 MSAmbition at Casablanca in 2023 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Ordered | 1996 |
| Builder | |
| Yard number | J31 |
| Launched | 2 January 1999 |
| Christened | 25 June 1999 |
| Maiden voyage | 17 July 1999 |
| In service | 1999–present |
| Identification | |
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Mistral-classcruise ship |
| Tonnage | 48,200 GT |
| Length | 216 m (708 ft 8 in) |
| Beam | 28.8 m (94 ft 6 in) |
| Depth | 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in) |
| Decks | 8 passenger decks |
| Installed power | emissions standardIMO Tier III |
| Speed | 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) |
| Capacity | 1,248 passengers (double occupancy)1,727 passengers (maximum capacity) |
| Crew | 670 |
MSAmbition is a cruise ship operated by Ambassador Cruise Line. Completed in France asMistral forFestival Cruises in 1999, She sailed between 2005 and 2019 asGrand Mistral withIbero Cruises andCosta neoRiviera withCosta Cruises. The ship was in service asAIDAmira withAIDA Cruises, a subsidiary ofCarnival Corporation & plc, until her sale in 2022 to Ambassador Cruise Line, who renamed herAmbition, commencing sailing in May 2023.
The ship was originally ordered byRenaissance Cruises in mid 1996, but the order was later withdrawn.[1] The yard and bankers together held ownership of the ship through a company called Auxiliaire Maritime.[1] During construction atChantiers de l'Atlantique, the order was taken over byFestival Cruises, which would receive its first new-build vessel.[2]
Festival Cruiseschartered the ship for the first 12 years, with the option to purchase the ship after the first six years.[1] The ship wasfloated out on 2 January 1999 from the shipyard and was christened on 25 June 1999 by Claude Deschamps, wife of Frenchfootball playerDidier Deschamps.[1][2][3]Mistral sailed on her maiden voyage on 17 July 1999, a seven-day cruise fromGenoa to theGreek islands.[1] She was deployed toGuadeloupe in theCaribbean after her inauguralMediterranean season and later operated primarily fromCuba.[1][2] Festival Cruises collapsed in 2004 and most of the company's fleet, includingMistral, was sold off.[2]
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Mistral was initially sold back toAlstom Group, parent of her builders, and chartered toViajes Iberojet and operated byIbero Cruises, having been marketed asIberostar Mistral.[2]Mistral was officially sold to Iberojet at an auction and subsequently renamedGrand Mistral, debuting for the cruise line on 30 May 2005.[2]
In 2007,Carnival Corporation & plc formed a joint venture withOrizonia Corporation under the latter's Iberojet Cruceros brand, with Carnival owning 75% and Orizonia owning 25% of the company.[4] With this,Grand Mistral would now be owned and operated by the new joint venture company.[4]
In August 2013, it was announced thatGrand Mistral would be transferred to Costa Cruises in November, and her intended South American itineraries fromSantos, Brazil would be cancelled.[5][6]
In September 2013, Costa Cruises announced that the transferred ship, which would be renamedCosta neoRiviera, would take a central role in launching a new sub-product that would focus on smaller ships with longer port calls, more overnights, and new exotic locales among the offered itineraries.[7] In October 2013, Costa revealed that she would be based inDubai, with her debut set for 24 November 2013.[5] The company reportedly invested €10 million into transforming the ship for integration into its fleet.[8]
Costa neoRiviera left Costa's fleet in October 2019 after it was announced on 25 May 2018 that the ship would be transferred to sister brand, AIDA Cruises.[9][10][11]
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Costa neoRiviera entered dry dock at the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard in Genoa on 30 October 2019 for a $55 million transformation to integrate her into the AIDA fleet.[11] She departed the shipyard on 28 November 2019 and arrived inPalma de Mallorca on 29 November 2019 for her christening.[11]AIDAmira was officially christened byFranziska Knuppe on 30 November 2019 in Palma de Mallorca.[12]
AIDAmira was the fourth ship to be in AIDA's "AIDA Selection" program, along withAIDAaura,AIDAcara, andAIDAvita, utilizing the fleet's smaller ships to perform longer itineraries calling in exotic locales.[11][13] Her inaugural cruise was scheduled to leave on 4 December 2019 toSète andBarcelona,[12] but was cancelled at the last minute due to continued renovations requiring her to stay in Palma de Mallorca until 4 December.[13] The ship left for her maiden season inSouth Africa, offering 14-day cruises fromCape Town.[11]
In March 2020, during theCOVID-19 pandemic, six passengers were quarantined onAIDAmira, after they had flown on a plane with another guest who had later tested positive forCOVID-19.[14] Ultimately, more than 1,700 passengers were held, pending their test results, while the ship was docked at Cape Town.[14] By 19 March, all tests returned negative, and passengers were allowed to disembark.[15] She was scheduled to return to theMediterranean from May to September 2020, sailing within theEastern Mediterranean region fromCorfu,[12] but the pandemic caused AIDA to suspend its operations through the summer.[16]
After being laid up since 2020, AIDA Cruises sold the ship in January 2022 toAmbassador Cruise Line.[17][18]
Ambassador Cruise Line renamed the shipAmbition and in April 2022 sent her toBar, Montenegro to await an extensive refit prior to commencing service in March 2023.[18][19][20] In September 2022, the ship began a six-month charter to theScottish Government to provide accommodation on theRiver Clyde inGlasgow for refugees from theRussian invasion of Ukraine, delaying commencement of her cruise program.[21][22]
In April 2023, a four-week refit took place at theLloyd Werft inBremerhaven, Germany.[23]Ambition was upgraded to comply with theInternational Maritime Organization's Tier III emission standards, which required a reduction in the ship's production ofnitrogen oxide. The dock work at Lloyd Werft also included maintenance work on the propulsion units, rudders and stabilizers, as well as a new coat of paint in the shipping company's colors.[23]Ambition left Bremerhaven on 8 May 2023 before travelling toPort of Tyne inNewcastle on 11 May for the naming ceremony.[23] Former sailing champion and double Olympic Gold medalistShirley Robertson christened and was named godmother of the ship.[24] The first stop on the ship's maiden voyage was from Newcastle toDundee, Robertson's birth place.
| Former ships |
|  |
|---|---|---|
Years indicate year of entry into service with Ibero Cruises. | ||
