I really think they’re going to lose customers because the French identity won’t be there anymore.
Moving the ship to the Caribbean is also to let Ambassador send clients somewhere warm during the winter.
The goal is to mix clientele, so I don’t quite see why Ambassador would want to expand by taking over a French company.
To me, it’s more of a ship buyout than a merger, but time will tell.
I knew this ship when it was called the "Mistral" and operated by Festival Cruises, an excellent company that unfortunately went bankrupt!
I have very fond memories of this ship and the services offered on board.
No, I’m not mixing them up!
I wasn’t talking about Renaissance, but about one of the two Ambassador Cruises ships, which is the former Mistral from Festival, later renamed Costa NeoRiviera (and in between, Grand Mistral with Pullmantur).
I’m replying again because I’m not sure my previous response went through.
I’m not mixing things up!
I wasn’t talking about the Renaissance, but about one of Ambassador’s ships—the former Mistral from Festival Cruises, which was first sold to Pullmantur (as the Grand Mistral), then to Costa (as the Costa Neo Riviera), and finally to Ambassador Cruises (as the Ambition).
It should also be noted that initially, CFC aimed to call at ports where Costa and MSC didn’t go. However, during the Christmas and New Year cruises, we found the usual stops: Genoa, Civitavecchia, Livorno, Valencia, Barcelona... apart from Olbia, which isn’t very interesting, and Elba Island, which was canceled.
And the cruises that offer more exciting stops, like the "Odyssey Homeric," are expensive—starting at 2300 € per person, though that’s for two weeks.
There were a few kids during Christmas and New Year, but they were better behaved than on Costa or MSC—no issues there.
I came across some teens who didn’t really know what to do besides puzzles...
We had discovered Renaissance outside of school holidays and enjoyed the fact that there were no children and that everyone spoke French. A single embarkation per cruise is comfortable (just one safety drill), as is the reduced number of passengers.
I’m waiting to see the result of the merger with Ambassador and what Renaissance will be like after its maintenance. But if we go back, it’ll be outside of holiday periods and school breaks, hoping that the Christmas and New Year hiccups will be fixed and that we’ll get the previous quality back without the downsides:
- The quality of desserts served has dropped, especially. Before, they were made on-site and varied, but by the end of the year, many pastries, cream puffs, éclairs... were thawed.
- The disorganization of service when the ship is full.
- The coffee from the machines wasn’t as good as before. I saw staff refilling them with a powder like Nescafé, but at least it’s available, along with water dispensers.
- There’s no airlock between the exit gangway on Deck 3 and Deck 4, where the outside air rushes in. I came back with a nasty cold, like others...
On the other hand, the cabin was at 26°C. Impossible to regulate the temperature.
- Water leak under the bathtub.
- During the loyalty cocktail for repeat customers, my wife and I were given two canapés placed on a napkin. When the server came back, we asked for more appetizers, and he replied, "You’ve already had some!" In over 40 cruises, I’d never heard that before.
Not to mention servers who don’t speak French at all and get orders mixed up.
I noticed that passengers coming from Costa or MSC on Renaissance for the first time were disappointed and didn’t think they’d return.
So, we’ll see if CFC can fix all this or if, on the contrary, it’ll lose its original identity with the Ambassador merger...
Oh wow, your story doesn’t exactly make me want to book!
I sailed for 3 days on Renaissance, and I didn’t particularly enjoy it... overall, it wasn’t bad, but there were way too many hiccups of all kinds that made the experience less than excellent in the end!
And after having done quite a few cruises and cruise lines, I thought: there’s better out there for the same price!
We’ll see what the merger brings—I really hope Ambassador can bring some order to all this and add their professionalism, but I’m obviously worried that the 100% French-speaking aspect might take a backseat, since Ambassador’s clientele is mostly English-speaking. I don’t see why they wouldn’t want to promote Renaissance to their English customers...
I had a great time, but the air conditioning in the room was honestly a problem, and when you don’t sleep well, you’re not always in the best mood! 😉
I’m far from writing off CFC, and I think they have huge room for improvement. The idea of a French-style cruise deserves support and backing 😉—which they have from me 😉
Hi,
I’ve looked at several cruises, and most of them didn’t have solo cabins—or when they did, it was with a hefty supplement.
