Ship’s Tour of Ambassador Cruise’s Ambience

Exploring Ambience 

“All I ask is a tall ship and star to steer her by.”

John Masefield

 

Nautical History of Ambience

 
Throughout our second day on board Ambience, with us now out at sea and the land far behind we took the opportunity to explore the ship.
 
Perhaps the first thing to recognize is that, unlike Ambassador Cruise Line as a company, which is relatively new, the flagship of their fleet, MS Ambience, has a rich nautical history.

 
Ambience began life in the mid-1980s as part of Sitmar Cruises’ attempt to expand into the North American cruise market. To this end, Sitmar ordered a series of vessels, including the one initially designated Sitmar Fair Majesty, from Chantiers de l’Atlantique in France. During its construction, however, the entire Sitmar fleet was purchased by P&O, with the new ships transferred to Princess Cruises, then a P&O subsidiary.

 
While based on previous Sitmar drafts, the vessel’s exterior received a complete redesign by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, whose later works include The Shard in London, Kansai International Airport, and the New York Times Building. Piano’s innovative “Crown Class” design gave the ship her distinctive curved forward superstructure, said to be inspired by a bottlenose dolphin, and created elegant deck spaces and sheltered promenades that are unique in the cruise world today.

 
Built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone, Italy, at a cost of US$276.8 million, the ship launched in 1991 and entered service as Regal Princess. For sixteen years, she sailed under this name along routes to North America, Australia, and the Mediterranean. 

 

In 2007 Regal Princess was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia following a major refit, re-emerging as Pacific Dawn and spending the next thirteen years sailing the South Pacific.

 
In 2020, she briefly took on an unusual new identity as Satoshi, purchased by a group hoping to transform her into a floating residential community anchored in the Gulf of Panama - an experiment that ultimately proved short-lived.

 
In 2021, the vessel was acquired by the newly formed Ambassador Cruise Line, given a substantial technical and interior refurbishment, upgraded to meet modern environmental standards, and renamed Ambience. At present, she carries around 1,400–1,500 passengers, supported by a crew of 660, across 789 cabins.
 

Exploring Ambience

 
As with all vessels, Ambience takes time to fully explore the entire ship.   Overall, the atmosphere of the vessel's interior provides for a warm and welcoming environment while also giving way to plenty of outdoor deck space, giving passengers access to the outdoors.

Centre Court

 
Stepping aboard on Decks 4 and 5, our first experience of Ambience was the Centre Court, a tall, light-filled atrium that spans three decks and acts as the ship’s internal crossroads. This was the room where our journey began.  

 
Centre Court is a busy, adaptable space. During our voyage, it would host talks, musicians, fruit-carving demonstrations, theatrical moments at sea, and ORCA fundraising events. Reception, the Destination Experiences desk, and Future Cruises all radiate out from this central well, while large digital screens placed around the ship allow passengers to cycle through ship information, daily programs, menus, and the vessel’s position at sea. It’s efficient, modern, and unmistakably the organizational centre of life on board.  

 
Just off this space sits Dickens, a café and bar offering pastries and drinks at an additional charge.  Dickens is a comfortable and popular venue on board, though one that subtly signals how many onboard spaces operate outside the inclusive fare.

Above Centre Court on Deck 6, the atmosphere shifts toward diversion. On one side lies the Shopping Galleria, with displays filled with watches and jewellery gleaming under soft lighting. Directly opposite these venues sits the Casino, a compact space for those with such interests.

 
Further aft, Aces and Eights offered a quieter counterbalance: puzzles, board games, and card tables where small groups gathered daily. Adjacent to the gaming room is Kapoor’s Arts and Crafts Studio, which provides space for painting and creative workshops, hands-on activities that add texture to long sea days.
 

