MS Europa 2

MS Europa 2 is a cruise ship operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, a German-based cruise line. She entered service in May 2013, and has since been named the number-one cruise ship in the world by the Berlitz Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships, replacing her fleetmate, MS Europa, which had held that distinction for more than a decade.

Concept and construction

Europa 2 has been described as "the ritziest ship in the industry." She was built at the STX Europe shipyard at St-Nazaire, France. Her first steel was cut on 5 September 2011, her keel was laid on 1 March 2012 and she was launched on 6 July 2012. On 29 April 2013, the vessel was handed over to Hapag Lloyd, with Dr Wolfgang Flägel, Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and Laurent Castaing, General Manager of STX France, signing the takeover protocol. She was christened on 10 May 2013, during the 824th Hamburg Port Anniversary.

Architecture and equipment

Public spaces

Europa 2 is intended to convey an atmosphere more relaxing than that of her more traditional fleet mate, the Europa. She has the greatest space per passenger of any cruise ship, and her décor is contemporary. During the day, her reception area is bathed in natural light, which floods in through floor-to-ceiling windows extending over several levels.

MS Europa

A number of motor ships have been named the MS Europa after the mythical Europa and the continent of Europe:

Additionally:

See also

MS Kungsholm (1952)

MS Kungsholm was a combined ocean liner / cruise ship built in 1953 by the De Schelde shipyard in Vlissingen, The Netherlands for the Swedish American Line. Between 1965 and 1981 she sailed for the North German Lloyd and their successor Hapag-Lloyd as MS Europa. From 1981 until 1984 she sailed for Costa Cruises as MS Columbus C. She sank in the port of Cadiz, Spain after ramming a breakwater on 29 July 1984. The vessel was refloated later that year, but sent to a Barcelona shipbreaker in 1985 for scrapping.

Concept and construction

After the end of World War II the Swedish American Line, the company that had been pioneers of cruising during the 1920s, was left in a difficult situation. MS Stockholm, the large newbuild that had been planned during the late 1930s, never entered service for them because of the war, with the remaining fleet consisting of ageing ships. The company took delivery of their first post-war ship, the fourth MS Stockholm, in 1948. She was a small cargo/passenger liner far removed from the luxury of her pre-war predecessors.