Ambassador buys Oceania's Sirena to launch German brand and Semester at Sea ship
The 670-guest ship stays with Oceania until spring 2028, then sails as Ambella from Bremerhaven and Kiel
Ambassador Cruise Line has acquired the cruise ship Sirena from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, taking its fleet from three ships to four. The 30,200-ton, 670-guest ship will be leased back to Oceania Cruises and keep sailing under that brand until spring 2028.
She will then be renamed Ambella and become the first ship of Ambassador Kreuzfahrten, a new brand built for the German market. The product will be adults-only with a fully German-speaking service, sailing from Bremerhaven and Kiel. The first season, between May and September 2028, comprises 11 cruises and two repositioning voyages, mostly to Northern Europe and the Baltic with selected sailings to Southern Europe. Bookings open in Germany in November 2026.
Ambassador is targeting the country because it is Europe's largest cruise source market, with more than 2.8 million passengers a year. The company says the ship's smaller size gives it access to ports less suitable for larger vessels.
For the rest of the year Ambella will be a floating campus. The Institute for Shipboard Education, which runs the Semester at Sea programme, has signed a 10-year charter agreement with Ambassador after a search of two and a half years. The ship will host its voyages for about eight months each year after the German summer season, starting in September 2028. The institute's current ship, World Odyssey, remains its campus through spring 2028.
The ship was built for Renaissance Cruises and entered service in 2000 as the fourth of its R-class series. After Renaissance collapsed she sailed for Princess as Tahitian Princess and later Ocean Princess, and moved to Oceania as Sirena in 2016 after a refurbishment. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings sold her earlier this year without naming the buyer.
Ambassador was founded in 2021 and began sailing with Ambience in April 2022, followed by Ambition in 2023. Its January 2025 merger with Compagnie Française de Croisières brought in Renaissance, and the French company was renamed Ambassador Croisières on 15 September 2026. Chief executive Christian Verhounig described the purchase as a step towards establishing Ambassador as Europe's leading cruise provider "for affordable quality in the silver segment".
This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 26 September 2026.
