EUROPA 2 lines up its 2016 destinations
German luxury line HapagLloyd Cruises (hl-cruises.com) has released the 2016 itineraries for their bilingual flagship EUROPA 2.
The most highly rated luxury ship in the world, EUROPA 2 offers every single itinerary in both German and English, with fully bilingual menus, on-board programs, and attentive service from the line’s young and eager-to-impress German crew, who switch effortlessly between both languages the second they hear you speak English.
That the ship is luxe is obvious; during a short preview sailing between Istanbul and Kusadasi last fall, I fell in love with this beautiful and welldesigned ship.
Not a single detail has been left to chance: even the Kleenex provided in suites (every accommodation aboard the ship is a suite) is branded with the ship’s name and HapagLloyd’s signature navy blue colour.
There’s some exciting things in store for the two-year-old ship next year, and a number of notable firsts for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises — including EUROPA 2’s first “surprise cruise.”
Departing May 14, 2016 from Istanbul and running 10 days, the only thing guests need to know about this “surprise cruise” is that it ends in Piraeus — the port for Athens — on May 24, 2016.
Once on-board, EUROPA 2’s itinerary will be determined by the captain and the ship’s guests during the cruise.
EUROPA 2 is also setting sail for numerous maiden port calls in 2016 — including the ship’s inaugural visit to Cuba. Included on two Caribbean voyages (Voyage 1632, departing on Oct. 24 and Voyage 1633, departing on Nov. 5), Hapag-Lloyd will send EUROPA 2 to the Cuban capital of Havana for the first time, along with port calls in Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos and the fabulous Isla de la Juventud — the Isle of Youth — where miles of sandy beaches and azure-blue seas exist just as they did before commercialism came to the Caribbean.
Canadians will also appreciate EUROPA 2’s increased focus on Canadian ports of call.
Guests can sail from Hamburg, Germany to Montreal on a Fire and Ice voyage that departs on Aug. 28, 2016. Spanning 20 days, port stops will be made in Norway, Iceland and Greenland before arriving off Canada’s East Coast, where EUROPA 2 will call on St. John’s, Gaspé, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières and the picturesque Quebec town of La Baie.
The following voyage, departing Sept. 17, 2016, journeys from Montreal to New York over the course of 13 days.
Canadian port calls include Quebec City, Charlottetown, Sydney, N.S., Halifax and Saint John, N.B.
South of the border, EUROPA 2 completes her New England itinerary with stops in Bar Harbor, Maine, Boston, plus Provincetown and Oak Bluff, Mass. (for Martha’s Vineyard) before arriving in Manhattan.
Other noteworthy features take place right on-board EUROPA 2 herself — that is, if you can pull yourself away from her seven gourmet restaurants and numerous bars and lounges, including one (Herrenzimmer) that sports the largest assortment of gins and tonics at sea.
Or, you could spend all your time admiring the 890 original works of art on-board, take in the 3D cinema, or watch a surprisingly good evening performance in the ship’s two-storey show lounge.
Despite the fact she’s one of the highest-rated luxury ships in the world, the atmosphere on-board EUROPA 2 is decidedly casual.
With just 500 guest on-board, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises likes to describe their flagship as “twentyone knots. And no tie.”