Hapag-Lloyd Ships Meet Off the Coast of Norway

Posted on 18 September, 2023 by Spacejunkie2

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.

Holland America Line to cruise from Dover for the first time in 10 years

Posted on 24 August, 2023 by Spacejunkie2

Dover photoed from a leaving cruise line photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

Holland America Line will sail a full season of round-trip itineraries from Dover for the first time in more than 10 years.

The line will base Pinnacle-class ship Nieuw Statendam out of the UK port for 10 departures in the summer of 2025.

From Dover, the vessel will sail itineraries ranging from 14 to 42 days to the Canary Islands, British Isles, Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Iberia and the eastern Mediterranean.

In addition to Dover, HAL will depart from nine homeports throughout Europe, with an increase in cruises over 10 days, more sailings to Iceland and a combined 62 overnight calls or late-night departures in leading cities.

“We’re really excited about Nieuw Statendam homeporting in Dover for a whole season in 2025 and the additional opportunities this provides to the trade, as well as our guests,” said Karen Farndell, director of UK sales and marketing.

“The itineraries look incredible and varied, offering something for everyone – beyond Dover, our 10 homeports span Europe, and in 2025 we’re offering the most diverse range of itineraries that include everything from week-long holidays to the Med to month-long explorations to the Arctic.”
She praised the line’s travel agent partners for their continued support and commitment throughout the company’s milestone 150th year.

Other highlights of HAL’s 2025 Europe cruising season include seven-day Norway and Denmark and Norwegian Fjords itineraries onboard Rotterdam, while Oosterdam will sail its entire season in the Mediterranean on cruises from Piraeus, Barcelona, Civitavecchia and Trieste.

Nieuw Statendam visits the Canary Islands on a 14-day Canary Island Enchantment with Morocco and Portugal cruise departing on 20 April 2025, and the Voyage of the Vikings itinerary returns in 2025 onboard Zuiderdam.

MSC Expands Cruise Shore Power Plan to More Ports

Posted on 23 June, 2023 by Spacejunkie2

MSC Euribia is 100% green-powered, the industry’s first.

MSC Group has unveiled what it said was the next phase of its shore power plan for both MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys.

At least 15 new ports between 2024 and 2026 will be added to the existing use for its vessels to plug into shoreside electricity grids to further demonstrate its commitment to, and continued progress towards, decarbonization, as well as reducing emissions from its fleet of ships while berthed in ports, the company said.

The new 2024-26 shore power plan includes at least five Italian ports; Barcelona and Valencia in Spain; Stavanger and Norfjordied, Norway; Miami, USA; Copenhagen, Denmark; Marseille, France; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Valletta, Malta and Stockholm, Sweden.

The company intends for its ships, both MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys, to fully utilise shore power facilities at all other ports where it operates throughout Europe and the rest of the world when they are made available.

MSC Cruises ships have since February 2023 successfully used shore power at the ports of Southampton, UK and Kristiansand, Norway and later this summer the company will test the facilities at the Norwegian port of Haugesund. Other European trials this year are planned for a range of MSC Cruises’ ships at Bergen and Alesund in Norway and Warnemunde in Germany.

MSC Virtuosa taking shorepower in Alesund, Norway, photo credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

MSC Cruises will also use shore power in the German ports of Hamburg this winter and at Kiel in the summer of 2024.

MSC Cruises last year signed a memorandum of understanding with Cruise Baltic for shore power in the Baltic Sea area. Cruise Baltic has 32 ports and destinations in its region that are committed to increasing the number of shore power facilities, the company said.

Shore power capability has been fitted on all MSC Cruises’ new ships as standard since 2017 and together with retrofits completed on other vessels, 67 per cent of MSC Cruises’ total capacity is equipped with the technology. More ships will be retrofitted as the ports on their sailing itineraries make shore power available.

All Explora Journeys’ ships will also feature shore power capabilities. Explora I, the first ship in the new brand’s fleet, will first come into service on July 17 this year.

Linden Coppell, VP of Sustainability & ESG, MSC Cruises, said, “Shore power is an essential factor on our journey towards net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) operations. All of our newbuilds since 2017 are equipped with the ability to plug into local power grids and we are rolling out retrofits on the other vessels in our fleet.

“Our shore power plan actively demonstrates our ambition and that we are fully committed to reducing emissions from our ships, including while in ports,” she said.

“We have invested heavily in hybrid exhaust gas cleaning systems to substantially reduce local air quality emissions and we now need more ports across Europe and beyond to introduce shore power as quickly as possible. By making significant reductions to emissions in ports, we are fulfilling our responsibility to the docks and coastal communities that our ships visit and serve.

“Together with the use of LNG fuel, improving energy efficiency, utilizing innovative wastewater treatment and waste recycling, we are making positive strides in playing our part to address climate change and protect ocean biodiversity.”