Promenades and Lounges

 
The promenade deck on Deck 7 became one of our favourite spaces. While not a full wraparound promenade deck – and requires passengers to cross through interior corridors to change sides - it is wide, sheltered, and close to the water. In poor weather, it allowed us to stay outside, protected from the wind and rain, while we kept lookout for whales and gulls without having to retreat indoors.

 
Also on Deck 7 is SW19, a Wimbledon-themed bar overlooking the promenade. With soft seating including a number of couches and loungers amid a relaxed pace, it became a pleasant place to read, watch the sea, or simply observe the rhythms of life on board. 

Nearby, the Photo Gallery and onboard shops offered familiar cruise-ship temptations: professional images for purchase, duty-free goods, souvenirs - all competently done.
 

Dining, Conversation, and Evening Life

 
Ambience has a single main dining room: Buckingham Restaurant, located aft on Deck 7. Wood-panelled, softly lit, and traditionally styled, it offers an elegant setting with assigned seating and the same wait staff each evening. While service was polished and familiar, we found portions small and vegetarian options limited - occasionally to the point of frustration. That said, the consistency of staff created a sense of continuity and routine that many passengers, including ourselves, valued.

 
Midship on the same deck are Raffles and the Botanical Lounge, which are elegant social hubs. Raffles, with its Art Deco styling, piano, and jazz, felt intimate and nostalgic. While next door, the Botanical Lounge – with an airy, green-toned, and lively atmosphere was often filled before and after dinner. 

Its extensive gin menu was a highlight, and the music here was consistently excellent. Between these lounges, comfortable chairs lined the windows, and attentive bar staff ensured no one lingered unattended for long.

 
At the very front of the ship, spanning Decks 7 and 8, the Palladium Theatre anchors Ambience’s entertainment and enrichment life.

 
By day, it hosted ORCA talks, guest speakers, enrichment presentations, and Q&A sessions.  By night, it transformed into a classic theatre-at-sea, with Broadway-style productions, musical performances, and comedians. Seating wraps around the stage in a welcoming, sofa-style arrangement, and drinks are served as the show begins. Performances were repeated twice nightly to accommodate different dinner sittings - a thoughtful and inclusive touch.
 

Quiet Corners and Livelier Nights

 
On Deck 8, just outside the doors of the Palladium Theatre, we found smaller, more personal spaces. Bronte’s Library offered shelves of books and a couple of couches - modest, but warmly inviting.

Across the ship, the Partnership Lounge showcased Ambassador’s affiliations, with cricket memorabilia and ORCA displays reinforcing the voyage’s conservation thread.

 
Further aft, the Purple Turtle Pub provided a contrast: dark, energetic, and sociable. Trivia, bingo, quizzes, and live music kept this space buzzing through the afternoon and evening, making it one of the liveliest venues on board.
 

Life Above the Waterline

 
Still ascending through the ship, Deck 10’s launderette proved practical and well-equipped -an unsung but genuinely appreciated feature on a longer voyage.

 
On Decks 11 and 12, outdoor access is the focus. Two hot tubs sat aft, open throughout the day, while the Borough Market buffet dominated the rear of Deck 12. Bright and lined with floor-to-ceiling windows, it offered a wide variety of food stations - from Italian and Asian dishes to vegan options and classic British fare. Afternoon tea with scones and clotted cream was a highlight served each afternoon here.

While the menus repeated, the ability to eat quickly and return outside made this our default dining option. We also appreciated that much of the food was prepared and served behind glass, lending the buffet a more sanitary feel than is often the case in Lidos.

 
Also on this floor are the specialty dining venues of Saffron (Indian cuisine) and Sea & Grass (steak and seafood), which sat just outside the inclusive fare, as did the Coffee House and other snack venues. These spaces felt optional rather than essential, allowing passengers to choose their level of indulgence.

 
The pool deck at the centre of the vessel on the top decks was expansive, ringed with loungers and an upper jogging track. A large digital screen overlooked the area, though thankfully, it remained off for most of the Northern Lights voyage, sparing the space from constant news loops and freeing passengers from the excessive light pollution.
 

