Ambition

The 1999-built MV Ambition cruise ship is currently owned and operated by the UK-based Ambassador Cruise Line. The vessel was previously known as "Costa neoRiviera" (until December 2019) and "AIDAmira" (until January 2022), and was built (under the name "MS Mistral") for Festival Cruises (1999-2002, now defunct). After the company's collapse in 2004, Mistral was sold to Ibero Cruises (Spain) and renamed "Grand Mistral". In November 2013, the newly named Costa neoRiviera joined Costa Cruises after EUR 10 million drydock refurbishment. In 2019, the liner joined AIDA Cruises under the name "AIDAmira" (fleet's 14th boat), departing on its maiden for AIDA voyage on December 4, 2019 (out of Palma de Mallorca).

The vessel (IMO number 9172777) as Costa neoRiviera was Italy-flagged (MMSI 247325300) and registered in Genova. Ambassador Ambition is currently Bahamas-flagged (MMSI 311001141) and registered in Nassau.

History and Ownership

On January 26, 2022, AIDA Cruises announced that AIDAmira leaves the fleet.

• Following the announcement, a total of 66x AIDAmira cruises (itineraries with scheduled departures between April 15, 2022, and March 13, 2023) were canceled.
• Most of the canceled voyages were 7-day "Agais Israel", 14-day long "Agais und Israel" and 7-day "Griechenland, Zypern und Israel" itineraries (both roundtrips from homeport Heraklion, Crete Greece planned thru October 7). The rest of the canceled program was based on homeporting in Cape Town (South Africa) for the 14-day "Sudafrika und Namibia" itinerary.
• When the announcement was made, the ship was docked at Port Pula (Croatia).

On January 27th was announced that Carnival Corporation/shipowner (via Costa Crociere SpA) sold AIDAmira to Ambassador Cruise Line. The ship (renamed "Ambition") starts services for the UK-based company in 2023, joining the fleetmate Ambience (1991-built as Regal Princess).

Prior to starting operations for Ambassador, Ambition was scheduled to enter drydock for extensive refurbishment works, staterooms and machinery upgrades, including ballast-water and sewage-water treatment plants and scrubbers (reducing gaseous emissions).

In May 2021 was announced that the new brand "Ambassador Cruise Line" (UK-based company, with headquarters in Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex England) is the new operator of the "Crypto Cruise Ship" Satoshi/now Ambience. Ambassador Cruise Line targets the UK source market exclusively (50+ age travelers), trying to take the place of the popular CMV-Cruise And Maritime Voyages (2009-founded/2020-defunct).

AIDAmira was AIDA's 14th boat and joined the "AIDA Selection" ships AIDAcara, AIDAvita, AIDAaura - fleet's smallest, and operating on longer itineraries with more unusual routes. Before its AIDA service, Costa neoRiviera was drydock refurbished and remodeled. Swimming pools were reduced from 3 to 2 (larger) with 2 large whirlpools on the sundeck. Of the 624 staterooms, 96 are Suites (80 with balconies). The refitted boat had 6 restaurants and 6 bars. AIDAmira's Maiden Voyage was on December 4, 2019, leaving from Palma de Mallorca to South Africa.

The 1600-passenger ship "MS Mistral" had a Maiden Voyage on July 17, 1999, leaving roundtrip from Venice to the Greek Islands. During the winter, Mistral offered Caribbean voyages. In 2004, the Greek company Festival Cruises experienced financial difficulties and filed for bankruptcy. The vessel was sold to Ibero Cruises (Iberojet) and renamed "Grand Mistral". In 2013, it was transferred to Costa's fleet (renamed "Costa neoRiviera") joining the "neoCollection" fleetmate Costa neoRomantica.

Ambassador Cruise Line Ambition ship's max passenger capacity (1500) is limited to 1200, which as space ratio makes her comparable to many luxury cruise ships.