Another perk that’s disappearing!
And I’m not even talking about the onboard service fees that are now charged extra.
There’s nothing left of CFC’s original concept.
Hello,
Just reread the first brochure—the "original concept" of CFC was first and foremost Francophonie on board and French gastronomy at Vatel.
So far, Ambassador-CFC hasn’t said anything about this.
Best regards
I’m quoting an article I found online:
"The Renaissance will continue to primarily welcome French-speaking guests but will also open up to the British and Dutch markets with new itineraries."
Along the way, it’s losing its blue, white, and red colors, which are being replaced with purple...
Hello,
After having taken several cruises with Renaissance, always to our great satisfaction, we’re a bit skeptical about this merger. Sure, growth is necessary, but not at the expense of the very founding principles of this company.
On the other hand, the Caribbean itineraries might end up competing with Costa, MSC, or even Ponant... we’ll have to wait and see.
If the market opens up to the British and Dutch, English will become the common language, and we won’t be able to say it’s "primarily French" anymore. Evolution is necessary, but not at any cost.
We’ll also need to see the improvements made to the ship since it’s in dry dock and whether the prices are justified.
In any case, even if we don’t sail with Renaissance again, we won’t regret our choice to have experienced it in its early days.
Best regards
Hello everyone!
Just a little backstory—my username comes from the year I took my first cruise.
Sixteen years and nine cruises later, I’m currently on my 10th, this time in the Yacht Club interior.
I’m taking you along with me!
Left Marseille on Wednesday, October 21st.
After train troubles (issues on the Paris-Marseille line), then getting lost at La Joliette—years ago, I’d taken the metro and the port bus, thinking I had to go left once near the port, but no, the little gate is on the right after the shopping center.
Wait, she took the metro and bus to the Yacht Club?
Yep! After waiting 15 minutes for the shuttle, once the bus dropped us off, it was a 15-20 minute walk to the ship.
Finally, we made it to the boarding dock.
Headed toward the little Yacht Club flag, where a nice young woman checked our IDs and gave us luggage tags.
She walked us through security (we got to skip the line).
After that, we went to the Yacht Club lounge, where two butlers were waiting. They offered us drinks, and a third person arrived to check passports and handle registration. Then, they gave us a form to pick a complimentary bottle—I didn’t do it right away.
I felt a little rushed by everyone.
I’ll explain more later in my story.
Today, we’re in Barcelona.
A few photos to come in the meantime.
Hi there,
Here’s the 2027 cruise schedule.
It’s a great way to get ideas and maybe even meet up with other members!
2 essential rules:
1) Never "quote" the schedule when replying—this avoids any confusion.
2) Follow this format:
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
REMINDER Despite my requests, few people follow the requested format. Cruises that stray too far from it won’t be listed anymore—sorry about that. IMPORTANT Please respect the templates!
PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THE FORMAT BELOW AND REPLACE WITH YOUR DETAILS IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
It takes time to fix mistakes, so THANKS TO EVERYONE for your help!
YOUR TURN 😉
NUMBER OF 2027 CRUISES: 1
JANUARY
14/01 - poupou10 / AZAMARA JOURNEY / 74 days / South America Tour / Miami
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
We just got back a few days ago from our cruise on the Equinox.
While our previous cruises had gone more or less as planned, this one was full of setbacks from start to finish.
Here’s the 10-night itinerary:
10/20 Barcelona
10/21 Palma de Mallorca
10/22 at sea
10/23 La Spezia
10/24 Civitavecchia
10/25 Naples
10/26 at sea
10/27 Valletta
10/28 Palermo
10/29 at sea
10/30 Barcelona
The only port we knew a little was Rome, since we’d spent a night there a long time ago.
We booked through Logitravel in June 2026—the V2 balcony cabin was 3,199 € for four people.
