Ambassador Cruise Line has unveiled a wide range of dining experiences for guests onboard the Ambition, set to depart on its inaugural voyage on May 12, 2023.
Bob McGowan, head of the guest experience at Ambassador Cruise Line, said: “Onboard Ambition, there are dining venues for every mood – from traditional afternoon teas to gala dinners alongside the ship’s Captain – providing ample opportunity for guests to be surprised and delighted throughout their journey.
“Carefully designed by our Executive Chef Team, the dining concepts and menus have been created with guest experience at the heart. Following a strong food and beverage customer satisfaction score of 92 per cent onboard Ambience we have ensured that we’ve taken on valuable guest feedback and learnings when conceptualizing the offerings on Ambition.
“We can’t wait to welcome guests onboard to experience our superb dining offering, and we look forward to hearing their feedback.”
On the Ambition, guests can dine at Buckingham Restaurant & Holyrood Restaurant, offering a la carte dining experiences. Buckingham Restaurant will serve breakfast and lunch buffet style, while Holyrood is open for dinner only. Both restaurants will serve popular dishes of British cuisine including Sunday roast and shepherd’s pie.
Among the new dining venues is Borough Market, a self-serve style eatery, featuring flavours from around the world so guests can choose between Italian pasta, Asian stir-fries and more.
Another new restaurant onboard the Ambition, Lupino’s, will serve Mediterranean specialities. The place pays homage to Ambassador’s colleague Michelle Lupino who passed away in 2022.
Saffron is an Indian dining venue serving dishes such as Thali, curries, specialist bread, and desserts. There is also Chef’s Table, offering an exclusive dinner experience featuring multi-course a la carte dining with nine courses. Here, guests can also look forward to paired wines but reservations are needed.
For guests looking for a casual meal, there is the Alfresco Grill that serves burgers, hot dogs, pizzas and chips.
A general view of the cruise liner Global Dream, which is still under construction at the shipbuilding hall of the MV Werften shipyards which are insolvent, in Wismar, Germany January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse
Billionaire Lim Kok Thay is among several investors interested in purchasing the Global Dream mega luxury liner that was under construction at Genting Hong Kong Ltd.’s now-insolvent shipbuilder, MV Werften in Germany.
Several serious interested parties are in talks to buy the unfinished ship, said Christoph Morgen, the German court-appointed provisional insolvency administrator for the shipbuilder. Morgen is optimistic a deal could come together, but thinks it won’t likely happen before next month because the case is complex, he said at a briefing at the shuttered shipyard in Wismar on Monday.
MV Werften’s provisional insolvency in early January proved to be a turning point for Genting Hong Kong, which became the world’s biggest cruise operator to seek court assistance to safeguard its assets during the pandemic when it filed a windup petition days later. Genting reported a record loss of $1.7 billion in May as the pandemic ravaged the cruising industry.
Lim, who has resigned as Genting Hong Kong’s chairman and chief executive officer, contacted Morgen to express interest in purchasing the ship at the beginning of the provisional insolvency process, Morgen said. The insolvency administrator said he hopes to find “a better solution for the ship” than Lim.
“My impression is that he would only like to buy it if nobody else would be interested in order to get it cheap and possible to finish the ship somewhere else,” said Morgen, who added he hasn’t heard from Lim since. “I hope that we won’t depend on this, because we now have strong interest from many other possible investors.”
The 342-meter liner, which Genting dubbed the Global Dream and which is set to be the world’s biggest vessel by passenger capacity, was heralded as ushering in a new era of mega-ships tapping into Asia’s growing cruising market. The ship was about 72% complete when the German government and Genting couldn’t agree in December on plans to finance $620 million to help finish it and keep the shipyard in business, according to a letter Lim wrote to creditors.
A spokeswoman for Genting, which Lim heads as CEO, declined to comment. Representatives for Genting Hong Kong didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Lim still holds about 75% of shares in Genting Hong Kong and heads other Genting businesses, although there are no cross-shareholdings.