Decks and Cabins

Most AIDAmira staterooms (624 total) are 13 m2 (140 ft2) Oceanview cabins (287). The largest accommodations are Sundeck Deluxe Suites (450-510 ft / 42-47 m2, with terraces sized 115-150 ft2 / 11-14 m2). There are 96x Suites (all with balconies), 12x Balcony staterooms, 287x Oceanviews, and 231x Inside cabins, including 2x wheelchair-accessible (handicap).

The boat has 13 decks, of which 10 are passenger-accessible and 4 with cabins.

After the refit, the Ambassador Ambition ship has 714 staterooms (max passenger capacity will be reduced from 1498 to 1428), including 125x balconies and 113x Suites (sized ~670 ft2 / 62 m2 including the balcony).

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Ambassador Ambition ship has two MDRs (main dining rooms/complimentary restaurants) plus specialty dining venues, a bistro-style Lido Cafe, 4x lounges and bars, a British Pub Restaurant, Theater Lounge (with tiered seating), Casino, Card Room, Library, Craft Studio, wellness complex (Spa and Massage Rooms, Gymnasium (Fitness Center), 2x swimming pools, retail shops.

The ship's Galleria Shops (managed by Harding UK) are duty-free and tax-free stores selling luxury brand watches, fashion and costume jewelry, watches, perfumes, cosmetics, clothing, sportswear, Ambassador-logoed merchandise, gifts and souvenirs, tobacco and liquor, convenience goods. The brands include Pandora (jewelry), Swarovski (jewelry, watches, crystal decorations) Radley (women's accessories and footwear/bags, purses, shoes).

In March 2023 was announced that one of the new dining venues is Lupino’s Restaurant (honoring Michelle Lupino, Ambassador's Head of Destination Management who passed away in 2022). The Mediterranean-style eatery has max capacity 70 seats.

In April 2023 were announced more restaurants.

Buckingham Restaurant and Holyrood Restaurant are both with a la carte-priced menus that include classic British favorites like Sunday Roast (roasted meat and potatoes, mashed potatoes, accompaniments/Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, gravy, and condiments/apple sauce, mint sauce, or redcurrant sauce) and Shepherd’s Pie (casserole-made/oven-baked dish of ground lamb filling, savory vegetables, mashed potatoes).

Borough Market is a self-serve buffet-style eatery serving international cuisine, including homemade Italian pasta and Asian stir-fries.

Saffron Restaurant offers Indian dishes served in Thali/Bhojanam (round platters), fresh-baked breads and traditional desserts.

Chef’s Table is an exclusive dinner-only and reservations-only venue for a la carte (9-course) dining experience and food and wine pairing.

Alfresco Grill is a poolside bar serving complimentary fast food (pizza by the slice, burgers, hot dogs, chips).

In July 2024, Ambassador introduced the cruise ship tours "Exploring Ambition" and "Exploring Ambience". The guided tours allow passengers a behind-the-scenes look at the vessel, visiting its galleys/kitchens, the Engine Control Room, the Navigation Bridge/Wheelhouse, and the Theater Lounge. The ship tour package includes a gift bag with branded merchandise (lanyard, souvenir mug, paper and pen); a Visitor Pass, a photo with the Captain (in the Wheelhouse), a Q&A session (with the ship's Hotel Director), snacks and beverages. Ambassador Cruise Line's ship tour is limited to 10 guests (per group) and is priced at GBP 89 per person.

Costa neoRiviera ship review (facilities and amenities)

Most of the onboard dining is included in cruises' fares. With the exception of the pizza on the ship's Lido Deck, you better choose the main dining room for most of the meals. As a new ship, it promotes eat-when-you-wish casual dining. There is no assigned seating and reservations are not needed. Located on Deck 11, neoRiviera's buffet features seven stations and is smaller than the buffets on most cruise ships. Its decor is a casual cafeteria. The buffet is more popular in the summer when there is a younger crowd with more kids.