I’d hesitated to book, and sure enough, it wasn’t a great deal. A month later, in July, the price for the last V2 cabins at the front was 2,744 €, the category above (midship) was 2,953 €, and the one above that (midship with a larger balcony) was 3,117 €.
Usually, I book ocean-view cabins, but none were available.
Also, when I booked, I’d chosen select dining (it was listed as available on Celebrity’s site), but when I received the cruise booklet, I discovered we’d been assigned to the second seating. I think it’s pretty poor of Logitravel not to keep us better informed about the change.
At the time of booking, the most convenient option from the north for transportation seemed to be the train there and the Barcelona-Brussels flight back. But if I’d waited until July, I would’ve had a good round-trip deal from Brussels too. I’ll come back to that.
Instead of spending a night in Barcelona, where hotels for four are very expensive, I’d opted to split the trip into two parts: the train to Montpellier the day before departure, then the Montpellier-Barcelona train the next day.
The trip to Montpellier went pretty well, but the first letdown: when we arrived, it was pouring rain, and the department was on orange alert for rain. So much so that the SNCF screens suggested postponing travel if possible and warned of potential train cancellations—right during the 24 hours we were traveling! Needless to say, the trip started off more stressful than anything else.
Our train arrived at Sud de France station, and I’d booked a hotel (Appart’City Saint-Roch, very nice) near Saint-Roch station since our train the next day was leaving from there.
Because of the rain, I couldn’t even show the kids a bit of Montpellier. We just went to dinner close to the hotel and went back to sleep, crossing our fingers that our train the next day wouldn’t be canceled.
It rained a lot during the night, but by the next morning, it had calmed down a lot. We got an email in the morning from Renfe saying our train would finally leave from Sud de France. So we had to leave the hotel earlier to get to the station.
The train was announced with a few minutes’ delay, but it was there, and we eventually arrived in Barcelona without any issues, just a little quarter-hour late.
When we got to the Barcelona station hall, there was a huge "Taxis" sign on the left directing us outside (Peiro Square). There was a line of taxis and a few people waiting, but it moved quickly.
It was around 1 PM when we got into a taxi, and we were expected for boarding between 1:30 and 2 PM.
We got a very friendly driver who spoke French. The ride cost about 25 €, which was a good deal for four.
We dropped off our suitcases at 1:25 PM. There were quite a few people, but it moved fast.
Passport check, we were told the rooms would be ready at 2 PM, and we boarded.
To be continued: arrival on board
hi there
Here’s the cruise schedule for 2026.
It’s a great way to get ideas and maybe even meet up with other members.
2 essential rules:
1) never "quote" the calendar when replying—this’ll avoid any confusion
2) follow the format below
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
REMINDER Despite my requests, few people follow the requested format. Cruises that stray too far from it won’t be listed anymore—sorry!PLEASE respect the templates!
COPY AND PASTE THE FORMAT BELOW AND REPLACE WITH YOUR DETAILS IF YOU’RE STRUGGLING
DD/MM - username / SHIP IN CAPS / number of days / cruise title / departure port
DON’T FORGET THE SPACES between the / /
It takes time to fix mistakes, so THANKS TO EVERYONE for your help!
YOUR TURN 😉
NUMBER OF CRUISES 2026:
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
We returned last night from the LE RHIN EN FETE cruise with Croisieurope.
We were notified the day before boarding of a change in boat and itinerary.
Here’s what was originally planned:
- Day 1: Boarding in Strasbourg at 6 PM. Departure on the cruise.
- Day 2: Oberwesel-DUDESHEIM
Sailing toward ST GOAR to see the LORELEI rock, then a visit to Reichenstein Castle and sailing toward Rudesheim.
- Day 3: Rudesheim-MANNHEIM
Up the Rhine to Mannheim and a visit to Heidelberg Castle.
Sailing back to Strasbourg.
- Day 4: Strasbourg by *bateau mouche* in the morning. Afternoon show at the Royal Palace in KIRWILLER and return to the boat.
- Day 5: Disembarkation in Strasbourg at 9 AM.
Here’s what we actually did due to the change in boat and itinerary because of the Rhine’s water level.
I assume this had been known for some time...
