Luxurious £180m cruise ship Ambition makes surprise visit to Plymouth
Plymouth has had an unexpected visit from a luxurious £180m cruise ship - because of yesterday’s bad weather. The immense Ambition has stopped off at Britain’s Ocean City and passengers have arrived on shore at the Barbican to have a look around.
The Bahamas-flagged vessel is operated by the Ambassador Cruise Line and can carry up to 1,428 passengers and 670 crew members. It is the sister ship to the enormous Ambience, which turned heads when it visited Plymouth in August.
Inside Ambition, which anchored in the Sound at 7am today, are bars, six restaurants, a theatre, library, shopping galleria, fitness centre, exterior jogging and walking track, swimming pool, splash pool and active pool, plus a spa offering a sauna, steam room, hair salon and treatments.
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Ambition is currently on a 14-day, round-trip to the “hidden gems of France Spain”. The itinerary started on September 16 and, after a stay at Honfleur in France, is due to end on September 30 in Newcastle.
Glen Gardner, cruise new business development manager for Destination Plymouth, said: “We are delighted to advise that the cruise ship Ambition, one of the Ambassador Cruise Line ships, is making an unscheduled visit to Plymouth.
"All guests and crew will be taking tender boats to the Barbican Landing Stage.”
Cruise Plymouth said: “A pleasure to be able to welcome Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambition back to Plymouth.
“She made her maiden visit in April, and tomorrow will return due to a change to her itinerary based on inclement weather. Come rain or shine we’ll guarantee our usual warm Plymouth welcome.”
Earlier this month the luxury £113m “mega-yacht” Le Dumont-d’Urville visited Plymouth, anchoring in the Sound, shortly after the £116m Amadea stopped at the city too, berthing at Millbay.
Cruise ship visits have given Plymouth a £1.5m boost so far this year. Vessels stopping at Britain’s Ocean City have brought 10,000 visitors, many of them spending cash in Plymouth and the surrounding areas.
Plymouth City Centre Company’s newly-released draft business plan for the next five years shows Plymouth had 10 cruise ship visits in 2023 and an increase this year. Ambition is the 11th arrival in 2024 with another, Artania, still to come next month. The overall aim is to grow this to 30 visits a year.
Jon Walton, Plymouth Waterfront Partnership’s chief executive and waterfront manager, said: “This has been a fantastic year for cruise ship visits to Plymouth and is testament to the collaborative work of the Plymouth Cruise Partnership.
"As always, the welcome we give is second to none, and I give my heartfelt thanks to the Cruise Ambassadors who volunteer their time.
"The feedback from guests and crew is amazing; I would also like to thank Doug and Annemarie Kerr who lead the volunteer team and who are so important to the partnership.”
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