Costa neoRiviera's restaurants and food bars included:

• Ristorante Cetara (forward Dining Room; complimentary, with round-shaped windows and extensive wine list for dinner, with 2 fixed seatings at 6:30 or 9 pm, open seating breakfast and lunch)
• Ristorante Saint Tropez (complimentary aft Dining Room with 2 fixed Dinner seatings)
• Ristorante Buffet Vernazza (self-service buffet restaurant, complimentary; offers breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea at 4-5 pm, and dinner; in the evening is transformed into Pizzeria, complimentary, with waiter service)
• Grill Manarola (fast food station, complimentary)
• Pizzeria Monterosso (lunch & dinner only pizza restaurant, complimentary).

Costa neoRiviera had 3 restaurants (including the buffet Grill & Pizzeria), 6 bars, a show lounge and disco nightclub, two shopping arcades, a spacious wellness complex consisting of Spa & Beauty Salon, Fitness Center (modern gym), a hydrotherapy pool, spa pools/hot tubs, treatment rooms (for massages).

The ship has 3 swimming pools plus a splash pool (for children).

Follows the complete list of Costa neoRiviera lounges, clubs and other entertainment venues for kids, teens and adults.

• Teatro Ravello (2-level main show lounge for grand musical and show productions, ballets, classical concerts, circus shows)
• Bar Anacapri (foyer bar)
• Atrio Riviera (2-deck high Atrium and central ship area with live entertainment, served by Positano bar)
• Amalfi Lounge (Cigar Lounge & Bar, also selling cigars and fine liquor)
• Cafe Positano (wine bar)
• Sala Carte (cards room)
• Casino Saint Maxime (served by Porquerolles bar)
• Biblioteca & Internet Point (combined library Biblioteca Conca dei Marini and Internet computers room)
• Galleria Shops Sorrento; Gallery Shops Grasse (duty & tax-free shops for brand watches, jewelry, perfumes, fashion clothes, Costa-logo merchandise, sportswear, gifts, tobacco and liquor)
• Cafe Eze (patisserie & specialty coffee bar)
• Saint Paul de Vence Lounge & Bar (stage for live shows, band music in the evenings)
• Bar Corniglia (smoothies, ice cream)
• Photo Gallery Cannes
• Video Games Arcade
• Discoteca Portofino (Disco & Nightclub)
• Squok Club (kids lounge with Mini Club (3-6 yo) and Maxi Club (7-11 yo) playing rooms; with complimentary kids program and supervised activities; complimentary babysitting)
• Teen Zone (teenagers' lounge with Teen Junior (12-14 yo) and Teen Club (15-17 yo) rooms; complimentary supervised activities, themed parties, sports contests)
• Centro Benessere Portovenere (Spa & Wellness complex, with Fitness and separate Spinning/Aerobics Room; Salone di Bellezza Framura Beauty Salon, Massages and Treatments Rooms, Japanese TeaRoom, Relaxation Room, Thermal Suites, Solarium, Laconium, Aroma Steam Baths, Thalassotherapy pool, Solarium, Sauna)
• Lido Via dell'Amore pool area (with 2 small pools, 2 Whirlpools, foosball table, ping pong table; served by Bar Riomaggiore)
• Outdoor playing zone for kids (with a paddling pool)
• Multi-sports court (volleyball, basketball, mini football, golf putting area)
• Solarium (open-air relaxation area).

Ambassador Ambition itineraries

Details on Ambassador Ambition ship's itinerary program for the inaugural summer 2023 season were announced in May 2022, including the UK homeports (London-Tilbury, Newcastle Port Tyne, Liverpool, Avonmouth-Bristol, Falmouth, Dundee Scotland, Belfast).

Ambition also offers Transatlantic crossings (roundtrip from the UK) to the Caribbean islands Barbados, Grenada, the Grenadines, Curacao, Aruba, St Lucia, St Kitts, St Maarten, Antigua.

