Real world test: Cruising with Ambassador as a diabetic

Like many cruise providers, Ambassador Cruise Line are keen to be diabetes-friendly. While Britain’s newest cruise line has much to be proud of when it comes to meeting the needs of passengers with diabetes, there remains room for improvement in certain areas.

Therefore, when cruising with Ambassador, it pays to do some pre-cruise prep while remaining alert when dining aboard. As a type 1 diabetic, I've long kept away from heading out on a cruise. With encouragement from World of Cruising's SEO editor, Calum Brown, I finally took the plunge on my first cruise - meaning that all of the content in this article comes from my first-hand experience.

In a nutshell, Ambassador made me feel comfortable and at ease with regards to my health condition. Mealtimes were far from stressful with a bit of forward planning, and they were happy to provide a sharps bin in my cabin, which happened to be 8103 on Deck 8.

However - not everything was ideal, and I had to remain vigilant in some instances. Here's a handy guide to cruising with Ambassador when diabetic.

It's easy to eat well and prevent glucose spikes

It's far from difficult to eat sensibly while cruising with Ambassador. You can harness your willpower while accommodating diabetes and enjoying great food. It's a win-win!

Regardless of whether you dine in the Borough Market buffet or one of the ship’s speciality restaurants, it is easy to eat well while on board Ambassador.

Provided you pack self-discipline for your cruise, there are many healthy options available in Ambassador’s catering repertoire. This includes a good selection of fresh fruit, soups and salads, succulent meats and fish, a wide array of vegetable side dishes, light puddings and herbal teas.

Naturally, something much heavier in carbohydrate and glycaemic load is always available too. If you crave a fragrant curry accompanied by generous portions of rice and a hefty naan or only a dirty burger and chips will do, your craving can be easily catered for. It really comes down to how angelic you can be while surrounded by this kind of temptation.

Either way, Ambassador provide so many healthy options that your ability to accommodate your diabetic needs is facilitated.

For those with Type 1 diabetes, when utilising the Borough Market, it is helpful to walk the entirety of the buffet to see what is available as this changes daily. While doing so, use this as an opportunity to collect any fresh fruits or cold puddings you would like before settling at a table.

This allows inclusion of these items in your overall carbohydrate count and bolus without worrying they will run out during the upcoming meal. After taking your insulin, collect your chosen main course last to ensure it is hot when you are ready to eat.

Finally, always be mindful that if food or drinks are left unaccompanied in the Borough Market, there is a good chance they will be accidentally cleared away by waiting staff due to high passenger demand for a table.

To avoid losing items that you’ve taken insulin for, it can be helpful for someone to stay at the table or to leave a note behind if you need to temporarily go elsewhere.

Ask for tomorrow's menu

Remove the unexpected when ordering – Ambassador can provide menus in advance

With diabetes, maintaining optimal sugar levels is usually down to planning ahead and cutting out surprises.

When ordering commences in a restaurant, there is often a lot of pressure upon a diabetic individual to make the best dietary choices from what is available as well as choosing courses quickly in-order to calculate the carbohydrates present in the pending meal and taking insulin before the starter arrives.

There is a lot to fit in and get right, which can result in unnecessary stress. Ambassador can help counteract this element by providing menus in advance.

While Ambassador are willing to do this, the means by which menus are provided in advance can be somewhat random. Sometimes you will receive an evening menu at breakfast.

On other occasions, a menu might turn up outside your cabin later in the day. Unfortunately, there are a few times where the menu won’t arrive at all.

Thankfully there is a way to counteract this difficulty. Throughout the Ambassador ships, there are information touchscreens that allow you to check your account balance, the ship’s location and event information.

While you can’t use this to get ahead with what will be on offer in the Borough Market, you can consult daily menus for all the different restaurants. This can prove a priceless resource if you want to relax like everyone else as you sit down to dinner.

Your requirements: Ambassador's chef is listening

Participate in the dietary requirements meeting – Ambassador aims to connect on dietary needs

If you have diabetes, attending the dietary requirements meeting is a good starting point. This usually occurs towards the beginning of an Ambassador cruise. The best way to ensure an invite to this is to tick the ‘dietary requirements’ box in your pre-cruise questionnaire.

Depending on how many passengers need to utilise this session, a typical dietary requirements meeting runs for approximately 30 minutes to an hour.

During this time, passengers with food allergies or other dietary requirements are invited to complete an additional questionnaire. This provides an opportunity to write down what you specifically need or write down any catering queries you may have.

While attendance will mean that the catering team are tuned into the fact that you are diabetic, you may not receive a response to any queries written down on the additional questionnaire.

Therefore, speaking with the Head Chef directly rather than relying on forms is a better option. Be prepared to be patient as there will be many other passengers attempting to do the same.

In the run-up to this meeting, be prepared to estimate your carbohydrate counts and take charge of your dietary choices for a short time before the dietary requirements meeting occurs. This often takes place mid-morning on the second day of the cruise, which can result in three meals passing before the catering team allow for someone having diabetes.

If you have food allergies or dietary intolerances, take particular care when eating until the dietary requirements meeting takes place. If in any doubt, always double-check an offending ingredient is not present in anything you are served.

Dessert is not off limit

Ambassador catering includes diabetes-friendly alternatives – you can also have pudding

If you make Ambassador aware of your diabetes, the catering team will aim to substitute any sugar or carbohydrate heavy ingredient with something lighter that will help keep blood sugars in range.

