Ambassador Cruise Line is set to be the UK’s first new cruise line in over a decade when it launches in 2022, operating the former Pacific Dawn, which was most recently intended to become the crypto cruise ship Satoshi.
Ambassador Cruise Line is remarkably similar to Cruise & Maritime Voyages, the popular boutique British cruise line that was forced into bankruptcy last year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new cruise line will be based at Tilbury, London, just as CMV was
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It should be noted, however, that Ambassador Cruise Line will not have any official affiliation with CMV.
Its leadership have not made any explicit link between the new cruise line and CMV, unlike Cordelia Cruises in India, which has positioned itself as a continuation of Jalesh Cruises, another line forced into bankruptcy by the pandemic.
Most of the executive board of Ambassador Cruise Line are former Cruise & Maritime Voyages executives, the cruise line will operate from Tilbury, London, just as CMV did, it will target the over 50 cruise market in the UK, just as CMV did, and will focus on providing cruises from the UK itself, rather than fly-cruise packages (again, just like CMV did).
Ambassador Cruise Line’s management team includes CEO Christian Verhounig, Chief Commercial Officer Christopher Coates, Chief Information Officer Gary Hides and Chief Financial Officer Simon Weeks.
All four executives previously worked together at CMV, and the cruise line’s first ship, Ambiance, is the former Pacific Dawn of P&O Australia, which was meant to be sold to CMV last year before the pandemic upended those plans.
Ambassador Cruise Line will operate one ship initially, Ambiance, the former Pacific Dawn
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When CMV was no longer able to purchase the vessel, it was acquired by Ocean Builder and marketed as the world’s first crypto cruise ship, where passengers would be able to use crypto-currencies, such as Bitcoin, to pay for voyages and services.
Those plans fell through when Ocean Builder was unable to secure insurance for the vessel and its crew, which prevented the ship being able to obtain flag registry.
Ambassador Cruise Line plans to begin operating cruises from Tilbury, London by April next year, initially offering short cruises to European ports such as Hamburg, before operating longer voyages.
The cruise line plans to sail 33 cruises, calling at 88 ports across the Baltics, Greenland, the Arctic and Iceland, during its first full year of operations.
While other British cruise lines typically reposition their fleet to the Caribbean, Middle East or Mediterranean in the winter, Ambassador plans to offer “expedition-style voyages” to the Canaries, Cuba, the Caribbean, Cape Verde and Scandinavia.
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