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Ambassador Croisières is achieving high success with its French-language cruise model, expanding from Dunkirk and targeting new markets including Quebec and Belgium.
Renaissance's new livery reflecting the Ambassador brand PHOTO: ANDY HUMBERT
Continuing its integration into UK-based Ambassador Cruise Line, former Compagnie Française de Croisières officially changed its name on September 17 to Ambassador Croisières, retaining the cornerstone of its initial offering – a distinctly French personality and experience – whilst benefiting from the strength of Ambassador to support its continued development.
Renaissance had progressively changed colours during 2025. The only CFC ship now sports the letter A for Ambassador on its funnel. Marseille-based president Mayelisse Pierrot-Guibourt commented: "It is the next step in our group's evolution which brings us under one brand identity and signature. It is also a natural continuation of the CFC story, both at sea and ashore, driven by the same ambition and the same teams. This change of names doesn't alter our commitment to France. Our French office remains at the heart of its development and our teams will continue to support our guests and partners every day. This evolution allows us to look to the future with confidence."
Christian Verhounig, CEO, Ambassador Cruise Line, confirmed: "Bringing our businesses together gives us a bigger stage and stronger foundations from which to develop. This is not about changing what makes the French operation special. The experience, expertise and distinctly French identity established by CFC will remain at the heart of our offering, supported by the greater scale, investment and opportunities that come from being part of Ambassador."
According to Pierrot-Guibourt, "Rebranding has been very well received by our passengers... our product has definitely found its niche on the French market. We also sent an email to all our clients to say we're changing our trading name but keep the same values."
On board, in a primarily French-speaking environment, passengers will continue to experience everything that has defined the 1,100-passenger Renaissance's identity since June 2023, in a setting blending classic cruise heritage and contemporary French elegance. Additionally, "we have greatly improved our entertainment programme and completely renewed our shows in French thanks to a new Ambassador service provider. We have more daytime and evening activities too in various places.
"We also sought to differentiate our suite offering, including priority boarding and disembarkation, breakfast at the intimate fine-dining restaurant Terre et Mer, and preferred reservations for à la carte dining," she said.
Renaissance also keeps its solo cabin policy, a consistently attractive offer available at no extra charge for approximately 10% of its stock, excluding suites. "We are the only cruise line to do it. And for people on their own, French as the single language on board makes it easier to build connections," continued Pierrot-Guibourt.
Ambassador Croisières will continue to offer French-speaking Mediterranean itineraries from Marseille and Northern European ones from Dunkirk, which started operating officially as a new homeport for Renaissance in spring 2026. Pierrot-Guibourt said: "We received a very warm welcome from all the teams there to ensure the success of a project specific to us, which aimed at streamlining our passenger flow. Check-in and luggage drop now take place only for us at the Pavillon des Maquettes and shuttle buses take clients directly to the ship."
The winter Caribbean cruises introduced in 2025 also remain part of the programme for future seasons, with embarkation in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. "We market it clearly as a European-tailored product, shared with passengers from the UK boarding in Barbados and from the Netherlands, boarding in Curaçao. Announcements are also in French, and we listened to our passengers' comments in order to make some adjustments."
"We had a very good French season this year," Pierrot-Guibourt explained, achieving a 92% occupancy rate. 2027 also looks promising, with bookings already further advanced than they were at this time last year.
The line is experiencing strong growth in two French-speaking markets. Belgium's growth is partly attributed to departures from Dunkirk, located just six miles from the Belgian border. Meanwhile, Quebec represents another key opportunity: "A French-speaking product resonates strongly with them..." Pierrot-Guibourt noted.
Francophile passengers are welcome as most of the crew also speaks English: "We do get some [English speakers], who appreciate our way of living, our food, enjoy meeting with French people and a ship with a 'soul'. We have even received account opening requests from some British agencies following our first international season last year in the Caribbean," added Pierrot-Guibourt.
A greater focus on discovering each destination, ports that are sometimes inaccessible to larger vessels and stopovers lasting up to 10 hours are part of the experience offered by Renaissance. In 2027, its Mediterranean season will start in April, with favourite destinations and some new itineraries such as the Canary Islands or southern Italy featuring a call at Bari. From July, its Northern European itineraries will include, among others, a longer cruise in the Baltic before a drydock and another international Caribbean season.
Reservations will open soon for 2028. Among the highlights, a 14-night cruise from May 28 will include a two-day call in Alexandria and the opportunity to visit the Pyramids of Giza while in Egypt. The Irish and British coastlines will make a welcome return in July, and a six-day itinerary will explore southern Norway, including Oslo, and northern Denmark.
