Explore New Lands With Hapag-Lloyd

You know we love our adventure cruising here at World of Cruising, hence anything new in this vein immediately gets our attention. Luxury expedition-cruise company Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is featuring several new adventurous routes in 2014, pioneering the way for ships Hanseatic (above) and Bremen through the Northeast Passage and into the polar regions.

These exclusive and individual expedition cruises feature a maximum of 175 passengers and with the highest ice class for passenger ships, yet they remain superbly comfortable and stylish on board.

The design of each ship – with a low draught of just 4.8metres, maximum lengths of 122.8m (Hanseatic) and 111.5m (Bremen) – allows them to travel to destinations previously inaccessible to a cruise ship.

Says Thilo Natke, Captain of the Hanseatic: “When we offer new destinations with our expedition ships, we have to consult alternative sources and collect all the information we can find about the planned route. This is how we can paint a more accurate picture, which allows us to optimise our itinerary and prepare the excursions on land, together with the expedition leaders. 

"Then, for example, we research whether there have already been excursions ashore at the cruise destination, whether it was perhaps traversed by a sailing boat and whether there are any other cruises to the destination region on offer. The fact the expedition cruises do not call at traditional cities is also a challenge. Special excursions on land – for example in the tundra or on a remote island – are organised instead. Here we use our on-board Zodiacs.”

A cruise premiere: In 2014, the Hanseatic will be the first non-Russian passenger ship to traverse the Northeast Passage through the Russian Arctic. Other unique voyages include both the Arctic and Antarctic, Central America and Panama, Australasia, the Amazon and Alaska.

More info: call +49 40 3001 4580 (English-speaking hotline) or visit www.hl-cruises.com.

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