Ambassador postpones launch of Ambience by two weeks

The launch of Ambassador Cruise Line’s first ship has been delayed by two weeks due to “supply-side delays”. As a result, Ambience’s maiden voyage to Hamburg has been rescheduled and the first two sailings to the Norwegian fjords have been cancelled. 

Ambience was due to set sail from London Tilbury to Hamburg on April 6, which has now been rescheduled to April 20. All guests booked on the three impacted sailings are being contacted by Ambassador to discuss alternatives or a full refund.

The ship has been in dry-dock in Croatia, undergoing extensive engineering and other works. An announcement from the line said: “The process has been subjected to some significant recent supply-side delays which also led to a temporary lack of availability of marine gas oil in Croatia.”

CEO, Christian Verhounig said the line had been “working tirelessly” to try and avoid cancelling the sailings. He explained: “Whilst we were able to mitigate several delays impacting our extensive programme of works during the period Ambience was in dry dock, everyone is aware that there is at present, extensive supply chain disruption and delays in many commercial areas. 

“Most recently these have been worsened by the crisis in Ukraine. It has therefore not been possible to depart for London Tilbury on the original date we had planned. This has had a knock-on effect to our inaugural sailing programme which we have managed to limit to the three initial sailings.”

Verhounig said it was “incredibly disappointing news” for guests and apologised for the disruption, but said the line was hopeful they would be able to join Ambience on revised dates. He added: “All of us at Ambassador cannot wait to welcome our first guests on board.”

Agents can tour Ambience and enjoy a five course lunch on one of 10 dates as part of the line’s trade partner ship visit programme this year.