MS Ambition's inaugural season was originally planned to start with the Maiden Voyage on March 4, 2023 (6-night Tilbury-London roundtrip to Kristiansand, Copenhagen and Gotheborg). However, as the ship was 6-month contracted (September 2022 thru March 2023) for housing Ukrainian refugees in Glasgow, and due to the following drydocking, MS Ambition's inauguration was postponed for May 12, 2023 (14-day "Hidden Gems Of France and Spain" itinerary). The roundtrip from Newcastle visited ports in France (Cherbourg, Brest, Saint-Nazaire, Le Verdon), Spain (Bilbao, Gijon, La Coruna) and France (Le Havre-Paris).

AIDAmira itineraries

AIDAmira itinerary program was based on winter deployment in South Africa (leaving roundtrip from homeport Cape Town) and summer Mediterranean deployment with homeporting in Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Spain).

Following the Coronavirus crisis, AIDA planned to homeport AIDAmira in Heraklion Crete Greece, to be followed by a South Africa program (in 2023) with homeporting in Cape Town. However, these plans were canceled in January 2022, after the announcement that the boat leaves the fleet by March. For more info on the canceled voyages see the ship's Wiki page.

Costa neoRiviera itineraries

Costa neoRiviera itinerary program featured exotic routes around the world with unusual ports and more overnight port stays.

• In December 2018 through March 2019, Costa neoRiviera had scheduled voyages in India - with homeporting in Mumbai and call ports in India (Mangalore, Cochin, Mormugao-Goa), Sri Lanka (Colombo) and Maldives (Male, Kaafu Atoll).
• For the rest of 2019, the ship had scheduled Western Mediterranean itineraries departing roundtrip from homeports Savona (Italy) and Toulon (France).
• However, both programs were canceled after the decision was made for the liner to be transferred to AIDA.

In mid-September 2019, AIDA announced the name of Mira ship's godmother - Franziska Knuppe (1974-born German fashion model and actress). The liner's christening ceremony was held on November 30 (2019) in Port Palma (Mallorca-Majorca Island, Balearic Spain).

Mira's naming ceremony was a charity event with all proceeds donated to "AIDA Cruise & Help" - a partnership with Reiner Meutsch Foundation FLY & HELP (since 2018) for collecting donations in order to build schools in newly industrializing and developing countries. The ship's naming ceremony featured a 20-min fireworks show, live performances by Johannes Oerding (German singer-songwriter), over 1000 cruise passengers (on the ship) and the Mary Amiri-hosted charity event.

Fan fact is that Franziska Knuppe is also the godmother of the fleetmate AIDAluna (2009). AIDAmira's last Master was Captain Manuel Pannzek (Captain on AIDA Selection boats since 2017).

In January 2023, Ambassador Cruise Line announced that MS Ambition's godmother will be Shirley Ann Robertson (1968-born Scottish sailor and Summer Olympic gold medallist/Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004).

The ship's christening ceremony was held on May 11, 2023, in Port Tyne/Newcastle. On the next day (May 12th) started the Maiden Voyage (14-day "Hidden Gems Of France and Spain"/Newcastle roundtrip).

The vessel (hull/yard number J31) was built in France (by Chantiers de l’Atlantique Shipyard in Saint-Nazaire) and has volume 48123 GT-tons, weight 4923 tons, max draft 6,9 m/23 ft. The powerplant is based on two Wartsila marine diesel engines (models 8L46B and 12V38) with total output 18 MW.

Ambassador Ambition refurbishment 2023

On April 4, 2023, Ambassador's ship Ambition arrived in Bremerhaven (Germany) to enter drydock at Lloyd Werft Shipyard.

The drydocking (April 4 thru May 7th) was for an extensive refit as well as for regular maintenance and technical works, machinery upgrades (including ballast water and wastewater/graywater treatment plants), rebranding and renovation of venues, including new furniture and carpets.

The project also included hull cleaning and painting with Ambassador's new livery.

