| AIDAmira bought by Ambassador

FLEDGLING British operator Ambassador Cruises has announced the acquisition of Carnival Corporation’s AIDAmira which is currently sailing with the group’s German AIDA Cruises brand.

To enter service in 2023, the vessel will be renamed Ambition and will be the second in the Ambassador Cruise Line fleet after Ambience, which previously sailed as P&O Australia’s Pacific Dawn.

Ambassador Cruise Line is led by former Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) CEO Christian Verhounig, who has gathered a team of his former colleagues who worked at CMV prior to its being placed in administration in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic (CW 01 Dec 2020).

Both of the Ambassador ships will homeport out of the UK, targeting the 50-plus market with a “premium value, authentic cruise experience,” the company said.

Ambition will offer a program of regional departures from ports such as Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol, Falmouth, Dundee and Newcastle, allowing passengers to board cruises close to home.

Full details of Ambassador’s itineraries are still being finalised, with some industry speculation the cruise line will pursue a similar strategy to CMV and deploy its ships in Australasian waters during the northern winter season.