Ambassador Cruises Voyage to Norway and the Northern Lights

“The sea is not a highway; it is a pathless wilderness.”

Attributed to Eric Tabarly

Ambassador Cruises and Ambience

Founded in 2021, Ambassador Cruise Lines is a relatively new company to the British cruising industry and the cruising industry in general, yet their vessels (being older) each carry their own traditions and histories. Indeed, the company’s flagship MS Ambience - the same vessel we will be on - has a distinguished lineage stretching back nearly four decades.

Established in the wake of the Covid pandemic to revive affordable, no-fly cruising for UK travellers, Ambassador set out to offer a classic, destination-focused experience sailing from British home ports - particularly Tilbury - toward Iceland, Norway, and beyond.

The company’s emphasis is on friendly service, environmental responsibility, and a classic travel experience on each of its three vessels.

Voyage to Norway, the Northern Lights, and Orkney

Our passage to Norway on Ambience will take place over the course of 16 nights and 17 days.

Ambassador Cruises' advertising frames this voyage as a journey into the far north, sailing from Tilbury to Scotland and onwards to Norway, where it will follow the coastline into the Arctic Circle. The route traces a path to historic ports such as Ålesund and Trondheim, before continuing north to Tromsø with its rich cultural life, and eventually reaching Alta, where we hope to see the Northern Lights. On the southbound voyage back, the itinerary calls for a port stop in Narvik and Kirkwall in the Orkney Isles. Together, these ports create a voyage that blends northern landscapes, culture, and history with long stretches of time at sea.  All of which sounds exciting.

Why Ambience? Why Norway?

The decision to undertake this voyage on this particular vessel was shaped as much by intention as by itinerary. Ambience offered an outward-looking vessel with generous deck space and long sea days that encourage observation and nature watching, the sailing was late enough in the season to enjoy comfortable temperatures as well as balance daylight for exploration with darkness for the night sky and possibility of spotting the northern lights. The route itself traced a compelling arc north, and the ship’s partnership with ORCA and its focus on citizen science resonated deeply with our own years of watching, recording, and sharing wildlife encounters on trail and at sea.

To that end, we also chose Ambience to support ORCA and its goal of protecting marine life by engaging the public through Citizen Science - a goal that sounds familiar after 6 years of promoting community engagement on our own #Hike4Birds across Canada on the Trans Canada Trail.

Finally, we are also going because Norway is a country we have never visited before and which has long drawn us with its dramatic coastline landscapes, the Northern Lights, and the possibility of learning about the region for future treks. In particular, in the coming year, we hope to undertake hiking along routes such as the St. Olav Way and Sweden’s Kungsleden.

Itinerary for Voyage to Norway 

Day 1 - London Tilbury Embarkation
Day 2 - At Sea
Day 3 - Invergordon, Scotland UK
Day 4 - At Sea
Day 5 - Ålesund , Norway
Day 6 - Trondheim, Norway
Day 7 - At Sea
Day 8 - Tromsø , Norway
Day 9 - Alta, Norway
Day 10 - Alta, Norway
Day 11 - At Sea
Day 12 - Narvik, Norway
Day 13 - At Sea
Day 14 - At Sea
Day 15 - Kirkwall, Orkney, UK
Day 16 - At Sea
Day 17 - London Tilbury Disembark

On Board Presenters

For this voyage, the listed enrichment talks and presenters include Dr. Stephen Payne, the designer of Queen Mary 2, a guest speaker from ORCA on Whale Conservation, and astronomer Martin Lunn. In addition to this, Dan and Jay from Sail Away Magazine, as well as popular YouTuber Jamie Robins from Travel Blog Jamie, are set to host talks and events throughout the passage.

Outset of the Journey

With the itinerary set and the wider purpose of the voyage understood – exploring nature, discovering a new country and linking past journeys to those still ahead - all that remained was for us to step aboard. This sailing would be another quiet extension of the line we’ve been drawing for years now, connecting trails, pilgrimages, railways, and sea crossings into a single, unbroken thread of slow travel around the world. 

A quiet note before we continue: many of the entries that follow are not short. That is intentional. Some journeys, as with many of life’s most meaningful experiences, cannot be compressed into lists, highlights, or summaries. They unfold over time, through lived experiences, and are better understood when taken in their entirety rather than abbreviated into something more convenient or easily consumed. What follows is not meant to be skimmed, but explored through, in the same spirit in which it was lived.

See you on deck!