By
Michele Witthaus |
The new Hapag-Lloyd Cruises luxury vessel, Europa 2, set out from Southampton on 6 May for its ‘shakedown cruise’ after construction was completed at the STX France yard in Saint-Nazaire.
Managing director of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Wolfgang Flaegel, said: “Europa 2 is clearly positioned as an international ship. We are targeting the new markets of the USA, UK, Benelux and Australia and analysing the potential of the Scandinavian market.” He said the strong luxury focus of the vessel fitted with the company’s December 2012 decision to focus on luxury and expedition cruising. “We left the premium segment as we were not best in class in that segment,” he remarked.
Flaegel said the decision to name the ship after the company’s original Europa vessel was based on the fact that brand recognition for that ship was as strong as for the company brand. He also highlighed the possibility to create a ‘Europa class’ of ships in the future.
All cabins on the 516-passenger Europa 2 have balconies, while 18 per cent are deluxe suites, some of which measure almost 100 sqm. Hapag-Lloyd says the passenger space ratio of 76.5 is currently the highest globally.