Ambassador Cruise Line is to sail from Portsmouth for the first time as it targets more passengers from the south of England.
The south coast port is one of seven UK departure points for an expanded 2026-27 cruise programme going on sale tomorrow (Wednesday).
The two-ship no-fly specialist will offer departures from London Tilbury, Newcastle, Dundee, Liverpool, Belfast, Bristol Royal Portbury and Portsmouth.
The line said that the latest addition to its ports of departure “is set to make sailings even more accessible to a broader section of the population, providing easy embarkation for those residing in the south of England”.
Ambassador’s ships are scheduled to run 84 itineraries and call at 146 ports- 27 of which are new – in 48 countries across three continents, while travelling more than 140,000 nautical miles.
Ambience will offer 37 sailings and seven festive events while Ambition will operate 47 sailings between March 22 next year and March 29, 2027.
However, Ambition will no longer operate dual pick-ups in Dundee, Newcastle Tyne and Bristol.
Aimed at over-50s passengers, destinations range from the British Isles to Scandinavia, the Caribbean and the Americas, plus two multi-generational sailings for families.
New destinations to be visited include Croatia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guadalupe, Martinique, Dominica and Montenegro.
New major cities include Malmo, Trieste for Venice, Dubrovnik, Bordeaux, Cartagena in Colombia, Kotor, Zadar, Gdansk and Kiel.
Chief executive Christian Verhounig, said: “Since Ambience sailed for the first time in early 2022, and following Ambition’s inaugural voyage in spring 2023, Ambassador has welcomed over 100,000 guests onboard, completed more than 100 cruises, visited over 60 countries and called at 200 ports, all while adhering to the highest safety and environmental standards.
“In that time, we have cemented our position as the preferred cruise company for thousands of people – indeed, 94% of those that sail with us would recommend us to friends and family.”
A range of early booking offers coincide with the release of a 116-page A4 landscape brochure as bookings open at 8am tomorrow.
These include a buy-one-get-one-free offer, half price fares for single travellers and 20% off premier drinks packages for bookings made by December 4.