- Day 1: Strasbourg to Mainz or nearby by COACH. Departure around 4:30 PM. About 217 km.
We arrived at the boat at 9 PM because the driver had trouble finding it.
- Day 2: MAINZ-RUDESHEIM
Morning sailing to ST GOAR to see the LORELEI. Lunch at Reichenstein Castle
(as originally planned). 30-minute coach ride each way.
- Day 3: RUDESHEIM-MAINZ
Morning sailing to Mainz.
Afternoon excursion to Heidelberg Castle (originally planned). 91 km each way.
- Day 4: Mainz to Kirwiller by coach, about 207 km each way.
Lunch and show at the Royal Palace: very good.
- Day 5: MAINZ-STRASBOURG, about 194 km by coach.
We left Mainz at 7:30 AM to arrive at Strasbourg train station at 10:05 AM.
In short, 110 km of sailing and over 1000 km by coach... a joke for a cruise, and about 14-15 hours of coach travel.
We came back exhausted.
We had booked a PRM cabin on the FRANCE but ended up with a standard cabin on the MONET... about 11 m², separate beds that couldn’t be moved together, and difficulty showering (only one shower taken in 4 days, not to mention the struggle to get up from the toilet... sorry, but it’s really problematic for a PRM person).
The visits were very interesting.
All the crew on the MONET: excellent. Meals were also excellent.
Following this change in boat and itinerary, Croisieurope is offering us a 150 € voucher per person for a future cruise.
We booked this cruise after a promotion (1 paying, 1 free) during their conference in Angers on 07/10/26. We think Croisieurope was already aware of the navigation difficulties on the Rhine.
There were no company boats in Strasbourg... and cruises are still being sold with departures from Strasbourg.
We’re very skeptical about traveling with Croisieurope again...
Have a great day, everyone! Mum49
Hi everyone, I’m going on a cruise at the end of January with MSC and I’m looking into the excursions I could do. I’d like to know if I can do the excursions on my own or if I absolutely have to go through MSC based on safety levels.
We’ll be stopping in Montego Bay in Jamaica, Cartagena in Colombia, Puerto Limón in Costa Rica, Belize City, and Colón in Panama.
Thanks!
Emeline
Has anyone here tried GigSky’s “Cruise + Land” eSIM during your cruise?
I’ve seen on various forums that they offer some great deals. For my part, I found a one-month plan (5 GB) for 78 €, whereas MSC charges 290 € on board.
Since we can’t afford to go completely offline (especially my wife—we need to stay in touch for several reasons), we absolutely need an internet plan.
Hi there,
I’m looking into a Mediterranean cruise on the Splendida in YC.
I’d love to know if it’s a ship with a lot of triple and quadruple cabins in the Yacht Club.
The thing is, I’m planning to depart from Malta, and either the cruise ends during the French school holidays in October with a departure from Marseille—which means there’s a risk of lots of kids on board—or the other option is a departure on October 30th, which might also have some French kids during the first part of the cruise.
I read that some ships in the Fantasia class have more triple or quadruple cabins than others, but I’m not sure if the Splendida is one of them.
If anyone has that info…
PS: This isn’t about starting a debate on traveling with or without kids… I’d just like a quiet week, and that’s not always easy in a small space with lots of children around.
I'm considering a cruise on the Hurtigruten Coastal Express from Bergen to Kirkenes and back to Bergen over 11 days in mid-March 2027.
Has anyone already done this trip?
I think it’s a great way to discover the Norwegian coast with the chance to see magnificent northern lights, but isn’t the trip a bit *too* long?
There are about thirty stops, but most last only a few minutes, with just one daily stop of over 2 hours, which gives a quick glimpse of a few towns but doesn’t allow for a full excursion.
Is the supplement for an outside cabin with a porthole (800 € for 2!) really worth it?
It’s more pleasant than an inside cabin, but do you spend enough time in your cabin to make the most of it?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this journey.
Best regards.
Hello, I’ll be on the Costa Serena from April 27 to May 4, 2027. Given that the excursions offered by Costa can sometimes be pricey, what would you recommend for the following stopovers?
