angelaalanquick answer! Where are you now? Did you try any excursions & cost?
How did you find getting to the port? I’m looking at travelling from south wales to London and then onwards to the port. Was it easy enough to get to?
There’s a train station nearby. Once you get there it’s a bus or taxi ride away (or even a walk if you’re up for that!)
It might be easier for you to sail on an Ambassador ship from Bristol.
@@barbarapearce9738 thanks for replying. My holiday sailed from Tilbury and didn’t go from Bristol. I have now been. I ended up getting a coach to London Victoria and transfers with ambassador to the port.
Very easy process although I wouldn’t sails with ambassador again.
Anyone know any of the internet codes to log in for either fre wifi or discount wifi and is it expensive
We’d be interested to know too
Low quality food
Entertainment very poor
Ship poor
Staff brilliant
I’ve done 25 cruises
You’re an expert! Which ship/line is your favourite?
I've had maybe 12 cruises. Mostly P&O, then Cunard and recently a Fred. Olsen (which was by far the most superior). I'd not heard of Ambassador before but the impression I'm getting from the little research I've done is that it is not even as good as P&O. And somehow it seems to be in a continual state of "teething problems"! Once I've looked into it more I will have a more informed opinion.
@breadyegg Ambassador bought some very old ships to help keep the costs slow. They’re having problems with the maintenance of them apparently.
@@angelaalanFred Olsen is brilliant, I love their Bolette ship.
We’ll look out for that one. Thanks
The drinks package are not £640 per day per person. This couple are poor bloggers. On say 2 or first sea day they had same clothes on as they wore the previous day. Not a good look
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Alan misspoke and we corrected this on screen (it says per cruise). We don’t use teleprompters, or a script. We film as we go so sometimes there’ll be an error. None of us are perfect.
We notice that you’ve now edited your response to criticise our clothing? Not a good look 🤣
god forbid someone wears their clothes more than once on holiday 🫨
There’s a laundry room on board and we’ve written a book about packing light and wearing versatile items in various outfits. We practice what we preach 🧳
Jet-Set Style: Mastering the Travel Capsule Wardrobe amzn.eu/d/3gKRdt9
We’re not first time cruisers but we found your perspective really interesting. Lots of things we wouldn’t have thought to mention 🛳️
Just checked your channel @sistersontheseas - lots of cruises! What stood out to you from our vlog? Curious because you’re obviously very familiar with cruising
@@angelaalan mostly the parts that seem normal to us so we didn’t realise they would be a surprise to people. Dropping your luggage on the quayside was one example. We’re so used to doing it we didn’t realise people wouldn’t expect it!
As you’ve probably seen from our vlogs we’re most accustomed to planes and buses. Every aspect of cruising was new to us 🤣