Hapag-Lloyd Ships Meet Off the Coast of Norway

Hapag-Lloyd Ships Meet Off the Coast of Norway

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ luxury vessels met in the open sea earlier this month.

Sailing off the coast of Norway, the Europa and the Europa 2 held a ceremony to mark the occasion.

With crew members from both ships meeting in boats, Europa’s Captain Dag Dvergastein handed over a bottle of champagne, along with a greeting message.

Sören Anderl, the Captain of Europa 2, also offered a bottle of champagne, in addition to his own greeting message.

According to Hapag-Lloyd, the ceremony ended with the ships sounding their horns, while passengers and crew waved at each other.

Cruising from Kiel to Hamburg, the Europa was offering a 13-night itinerary to Norway during the encounter.

Sailing all the way to the Cape North, the itinerary included visits to several sites in the Scandinavian country, including Eidfjord, Alesund, Skarsvarg, Tromso, Leknes, Skjolden, Stavanger and Oslo.

Also sailing in the region, the Europa 2 was offering an eight-night cruise to the Norwegian Fjords. Sailing between Kiel and Bergen, the itinerary featured Oslo, Arendal, Stavanger, Olden, Molde, Vik and Flam as ports of call.

Built at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in France, the Europa 2 entered service in May 2013. With eight restaurants, six bars, a large spa, a fitness complex and multiple facilities, the 516-guest ship is said to offer the greatest space per passenger in the entire industry.

Replacing the 1981-built Europa, the Europa was built at the Kvaerner Masa-Yard in Finland and entered service in 1999.

According to Hapag-Lloyd, the 401-guest ship helped set global standards for luxury cruising and offers an “incomparable amount of freedom,” with amenities that include a pool deck, a spa and several bars and restaurants.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises also operates a fleet of three purpose-built expedition ships, the Hanseatic Nature, the Hanseatic Inspiration and the Hanseatic Spirit.

German Market Growth to be Driven by TUI

German Market Growth to be Driven by TUI

Mein Schiff 3 photo credit Spacejunkie2 (flickr)

The cruise brands catering to the national German market have an estimated capacity of 2.1 million passengers (double occupancy) in 2023, forecast to grow to 2.5 million by 2020, according to the 2023 Cruise Industry News Annual Report.

The growth will mainly be driven by TUI Cruises which will launch three new ships over the time period, boosting its annual passenger capacity from approximately 600,000 to nearly 1 million.

TUI is focused on the German premium market along with Phoenix Reisen and Plantours. In the luxury segment are Hapag-Lloyd and Sea Cloud.

AIDA is the largest national brand today with an estimated annual passenger capacity of about 1.4 million, but has no new builds on order, and barring any further retirements of ships, will maintain its position, dominating the contemporary market segment.

These brands offer a German-language products. In addition, other European brands also market in Germany, including MSC and Costa, as well as North America-based brands.

Germany is the single largest national cruise market in Europe.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises Completes EUROPA 2 Redesign

PHOTO: The redesigned Collins gin bar on Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ EUROPA 2. (photo courtesy of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises)

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ flagship EUROPA 2 has finished its latest refurbishment in Hamburg, Germany, re emerging with new features.

In total, nine onboard areas were retooled.

The ship’s second dry-dock process since first launching in 2013 took place on September 13-27, 2017 at the Blohm + Voss shipyard. About 550 outside specialists and 370 crew members were tasked with everything from routine maintenance to dramatic design changes. Work extended to approximately 1,000 points and included the application of 43,055 square feet of new carpet and 1,099 gallons of paint.

Among the updates was the integration of the library into the Belvedere observation lounge and coffee bar. The space sports a fresh aesthetic and furnishings. The previous library is newly the Cruise Sales Lounge as well as home to a EUROPA 2 museum with historical displays of the ship’s early life. Artifacts include a vessel model and keel-laying coin replica.

Also receiving the multipurpose treatment on Deck 9 is the auditorium across the way, which is now a studio for not only film screenings and lectures but additionally workshops and yoga classes. A smaller independent conference room is also next door, while the culinary school and art gallery remain in place as well.

The Ocean Spa received the bulk of the redesign attention, retouching its four saunas.

The facility now includes a 194°F Finnish sauna, 131°F Deep Ocean sauna, 113°F mineral steam bath with up to 100 percent humidity and a 149°F Black Forest-inspired herbal sauna. Plus, there’s a lounge with an electric fireplace and new furniture for the outdoor section. 

Meanwhile, in the entertainment corridor of Deck 4, the Herrenzimmer gin bar has been restyled and renamed Collins. The biggest gin collection at sea has been expanded to 45 varieties, and guests here can now select records to playback on a new turntable. As a central conversation piece, Hamburg duo Sutosuto crafted a wall portrait mural of Albert Ballin among wildlife.

On the other side of the ship, the former Jazz Club has made way for Club 2, while the Teens’ Club has been relocated to this stretch from Deck 7 for added privacy. The lounge and its new alcoves and games consoles replace the previous Speisezimmer private dining room now funneled into by the graffiti art of Lady Wave.

Elsewhere, new seating has been installed in the Serenissima Italian restaurant.

Altogether, the changes look to offer a better utilization of the ship’s venues, which already benefit from an ample passenger space ratio.

Speisezimmer seemed underused on an earlier sailing, making it better suited to teens currently. Its previous public space is no longer delineated on the deck plan and might serve as a crew break area instead.

Tui AG to reduce stake in Hapag-Lloyd

German travel giant Tui AG's stake in container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd will drop to 13.9% following a tie-up with Chilean firm Compania SudAmericana de Vapores.

Tui, which also controls Europe's largest tour operator Tui Travel, currently owns 22% of Hapag-Lloyd.

The shareholding will drop first to 15% as part of the merger and then to 13.9% because Tui will not participate in a planned capital increase.

The deal between Vapores and Hapag-Lloyd will create the world's fourth-largest container-shipping company.

Tui, which has long planned to exit container shipping, will also get priority placement rights for its remaining stake as part of Hapag-Lloyd's planned stock market flotation in 2015, it said in an internal letter seen by Reuters.

Hapag Lloyd takes delivery of new cruise ship

By Tom Stieghorst

The Europa 2 was transferred from the STX France shipyard to Hapag Lloyd Cruises, which will sail the new ship in the Mediterranean this summer.

The 516-passenger Europa 2 is the first newbuild for the luxury German operator in over a decade.

The $360 million cruise ship will be christened in Hamburg on May 10 and sail a 14-day maiden voyage to Lisbon.