Cagliari.
Tunis.
Palermo.
Marseille.
Thanks for keeping in mind that we’re in our sixties and one member of our small group can’t handle very long walks (so no more than 6 km in a day).
Thank you for your help.
Hi, I’m about to go on a cruise on the Costa Smeralda but I’ve never been on a cruise before. Could anyone share the à-la-carte drink menu? I’d like to know if the prices are excessive, since the MyDrinks drink packages, for example, cost 266 € per adult.
Have a great day! 😉
We're leaving on August 25th for a Danube cruise from Vienna to Bucharest. The travel agency refuses to postpone this cruise despite navigation changes due to the exceptional drought, which include bus transfers that don’t interest us.
Have you had any experiences with this that you’d like to share?
Just back from our first cruise on the Renaissance, and I’d like to share a few thoughts about life on board. Our feelings are mixed—we wanted a change after several MSC cruises, but the value for money on this repositioning cruise left us torn.
After taking advantage of successive promotions, we finally secured a well-located balcony cabin for 2600 € (almost 50% off the brochure rate). Given the amenities and the ship’s age, this now feels like the absolute maximum we’d pay for that period.
Overall, we were happy with our vacation on board, but a few details—when added up—left us with a somewhat mixed impression.
The pros:
- Ship size
- Reasonable noise levels, except in the restaurants (aside from the covered pool area)
- Spacious balcony cabin (20 + 5 m²) with plenty of storage and a bathtub with jets
- Understated, tasteful decor
- French language spoken on board
- Friendly staff for the most part
- 100% French-speaking clientele
- Decent food with French dishes (even with an Indian chef)
- Tables for two available (though the ship was full, so no changes possible)
- Some high-quality shows, thanks to an excellent English-speaking troupe
- Interesting lectures (especially on history and cetaceans)
The cons:
- Unreliable air conditioning in common areas (you’d go from a freezing lounge to a hot one, as if the system only worked in certain spaces at certain times)
- Aging ship with a few glitches (noises, AC, toilet flushes, lights) reported at reception (luckily, our only issue was the bathroom door not closing...)
- Industrial, thawed-out bread and pastries (a letdown for a ship with a French image)
- Limited fruit selection (often just apples and watermelon/melon) and not much variety in vegetables
- Worn, sometimes stained restaurant towels
We’re not ruling out another cruise on the Renaissance—their itineraries are unique—but only at a very competitive price.
Hi everyone,
I’m going on a Mediterranean cruise in November and I’m looking for some "tips" to visit the cities of Naples, Messina, and Valletta in Malta without booking the ship’s excursions, which are really expensive.
Thanks so much for your advice and suggestions. We’re a group of 6 people.
Looking forward to hearing from you...
Best,
M
PS: We’re also stopping in Genoa and Barcelona—even though we know these two cities, we’d still love any tips for visiting them!
Thanks
Hello everyone,
We’re a senior couple signed up for a 13-day cruise in Japan on the Princess Sapphire, departing from Yokohama on April 8, 2027.
Are there any other French speakers on this forum who’ll be on this trip?
Hoping for a reply...
Hi, we're heading to Venice soon. We have a hotel in Mestre and we'd like to know which bus can take us from the Mestre hotel to Marghera Port. Thanks.
Hi everyone ...
We’re planning to do the 83-day Cunard cruise ...
departing from Southampton on January 10, 2027 aboard the Queen Anne ...
has anyone done it ... or have any info ... or tips ...
for example ... deck and cabin choices ... drink packages ... excursions ... etc.
... anything good to know about this ship???
Thanks everyone ...
Hi,
We’ll be visiting Barcelona for the first time on our upcoming cruise.
I was wondering if it’s better to book a taxi in advance to get from the train station to the cruise terminal, since there’ll be four of us. Are there enough taxis around that we won’t have to wait too long?
For the return trip, same question—are there enough taxis, since we have a flight to catch? Though I doubt we’ll know in advance which terminal we’ll dock at.
