The management team of Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), the cruise line that entered administration last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is joining forces to launch Ambassador Cruise Line, a new cruise line targeting the over-50 market. The new UK-based cruise line, backed by London-based private equity firm Njord Partners LLP, plans to launch its first ship in April 2022.
The management team of Ambassador Cruise Line consists of CEO Christian Verhounig, Commercial Director Christopher Coates, Information Director Gary Hides and Finance Director Simon Weeks, who previously worked together at Cruise & Maritime Voyages.
Ambassador Cruise Line will operate the Ambience, formerly known as P&O Australia's Pacific Dawn, which was originally slated to become CMV's flagship under the name Amy Johnson. The 1,400-passenger ship's maiden voyage will be a short cruise from Tilbury to Hamburg, Germany, on April 6, 2022.
According to Verhounig: “The Ambience is an authentic, classic ship, something we know our target market segment loves. The new line's commercial sales team has already begun presenting the initial program details to agents, with sales launch next month.”
The ship's inaugural itinerary will run from April 2022 to May 2023, with 33 sailings calling at 88 ports in the Baltic, Greenland, the Arctic, and Iceland. During the winter months, the Ambassador plans to offer expedition voyages to the Canary Islands, Cuba, the Caribbean, Cape Verde, and Scandinavia. Ambassador Cruise Line plans to publish a brochure with the itinerary next June.
All passengers and crew will be required to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus before departure, the company has confirmed.
Verhounig also confirmed that all passengers sailing on the Ambience will be financially protected through a trust account created to hold their deposits. The funds will only be released once the cruise has taken place. In the event of cancellation, customer funds and agent commissions would be refunded.
Wilson, a member of the board of directors of BCD Holdings, owner of the global corporate travel management company BCD Travel, plans to create “at least 100 jobs” from the UK and said a new cruise line would help “reboot the British cruise market and inject confidence into the sector.” He added: “We are very excited about the launch of the first British cruise line in more than a decade. Ambassador Cruise Line offers the very best of British cruising. We are a new company offering a distinctive product, but one that maintains the traditional values of cruising, which we know are important to our customers.”.