Ambassador Ambition inaugural cruise 2023 review

MS Ambition's inaugural season was originally planned to start with the Maiden Voyage on March 4, 2023 (6-night Tilbury-London roundtrip to Kristiansand, Copenhagen and Gotheborg).

However, as the ship was 6-month contracted (September 2022 thru March 2023) for housing Ukrainian refugees in Glasgow, and due to the following drydocking, MS Ambition's inauguration was postponed for May 12, 2023.

Next table shows the Maiden Voyage's itinerary (14-day "Hidden Gems Of France and Spain").

The next scheduled voyage was the 8-day "Majestic Fjordland" (departure May 26th) roundtrip from Newcastle visiting Norway's Eidfjord, Bergen, Flam, Olden.

Godspeed!

Costa neoRiviera-AIDAmira refurbishment 2019 review

In September-November 2019, Costa neoRiviera was drydocked in Port Genoa (at San Giorgio del Porto Shipyard) for a major (EUR 50 million / USD 55 million) refurbishment project. The 1-month drydocking (October 30 through November 28) transformed Costa neoRiviera into AIDAmira.

The project involved ~1000 workers, of which 150 shipyard employees. The shipyard works included technical maintenance, hull and superstructure repainting (also adding AIDA's livery), renovated public areas, adding new cabins - including 19x balcony and 3x inside (in the area of the former Discoteca Portofino / disco nightclub) plus numerous staterooms on Deck 7.

Next table shows neoRiviera's last voyage for Costa (10-day Mediterranean itinerary) priced from USD 980 pp.

On Oct 30, the vessel arrived in Port Genoa for the drydock refurbishment (October 30 through November 28). The renovated neoRiviera arrived in homeport Palma (Balearic Spain) on November 29 for the christening ceremony in which was officially renamed AIDAmira.

Costa neoRiviera was Madeira-flagged (MMSI 255803860), while AIDAmira is Italy-flagged (MMSI 247325300).

AIDAmira itineraries 2022-2023 (canceled)

Next tables show the canceled (in January 2022) voyages part of AIDAmira's 2022-23 program, which was originally based on homeporting in Heraklion Crete and Cape Town.

14-day "Agais und Israel" itinerary

7-day "Agais" itinerary

7-day "Griechenland, Zypern und Israel" itinerary

(repositioning from Europe to South Africa) 28-day from Mallorca to Cape Town

14 day "Sudafrika und Namibia" itinerary

AIDAmira inaugural itineraries 2019-2020

Next tables show AIDAmira's inaugural itineraries (maiden voyages by destination/homeport).

(2019) 19-day repositioning from Europe-Mediterranean to South Africa

(2019) 14-day inaugural itinerary "Sudafrika und Namibia 2"

(2020) 14-day inaugural itinerary "Sudafrika und Namibia 1"

(2020) 19-day relocation from South Africa to Europe-Mediterranean

(2020) 7-day inaugural Eastern Mediterranean itinerary "Griechenland Ab Korfu"

(2020) 7-day inaugural Eastern Mediterranean itinerary "Mittelmeerinseln Ab Korfu"

(2020) 14-day inaugural B2B (back-to-back cruise) itinerary "Griechenland und Mittelmeerinseln 1"

(2020) 14-day inaugural B2B itinerary "Griechenland und Mittelmeerinseln 2"

Costa neoRiviera itineraries 2016 changes

Costa neoRiviera's itinerary program for 2016 (March 28 through November 8) was changed. All originally scheduled calls to Istanbul Turkey were replaced with Rhodes Greece. Passengers booked with embarkation from Istanbul boarded the ship in Rhodes (instead of Istanbul).

Next, are listed Costa neoRiviera's scheduled Savona roundtrips for 2019, that were later canceled.

11-day "Italy, Spain, Balearic Islands, Malta" - prices from USD 1100 pp

13-day "India, Maldives, Sri Lanka" - prices from USD 1900 pp