Hi, I'm Gary Bembridge of Tips for
Travellers. In this video I'm going to tell
you five things that you need to know
about Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and especially,
if you're an English-speaking passenger,
should you even consider cruising with
them. So first of all, who exactly are
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises? So whilst their
origins are with the big freight company,
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises are now no longer
associated with the company. They're
actually a wholly owned subsidiary of
the massive TUI Travel Group and they're
based in Hamburg. Their roots do go
right back over a 125 years of
cruising. They operate a very small fleet
of ships. At the time of recording just
four ships. They are really an ultra
luxury cruise line, and they focus on
classic cruising and expedition cruising.
Their ships as with all ultra luxury
ships are small. So for example the Europa 2,
which I'm currently on, has only 500
guests. Many people in the industry
rate them as the leaders in ultra luxury
and give them very high ratings. So
things like the Berlitz Cruise and
Cruising Guide consistently rate
them highest of all the cruise ships,
right up there with top marks higher
than many other of the other cruise
ships. The second thing I think you need
to know is: is the line suitable for
english-speaking travelers? Now Hapag-Lloyd Cruises,
because it's heart and
base is in Germany, it caters very much
historically for the german-speaking
passenger.
However they are looking to attract many
more international travellers, by which
they mean english-speaking travelers.
This is focused on two key ships, so the
MS Europa 2 and they also have an
expedition ship the Hanseatic
Inspiration is also designated as an
international ship. What does it mean
to be an international ship? First of
all, all of the crew onboard are
bilingual. So all of them will speak
German and English. All the documentation
that you receive before and during the
cruise will be in English. So the daily
programme and when you look at the onboard
app. Announcements will all be made in
both languages German and English. There
will always be at least one English
excursion in every port of call, and
that's a dedicated English excursion.
Very importantly there is an
international host on board and they are
there all to make sure that the
international guests, English
speaking guests, are covered at all time. So,
for example, if there's a talk by someone
in German on board you will be given a
simultaneous translation. They will also
come with you on excursions if they are
only going to be in German, and they are
available to sort out any issues you
have on board. Things like the safety
briefing or zodiac briefing, they're all
done specifically in English. A small
English group is formed and you are briefed
very specifically in English to make
sure that you understand all of the
safety regulations. So certainly if you
are English-speaking and looking for an ultra
luxury cruising experience, I would
recommend you take a look at Hapag
Lloyd Cruises. You're not going be
travelling a little bubble of the US or
the UK. You will have a much more
international experience once you're on
board. The third thing you need to
know is about the age profile of Hapag
Lloyd Cruises. Now what's interesting
about how about Hapag-Lloyd is it differs a
lot by ship, and they do attract and
target different demographics. So for
example on the classic cruising side
Europa tends to be a much more
traditional cuisine experience and will
attract a slightly older traveler.
However Europa 2 really targets a
much younger demographic. They tend to
be in their 40s, they tend to be
young professionals and young
professionals often with families. So
Europa 2 - which is the International ship -
is a much younger demographic. The
look, the feel, the design of the ship is
designed to be much younger. Europa 2 has
many shorter cruises, so lots of
seven-day cruises or shorter cruises
which work much better for younger
professionals. If you have children
here's a couple of things to consider
that Europa 2 specifically does. First of
all there's a financial opportunity
because if you have children up to the
age of eleven, and they travel in the
same cabin as you, they travel for free.
If they're aged between 11 and 15 there is a
small charge of around about a hundred
US dollars / about a hundred euros
again if they're staying in the same
cabin as you. The second thing they have
is they have what is known as
family apartments, and these consist of a
veranda suite and then there is an adjoining
cabin next door which is specifically
targeted at children. There are kids
clubs on board both for young children
split by age and then a specific teens
Club. They also have family and kids
specific excursions.
