Ambassador Cruise Line announced that the repair work on the Ambience in Bremerhaven is complete but with changes to the cruise itinerary as the Harbor Master has decided to cancel some port operations due to strong winds.

The Ambience was scheduled to embark on its Cuba and Treasures of the Caribbean voyage departing from London, England on January 5 heading to Porto, Portugal.

“We can confirm that all works have been completed on schedule, safety tests were performed and verified by the relevant authorities and yesterday evening all lifeboats and tenders have been put back on board as you can see from the images. Ambience was, therefore, ready to depart on schedule this morning to London Tilbury,” the company wrote in a post on social media. 

Due to gale force winds of up to 50mph in Bremerhaven and the decision to reduce the rate of port operations, the Ambience’s departure will be delayed. The Ambience was not able to depart from Bremerhaven until 6 p.m. (German time) on Wednesday and is now planned to arrive in Tilbury at 6 p.m. (UK time) on Thursday, January 5, with embarkation unfortunately delayed.

The cruise line has informed all trade partners of their new embarkation times with apologies for the delay. 

“The team have worked around the clock to get Ambience ready and we are all bitterly disappointed that due to forces totally outside our control this delay has occurred,” Ambassador Cruise Line wrote on its Facebook page.

Due to bad weather, the cruise line has also decided not to make a call at Leixoes, Portugal due but instead visit Vigo, Spain to allow the weather to improve. 

“We have been made aware that over the coming days there will be poor weather conditions in the Bay of Biscay as Ambience makes her way to Leixoes, Portugal. To ensure our guests have the best possible experience sailing on board, we have taken the decision that Leixoes port, which is a more exposed harbour that can be affected by high swells, will be replaced with a call at Vigo, Spain, which is more protected to allow the weather front to pass on Sunday 8 January. We have also been made aware that should we have taken the decision to proceed to Leixoes and be forced to stay in the port due to weather, there is also a planned port strike on Monday January 9, which could have affected our departure from the port,” the company wrote.