Both Lim and German government officials blamed the other for MV Werften’s bankruptcy. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said his government did everything in its power to save MV Werften, saying the state had offered a loan of 600 million euros ($670 million) on the condition that Genting provides an additional 60 million euros plus guarantees for the federal funds. Genting turned that down, Habeck said.
In his letter to creditors explaining Genting’s slide into provisional insolvency, Lim accused the current German government of not honouring the previous government’s agreement to provide the capital that didn’t require a personal guarantee.
Henning Groskreutz, a union leader from the local IG Metall chapter, said that the shipyard will still need between 500 million euros and 600 million euros to finish the ship. “We will need this money in order to be able to convince the workers to stay here,” Groskreutz said. Many workers have already left and have started at other employers because there’s high demand for such skills.
Habeck said the government would be willing to subsidize the final construction of the Global Dream with a “new reliable investor.”
“If there’s a reliable finance plan, we could make the same offer like over Christmas,” Habeck said, adding that Genting didn’t want to contribute financially to complete the ship. “We don’t want to throw money out of the window.”
Genting’s Crystal Cruises brand shut its U.S. office and terminated employees last week. The closing of Crystal Cruises’ operation in Miami came after two of its ships were seized in the Bahamas after a fuel supplier sought the action for $4.6 million in unpaid fuel bills.
Dream Cruises Holding Ltd., an indirect non-wholly owned unit of Genting Hong Kong that has also filed a winding-up petition, will continue to operate its fleet in the region, the company said.
Dream Cruises’ recently announced restart of cruises on board the Genting Dream in Hong Kong has been met with an enthusiastic response from the public, the cruise line said in a press release.
After just one week of sales since bookings officially opened on May 27, Genting Dream’s first two high seas “Super Summer Seacation” cruises departing on July 30 and Aug. 1 are close to 90 per cent while Friday night departures throughout August are at nearly 50 per cent capacity.
“We are truly grateful for the tremendous response we have received from the people of Hong Kong and we are delighted to be able to offer them a ‘Super Summer Seacation’ experience to help satisfy their craving to travel again. The interest in Genting Dream has even extended to inquiries from corporate groups, charity organizations and wedding parties who are looking at chartering the ship later in the year,” said Kent Zhu, president of Genting Cruise Lines. “Also contributing to the success of our cruises has been the backing we have received from our travel and business partners who have been a great support to Dream Cruises throughout the years.”
“Wing On Travel is excited to work with Dream Cruises to promote the restart of cruises on board the Genting Dream and have already received calls and inquiries, showing a positive response from the market,” said Lanny Leung, director & CEO of Wing On Travel. “The Genting Dream’s fantastic array of activities and facilities including live shows and music performances, Rope Course, Rock Climbing Wall and Waterslide Park will provide fun for the whole family!”
“Since the announcement of Dream Cruises’ operations, our corporate and business clients have been very interested in booking MICE itineraries onboard the Genting Dream. As well, our loyal long-haul and overseas cruise passengers who have been yearning to cruise again now have a product that will fulfil their desire to vacation on the open seas,” said Alex Lee, general manager at Miramar Travel. “Our hope is that this will help stimulate the hard-hit tourism economy and bring much-needed bookings back to travel agents who have been affected by COVID-19.”
Set to begin sailing from July 30, the Genting Dream will embark on two and three-night “Super Summer Seacations” on the high seas in time for the summer holidays in Hong Kong. The “Super Summer Seacations” will comprise of a two-night “Super Weekend Seacation”, departing Fridays, a two-night “Super Weekday Seacation” departing Wednesdays, and a three-night “Super Summer Seacation” departing Sundays.
Early bird promotional rates start at only HK1188 per person based on twin occupancy in a balcony stateroom for a two-night “Super Weekday Seacation” departing on Wednesdays. This rate will be available until mid-June.
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