They also have a late riser offer where
they will come and fetch your children
early in the morning and take them away to give
you some "me time" to sleep in a little
bit later. Twice a day they have an
adults-only time at the pool and they
have a kids only time at the pool. Also
if you're traveling with very young
children before you come on board you
can order a special baby's welcome pack
which has lots of things that you need
for babies such as diapers, formula and
other baby related products. The only
watch out I have, of course, if you don't
travel with children is then (like most
Cruise Lines) avoid the critical holiday
times. So for example in July the
cruise I was on there was over 55
children onboard. The fourth thing you
need to know about Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
is about the fare. The reason I want
to talk about this is because it's a
little bit different to other ultra
luxury lines, and you might be surprised
at some of the things that are included
and some of the things that are
excluded, because it's a little bit
different to comparable or competitive
lines.So first of all let's talk about
what is included. So obviously your
accommodation is included, and the
accommodation is pretty lush and has lots of
little features like the minibar is
included, you get fresh fruit, you get
very nice little turndown treats. The
second thing that's included is your
food including all speciality dining
options. So for example let's take a look
at the Europa 2, there are seven
restaurants on board and all of them are
included within your fare. On the
Europa they have slightly less
speciality restaurants but all of
them are included within the fare.
24-hour in-room dining is also included
within the fare. Once a week on board they
also have a big caviar night where all
the restaurants have caviar. Gratuities
are included within the fare, although
you will find for example in the spa
often a line is left when you sign to add
an extra gratuity. You also get one hour
of free Wi-Fi and then of course you get
access to all the facilities (including
things like the steam room and the sauna),
and if there's an entertainment going on.
The only key thing that you pay extra
for is if you do one of the cooking
classes onboard there is a charge for
that. Let's talk about what's not
included. One of the things you
probably have noticed straight away is
alcoholic beverages are not included and
even water that you have outside of the
room are not included. Specialty teas
and coffees are included, the minibar in
your room which has beer and soft drinks
is included and all drinks at things
like the captain's welcome party are
included, and you'll get a bottle of
champagne in your room when you board. One
things you do get is a 200 euro
onboard credit to use for drinks.
Excursions are not included. Obviously if
you go on an expedition cruising that's
slightly different because some of the
zodiac trips are included within the
overall fare. So as you can see there are
some similarities and some differences
to other ultra luxury lines with the
alcohol not being included probably the
biggest difference in terms of fare.
The fifth thing you need to know about
Hapag Lloyd cruises is what is the
onboard ambience is like, and again as I've
hinted at it does differ a little bit by
ship. Let's talk a little bit about
the dress code. So although there's no
set dress code on Europa 2 people do
tend to dress quite smartly. So even
during the day they wear designer outfits and
quite smart clothes. In the evenings
people do dress up more smartly and
certainly when they go to the
restaurants it's normal for men to
wear jackets and ladies to wear smart
dresses. In the informal dining in
the evening like the Yacht Club on
Europa 2, people will dress a little
bit more informally. It tends not to be a
big party ship. People tend to have a
much more laid-back approach, a much
calmer approach to cruising and are looking
just to have a more quiet calm refined time.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises offers a very upmarket
experience. It's quite a refined. It's
quite a sophisticated experience.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises want to attract more and more
english-speaking guests so they have two
dedicated ships, there one classic
cruising ship which is Europa 2 and one
of the new expedition ships (Hanseatic
inspiration) is designated as an
international ship. Certainly as an
English speaker onboard I didn't feel
left out. I didn't feel lost because
there are lots of things they do to make
sure that you feel welcome and in fact
certainly within when you're in your
cabin, you almost forget that you're on
with mostly German speakers because
everything you interact with is English.
So if you like the idea of an ultra
luxury line and you like the idea of a very
sophisticated line with a high level of service and really good quality, it's definitely
something to consider. And bear in mind
that if you do travel with Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
you're not traveling in a little
bubble of the US or the UK, and you are
going to be having a slightly more
exotic and slightly different cruising
experience. So definitely I think
something to look at. Now Hapag-Lloyd Cruises
does operate very much in the
ultra-luxury and the premium end of the
cruising market. So for example to give
you a sense of the prices onboard, I'm in
a veranda suite on the Europa 2 and
that's going to cost you around about 500
euros per person per day, about $600
per person per day about £500
pounds per person per day.
Obviously that varies based on the
time of year that you're traveling. If
you found this video helpful, I'd love it if
you watch many more of my Tips For
Travellers videos. The goal of them is to
help you make much more of your precious
travel time and money.