Hapag-Lloyd Cruises Bids Farewell to MS COLUMBUS

• MS COLUMBUS leaves the fleet in May 2012

• All cruises up to May 2012 will take place and remain unchanged

• COLUMBUS crew to transition over to COLUMBUS 2

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will be taking MS COLUMBUS out of its fleet one year earlier than planned, by mutual agreement with Conti, the Munich based group of companies and owner of the ship. All cruises offered up to May 2012 will be taking place on the COLUMBUS as scheduled. The ship is to be replaced in spring 2012 by her successor COLUMBUS 2. 

The farewell to the COLUMBUS is the logical conclusion resulting from the strategic business development in the premium segment. The successor ship, COLUMBUS 2, will be welcomed to the fleet in spring 2012 and offers a passenger capacity of 698 persons. “The COLUMBUS 2 is a modern ship. She provides more diversity and comfort at a very good price/performance ratio and represents for us an economically attractive expansion of our capacity in the premium segment,” said Sebastian Ahrens, Managing Director of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises.

The COLUMBUS will be offering her world tour 2011/2012 as planned. At the end of that voyage, on 7th May 2012 in Nice, the ship will depart the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises fleet. Only two published cruises following the world tour will be cancelled.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will be offering special deals for re-booking onto the COLUMBUS 2 for any customers who have already booked these two cruises. The crew of the COLUMBUS and the senior officers will be continuing their activities on the successor ship COLUMBUS 2, ensuring high quality and good service from the very beginning.