I came across this site below—has anyone heard of it?
https://taxibarcelona.taxi/fr/
Hi everyone, we're going on a week-long cruise and I have a question: can we travel by train and on a cruise with small refrigerated injectable syringes?
Do we need to complete any formalities?
And how should we store them?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Hi everyone! I’m used to sailing on a sailboat with two or three people—it’s amazing. But I’d love to try the experience of a cruise. Just to clarify, I’ll be going alone. My first question: are there other solo travelers on these cruises, or is it mostly couples and families?
For a first cruise, I’d prefer a short one (maximum 8 days). Do those exist? And on the smallest boat possible. I live in Marseille, so a departure from Marseille would work, but I’m open to other ports too. If you have a cruise line to recommend and a destination you’ve enjoyed, or if you’ve had a great experience on a more intimate-sized ship, I’d love to hear about it!
We just returned from a cruise from 08/13/26 to 08/20/26 on the MSC ORCHESTRA with stops in Tarragona, Valencia, Livorno, Civitavecchia, Genoa, and back to Marseille.
The ship was fully booked. Deck chairs were already occupied by beach towels early in the morning, and there were only 1 or 2 people in the pools... However, on the day the Italians disembarked, there were very few towels on the deck chairs.
We found the Italians less talkative.
We had a balcony cabin on deck 9, starboard side. The cabin was spacious, but the sofa was facing the desk, making it a pain to watch TV (neck strain guaranteed). So, we changed the sofa’s orientation to face the TV (we put it back in place on disembarkation day).
There were 325 French speakers on board, and a lot of staff from Mauritius, which made communication easier.
No annoying announcements about bingo, etc.—a nice change from COSTA.
For dinner, we were at the first sitting at 7:45 PM, at a table for 6. On the first night, we were two "gray-haired" couples at the table. The second night, two young women joined us but asked to change tables after seeing us...
The show for our dinner time was at 10:15 PM and ended around 11:00 PM. We found that a bit late for us. The shows were varied and of good quality.
The restaurant menus offered plenty of choices, but at the buffet at lunchtime, there were a lot of dishes with quite a few carbs. Afternoon tea from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM included some great pastries, among other things.
We had an issue with the air conditioning and bad odors in the cabin one afternoon. I reported the problem to the reception, and staff along with our cabin steward came to check the cabin. The issue was resolved that same afternoon.
Two days later, we were surprised to find a bag with items inside: 2 MSC mugs and 2 MSC thermos flasks that keep drinks hot or cold for 10 hours. It was a gift from customer service following the bad odors in our cabin. We weren’t expecting this at all and thanked MSC’s customer service.
For excursions, MSC always offers port-to-city-center transfers for 14 € per adult in Valencia and Tarragona, and 12 € per child. In Livorno, it was 10 € per adult and 7 € per child.
In Civitavecchia, there was a shuttle to the train station for 6 €.
On the MSC for Me app, there were "promotions" on certain excursions.
We really enjoyed this cruise, but we couldn’t revisit some stops (Tarragona and Valencia) on our own because it was too hot.
Great evening: Mum49
Hi there!
I’m going on a cruise with MSC on the World Europa this coming October.
Stops: Genoa, Naples, Messina, Malta.
Has anyone visited Mount Etna and Pompeii?
Could you share some tips for each of these stops?
I’d like to explore on my own without booking the ship’s excursions.
Thanks for your advice!
Hello!
After a lot of hesitation between different cruise lines (Explora, Oceania, YC, HAL, NCL) and several destinations like Norway, Ireland, and Iceland,
I finally chose NCL’s Star for Iceland.
I had already looked at this itinerary when I went to Scotland in April with CFC, but it was really expensive.
You should know that CFC often offers last-minute deals 45 days before departure (the point when you can no longer cancel or modify).
So, I got a great opportunity and grabbed it.
Departure is on August 23rd.
Hi everyone,
I’m staying in a suite on the Pacifica in October and I can’t find any details about the suite benefits beyond the elite restaurant, the butler, and the espresso machine.
What about breakfast and meals served free in the cabin, and the spa?
Costa’s been cutting back on perks for Gold members, and it seems like suites are next.
Thanks for your replies!
