On April 17, 2012, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises christened their newest addition to the fleet, the COLUMBUS 2. After a short conversion period in Barcelona, the COLUMBUS 2 joined the fleet immediately. The first cruise will sail from Mallorca to Malta this week, the Company press release said.
The next expansion step by the Hamburg operator is the completion of the new-build, the MS EUROPA 2. From May 2013 onwards the ship will be positioned in the five-star segment, as a modern lifestyle-oriented version of the fleet’s flagship, the MS EUROPA. All cruises on the new EUROPA 2 will be fully bilingual and will cater to the English-speaking market.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises took over the COLUMBUS 2 from Oceania Cruises, with a two-year charter contract and the option to extend. The COLUMBUS 2 has 11 decks and 349 cabins, accommodating a maximum of 698 passengers. “Thanks to a few conversion measures, including the addition of a Kids and Teens area, we can now attract families onboard the COLUMBUS 2. The family-oriented ship will be positioned in the four-star segment, and will offer a range of German-language cruises,” according to managing director Sebastian Ahrens.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ new EUROPA 2 will take to the high seas in May 2013. Her maiden voyage will take place from May 11-25, 2013 from Hamburg to Lisbon. The ship is currently being built at the shipyard STX Europe in Saint-Nazaire, France. The newly built addition to the fleet will feature eleven decks, all-suites with their own outdoor verandas, and the largest space per passenger ratio in the cruise industry. All of the cruises of the EUROPA 2 will be international, meaning they will be conducted in both German and English for the duration of all cruises. An English-language brochure will be published in the autumn of 2012.
The next expansion step by the Hamburg operator is the completion of the new-build, the MS EUROPA 2. From May 2013 onwards the ship will be positioned in the five-star segment, as a modern lifestyle-oriented version of the fleet’s flagship, the MS EUROPA. All cruises on the new EUROPA 2 will be fully bilingual and will cater to the English-speaking market.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises took over the COLUMBUS 2 from Oceania Cruises, with a two-year charter contract and the option to extend. The COLUMBUS 2 has 11 decks and 349 cabins, accommodating a maximum of 698 passengers. “Thanks to a few conversion measures, including the addition of a Kids and Teens area, we can now attract families onboard the COLUMBUS 2. The family-oriented ship will be positioned in the four-star segment, and will offer a range of German-language cruises,” according to managing director Sebastian Ahrens.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ new EUROPA 2 will take to the high seas in May 2013. Her maiden voyage will take place from May 11-25, 2013 from Hamburg to Lisbon. The ship is currently being built at the shipyard STX Europe in Saint-Nazaire, France. The newly built addition to the fleet will feature eleven decks, all-suites with their own outdoor verandas, and the largest space per passenger ratio in the cruise industry. All of the cruises of the EUROPA 2 will be international, meaning they will be conducted in both German and English for the duration of all cruises. An English-language brochure will be published in the autumn of 2012.