This might involve swapping a conventional rice for one made from cauliflower or having sugar-free ice cream instead of a loaded pudding you simply dare not touch.

However, if you have Type 1 diabetes, take extra caution when ordering for the Ambassador kitchen is prone to overriding menu choices that might be considered ‘less sensible’ for diabetic control.

This means you could receive the diabetes-friendly alternative when you yourself have chosen a more conventional dish.

For example, on one occasion, I ordered the Baked Alaska for pudding as I was keen to try a dish that has its own cruise folklore attached to it. Being a Type 1 diabetic, I had taken a large enough insulin bolus to try to handle the glycaemic load of the Baked Alaska but I was given a bowl of sugar-free ice cream instead.

Cue other passengers on my table donating portions of their puddings to me to ensure I ate enough carbohydrate to avoid a sugar crash. Although he never usually shares dessert, World of Cruising's SEO chap saved my bacon. Thank you, Calum.

While the ongoing duty of care from the Ambassador catering team is highly admirable, if you are Type 1 and you have allowed for an exact dish that you suspect could be swapped out due to a higher carbohydrate or glycaemic load, ensure the catering team know that you specifically want to order the more conventional option and that, on this occasion, you want to skip the diabetes-friendly alternative.

Extra advice from my experience

Ambassador provide sharps bins – Dispose of needles safely

Packing a sharps bin for a holiday can prove a hassle as they are often bulky and typically only designed to be fastened shut once. Therefore, if you anticipate using diabetic needles on an Ambassador cruise, it is highly worthwhile asking for the provision of a sharps bin.

Because this is a fairly uncommon request, chase things up with the ship’s reception if the sharps bin doesn’t arrive by the end of the first day.

Ambassador provide cabin refrigerators – Store insulin and hypo snacks safely

If you have diabetes, it is highly worthwhile to ask for a refrigerator in your Ambassador cabin.

Not only can this be helpful for storing insulin throughout a cruise, a cabin refrigerator will extend how long emergency supplies such as fruit, jelly and fruit juice stay fresh and usable for when sugar levels drop unexpectedly.

Ambassador are diabetes aware – Extra help when things go wrong

No matter how much preparation and care a diabetic individual takes, it is inevitable that periodically they will still experience sugar levels that rise too much or fall suddenly.

If booking with Ambassador, take comfort from the fact that you have ‘extra help’ on hand as the cruise line are keen to be diabetes aware. It is reassuring to know that if your sugars dip during your cruise, you will be asked if there is anything the Ambassador staff can do for you and that there is assistance on hand if required.

Not all water is free. Here's how to avoid extra charges

Ambassador have water charges – Pack travel bottles for your cruise

Regrettably, one element of an Ambassador cruise that all diabetic passengers will notice quickly and for the wrong reason, is that the cruise line charge for water.

Being diabetic generally means being thirster than those without diabetes. When sugar levels rise, it is particularly important for someone with diabetes to drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated and counteract the effects of raised sugar levels.

On Ambassador, you will find a glass water bottle is delivered to your cabin daily but, if you either open or drink from it, you will be charged £1.85 each time. While this might not be a high cost, fees can quickly mount up on an extended cruise.

It is also not clear if the water from an Ambassador cabin’s bathroom tap is suitable for drinking while other areas to obtain water on the ship via self-service are severely lacking. On board both Ambience and Ambition, there are only a couple of water machines available to passengers throughout the whole ship and these are found within the Borough Market.

While these are water machines are easy to locate, the Borough Market is located on the upper floors of all Ambassador ships. For passengers accommodated on the lower floors, it can therefore take a surprising amount of time and effort to get a glass of water.

During rougher conditions at sea, access to the Borough Market can prove gusty and cold as you often have to cross the deck from the top of the stairwells and lifts to get across to the Borough Market and back.

Elsewhere, if you order water from a cafe or bar, it is possible you will be charged so, if in doubt, ask as it tends to vary around the ship.

The best way to counteract the lack of easy access to water as well as fees for water on Ambassador is to pack several travel bottles for your cruise. A minimum of two travel bottles combined with a daily evening walk to the Borough Market to top-up on water before retiring for the night should cover most occasions when you need some fluid during the night.

Another recommendation is to pack good warm pyjamas for wandering the ship should you need more as a 3am blast of wind off the North Sea while it is at play can be damn cold.

Catering for diabetes: Ambassador are on the right track

From what I experienced and witnessed, Ambassador Cruise Line seems dedicated to ensuring a comfortable and inclusive experience for all guests, including those with diabetes.

Their team is well-versed in accommodating dietary needs, offering a range of healthy meal options and low-sugar alternatives. The onboard chefs can prepare customised dishes tailored to each person, as long as they have enough notice. I'd encourage any diabetic to speak with the chefs during the Dietary Requirements Meeting. It really helped me out.

Additionally, the ship’s medical facilities are equipped to assist with any health concerns, providing peace of mind throughout the journey should the worst occur. That was good to know and provided an extra blanket of safety.

It's clear that Ambassador is continuously striving to enhance its services for all guests by listening to feedback and implementing new initiatives. Their commitment to improving the experience for diabetic passengers is evident in the meticulous attention to detail and the ongoing training of staff to better understand and cater to medical needs.

Not everything is yet ideal, and the water situation can catch you out, but Ambassador are absolutely on the right track. If you are diabetic, such as I am, then I can certainly recommend Ambassador Cruise Line; you are in safe hands.