Outward Looking

 
At the very top of Ambience, Deck 14’s Observatory Lounge became one of our favourite places on board. Set above the bridge inside a dramatic dome at the front of the ship, this crow’s-nest-style space offered sweeping, panoramic views through floor-to-ceiling windows. By day, it hosted classes and informal gatherings; by night, it transformed into a lively venue for dancing, music, and late-night conversation.

Encircling the deck is the jogging track - one of our most-used features. Covered in artificial turf, it made for a soft and comfortable walking area and offered uninterrupted time outdoors, even if it did get windy in rough weather.
 
6.5 laps = 1 mile on the long track
10 laps = 1 mile on the short track
 
This space is where we spent much of our time on Ambience both bird and whale watching

 
Nearby, the Active Fitness Studio provided table tennis, darts, and yoga classes, rounding out the ship’s approach to movement and wellbeing.
 

Classic Design

One of the most appealing aspects of Ambience, at least for us, was the sheer amount of outdoor access built into her design. The ability to move freely through open deck spaces, to see the water sliding past the hull, and to watch for whales and seabirds was one of the primary reasons we chose Ambience over other vessels offering similar voyages to Norway. Throughout the ship, generous exterior deck areas invite passengers outside, offering space to breathe, to walk, and to simply watch the world pass by.

There are outdoor viewing areas on nearly every level. Deck 10 forward provides a dedicated viewing platform just below the bridge, while the aft decks on Decks 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 offer quieter spaces with sweeping views over the wake. Deck 11 includes the rear hot tubs and surrounding deck, and Deck 12 features an outdoor area adjacent to the buffet, where meals can be enjoyed while looking out across the ship’s trail through the sea. Above it all, Deck 14’s jogging track and observation area provide an elevated vantage point - ideal for long, unhurried scans of the horizon.

Inclusions and Costs

As a brief but important aside, given that one question that inevitably comes up on any voyage is what is included in the fare, and what is not.

On Ambience, there are three dining venues included in the ticket price. Buckingham’s Restaurant is the main dining room, where we were assigned the same waiter each evening. Portions tended to be on the smaller side, and while there was generally a reasonable range of options, vegetarian choices were often limited to a single option per course. On one evening, after choosing a salad as my main, I was served what amounted to just a few pieces of lettuce in a small bowl. When I asked if it was possible to have a bit more, as it was my only course, the request was declined. While this was not a frequent issue, it did stand out.

The second included dining option is the Borough Market, the ship’s buffet-style venue, which offered clearly labelled stations and was generally quicker than the main dining room. The space itself is open and airy, making it a pleasant place to eat. That said, especially at opening times, the experience could feel surprisingly competitive. Some passengers were notably aggressive in queuing for food, and it was here that we also observed a handful of guests behaving quite rudely toward the buffet staff - an unfortunate dynamic that had nothing to do with the quality of the food or service itself.

The third and final included option is the Alfresco Grill, which provided an additional casual dining choice when weather permitted.  Though the portion sizes here - especially the pizza - are extraordinarily small. 

There are also several food and snack venues on board that are not included in the fare. These include Dickens, the Coffee House, and the Ice Cream Stand and Cart. In addition, specialty dining options carry a surcharge: Sea & Grass (£29 per person), Saffron (£19 per person), and Buckingham’s Chef’s Table (£89 per person). Room service is also available at an additional cost.
 

Why Ambience Worked for Us

 
We chose Ambience because she felt spacious, outward-looking, and offered a classic cruising experience – it is a ship with room to stretch, reflect, and observe. The itinerary, ORCA’s enrichment program, and the many opportunities to step outside and reconnect with nature mattered far more to us than onboard spectacle.
 
See you on deck!
 
Nautical Term for the Day: Shipshape and Bristol Fashion - Bristol’s tidal port required ships to be impeccably tidy and secure. The phrase now denotes things kept in perfect order.