‘The Warmest Welcome At Sea’. That’s the claim that Ambassador Cruise Line has for all their cruises, as they set sail for fly-cruising to the Caribbean for the first time. As many of you know, I sailed with Ambassador on their smaller UK-based ship, the Ambition, this time last year and can confirm the claim that there’s a warm welcome, but more than that is that they are outstanding value for money. Even more so, I decided to book myself on one of their ‘Christmas market’ cruises in December, so you’ll hear more about that in the run-up to Christmas.
The new venture into Caribbean cruising was born through a merger with the French line, CFC and their ship, the Renaissance. It’s currently repositioning to the Caribbean, which allowed me to see the ship in Tilbury before it left. (I was supposed to see it in Aberdeen during the summer, but it was cancelled at the last minute!). The repositioning cruise was discounted really heavily at the last minute, with pricing from £899 per person for 18 nights, including the flight home from Barbados.
Unlike Ambassador’s other ships – the Ambition and Ambience, which are essentially British (and essentially adult-only) ships, the Renaissance is going to be shared equally between the British, French and Dutch for the winter season in the Caribbean. All announcements onboard will be in English first, and all signage is being changed to dual English/French. The ship will be on 14-night rotations from Barbados, and Virgin Atlantic will provide flights on exclusive charters from Heathrow (and Manchester).
Renaissance is very much in the same sort of style as the other Ambassador ships; they are second-hand from other major cruise lines. In this case, it’s the former Maasdam, built in 1992 for Holland America, but it doesn’t mean that old means inferior – they have the latest Starlink wifi onboard, and the entire ship had a refit just a few years ago, and it looks really good.
Renaissance Dining Room
Onboard, the general Ambassador offering comes as standard. They have the traditional dining option of a main dining room with two sittings – there’s an early and a late sitting. There are then bookable speciality restaurant options if you don’t want to dine in the main dining room every night. There’s a pan-asian and a Creole restaurant, which come with a supplement. There’s a buffet option as well.
We had lunch in the main restaurant, set over two tiers. There was a three-course lunch, in a Caribbean style, given that they were just about to leave for the sun! As I have found with Ambassador, the food is really very good. Just remember that the menu will also have to appeal to French and Dutch guests as well, so it might not include some of the traditional offerings on Ambassador, like a Sunday roast dinner.
After dinner, one of the Ambassador’s main attractions is the entertainment it has onboard. There’s still a main ‘show’ every evening in the theatre, which is once again split over two levels. Although there isn’t a bar within the theatre, they do allow you to take drinks inside (this is similar on the other ships as well). They are described as ‘west-end style shows’ and have four rotated in a week, and coincide with both dinner settings, so there’s one after the early sitting, and one after the late sitting. There are also plenty of spaces around the ship in other lounges for live music on small stages, as well as entertainment options during the day.
It’s worth remembering that this is a thirty-year-old ship, so it doesn’t have the number of balcony cabins you’ll find on the newer and mostly larger ships. As well as the usual balconies, they also have rooms which have patio doors, leading on to the promenade deck – which, although you don’t have your own private space, you do get the feeling of a balcony cabin.
However, something I normally wouldn’t highlight – the size of the inside cabins, they are absolutely humungous, and you could almost call them a suite with a large bed, sofa and a large bathroom.
Of course, in the Caribbean, much is going to revolve around the outdoor space, and the Renaissance has it in abundance. There’s a very large sun terrace at the front of the ship, with so many sun loungers you’ll probably be spoilt for choice. Then, there’s the main pool that has a retractable roof – for me this was a much nicer area than on Ambition, it felt somewhat more upmarket with sun loungers and a pool bar at one end.
Renaissance – Pool
Ambassador is known for really good value cruises. This first foray into fly-cruising to the Caribbean is no different, with fares starting from £1899 per person for a two-week (14 night) cruise from Barbados, including the return international flights with Virgin Atlantic from either London Heathrow or Manchester.
