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Ambassador Cruise Line’s Ambition is currently sailing a 17-night Land of Northern Lights itinerary that departed Bristol, UK on Friday, October 16, 2026, with nine port visits planned along the Norwegian coast. Unfortunately, after just the third port of call on the trip, the return schedule to the UK must be drastically altered due to Storms Austen and Boelo.

Guests onboard have been updated about the changed itinerary and why the adjustments are necessary, as well as what alternative ports have been arranged for the remainder of the journey.

The five remaining port destinations on the original itinerary were to have been Alta, Hammerfest, Harstad, Leknes, Narvik, and Bodo.

“We have been closely monitoring local weather forecasts and have been in contact with the relevant port authorities for the remainder of the voyage,” the cruise line explained in a Facebook post.

“Storms Austen and Boelo are forecast to bring winds of up to 70 knots and swells of up to 7 metres, which would cause disruption to Ambition’s planned calls. Continuing with the original itinerary in these conditions would put our guests, our crew and the ship at risk.”

Instead, the cruise line has arranged alternative berths at different, more southerly destinations in Norway. While the ship will still visit Alta on Friday, October 23, the remaining five ports after Friday’s call have now been changed to the following:

Monday, October 26: Andalsnes

Tuesday, October 27: Molde

Wednesday, October 28: Alesund (a second visit for this sailing)

Thursday, October 29: Bergen

Friday, October 30: Stavanger

Because these ports are all much further south along the western coast, the possibility of spectacular northern lights viewing is greatly diminished. Of course, such viewing is always subject to weather conditions, solar activity, and cloud cover.

Ambition will not return to northern Norway to offer another Land of Northern Lights itinerary until her March 8, 2027 departure.

While guests onboard are undoubtedly disappointed by the lower chance of seeing a fabulous aurora, many guests are noting that safety should always come first and they are pleased with the replacement ports.

“Thank you for taking care of us and the crew. We are sure that this will be the safest option, onto Alta tomorrow!” one guest commented.

“Thank you Ambassador Cruise Line for keeping us all aware and safe. I am having a great cruise and looking forward to visiting the newly announced ports!” another said.

There is no change to Ambition‘s return to Bristol on Monday, November 2 for debarkation as planned.

Storm Updates

Both Storm Austen and Storm Boelo are forecast to create rough seas between the UK and Norway that would make Ambition‘s northern itinerary unsafe and uncomfortable as the ship would be making her way south next week.

Cruise Hive has already reported on multiple itinerary changes for different ships heading to Southampton as Storm Austen approaches, and Storm Boelo is likewise impacting Scotland and Ireland.

While there are currently no warnings related to the storms directly for Norway, winds in the coming days could be very troublesome.

For example, according to Windy.com, winds from 40-50 miles per hour are expected off the western coast of Norway on Tuesday, October 27. While Ambition‘s originally planned call to Leknes on that day would not be impacted, the ship’s voyage back to the UK would need to pass directly through the strongest parts of the storms.

It can be challenging to predict exact weather conditions several days in advance, but Ambassador Cruise Line is taking no chances at the possibility of unsafe sailing conditions as Ambition returns from Norway.

By choosing a more southerly route and different destinations instead, the 1,200-guest ship can stay in safer harbors as the storms pass with plenty of time to still return to the UK on schedule.

Storms Austen and Boelo Force Ambassador Ship to Swap Five Norway Ports

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