Luxury cruise ship Europa 2 to cruise from Cape Town to Mauritius in 2022

Hapag-Lloyd’s luxury cruise ship Europa 2 has been confirmed for the Cape Town 2022 cruise line-up, with a scheduled 13-night voyage to Mauritius.

Europa 2, one of the top cruise ships in the world, will depart Cape Town at the end of October, 2022 and bounce down the South African ‘Wild Coast’ visiting several SA cruise ports before heading out into the Indian Ocean bound for Port Louis.

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After calling in Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Richard’s Bay, Europa 2 will head into the Mozambique Channel to call in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, a former French colonial outpost.

Fort Dauphin was founded on an Antanosy village, Taolankarana, in 1643 by the French East India Company who built a fort there named in honor of the crown prince, the future Louis XIV of France.

Europa 2 will then head for Saint-Denis, Reunion, which remains a part of France, along with Port Louis, the iconic primary cruise port of Mauritius, where the ship will end the cruise on November 9th (after spending the final night in port).

Europa 2 isn’t a big ship, at just 42,830-gross tons she’s small by modern standards, but she carries just 516 passengers, giving her some of the best passenger-to-space ratios in the entire cruise fleet.

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She’s also extremely luxurious, with a modern, chic design that evokes her German heritage. The ship features seven restaurants, six bars, a 15-metre-long (49 ft) pool, and gym and spa. She even has two golf simulators, along with a Broadway-style theatre, expansive kids clubs and boutique shops.

According to Hapag-Lloyd, the ship is intended to blend the comfort of a beach resort with the sophistication of a private yacht, but unlike other luxury cruise lines, there is no formal dress code or fixed meal times and seating arrangements in restaurants.

Instead, life on board is all about choice, with passengers able to choose how they dress, where and when they eat, and with whom.

This will be one of two Hapag-Lloyd cruises from Cape Town in 2022. Her fleet mate, Hanseatic Spirit, part of the cruise line’s expedition fleet, will also sail from Cape Town next year, on a 17-night cruise that visits more ports in Madagascar.

Departing October 20th, 2022, it promises to bring together “South Africa’s breathtaking nature reserves and Madagascar’s exotic diversity of species” in one cruise.

However, while the Europa 2 cruise is targetted at an international market with English and German services provided on board, Hanseatic Spirit’s cruise will be conducted entirely in German.