This Week in Cruise: New Ship News From Emerald, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises and More

polar landscape
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This week in the cruise industry saw another set of new ship announcements on the horizon. 

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises announced plans for two new expedition vessels, scheduled to launch in April and October 2019. 

The new ships will be built to PC6 specifications, the highest Polar Class designation for passenger ships, allowing them to cruise polar regions in the Arctic and in Antarctica, as well as offer warmer-weather cruises in the Amazon. The ships will also have onboard Zodiacs for landings in inaccessible areas, as well as a water sports marina. 

One of the new ships will be aimed at both German-speaking markets and cruise travelers from Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands and the United States, while the other will serve primarily German-speaking guests, Hapag-Lloyd said. 

In river cruise news, Emerald Waterways has announced plans for a new ship of its own, the Emerald Destiny. That ship is a replacement for the Emerald Belle, which was damaged by a fire back in February

This week the line announced that it would be easier to start fresh with a new ship rather than repair the Emerald Belle, and so the Emerald Destiny will make its debut in April 2017 as the fifth vessel in Emerald’s Star Ship class, sailing itineraries on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. 2017 will also see launch of two other new ships, Emerald Liberté and Emerald Radiance, offering river cruises in France and Portugal

Also this week Seabourn offered some additional information on the inaugural season for its newest ship, the Seabourn Encore, which is set to launch this December. Starting in October 2017, the new ship will sail three voyages from Australia and New Zealand: 21 days through the Middle East from Rome to Dubai; 16 days through the Middle East and India to Singapore; and 24 days from Singapore to Sydney.

The information was part of the full lineup of Seabourn’s fall 2017 and winter 2018 seasons. An inside look at that is available here

Finally, this week Princess Cruises released the design details of its newest ship, the upcoming Majestic Princess

A sister ship to the Regal Princess and Royal Princess, the Majestic Princess will launch in April 2017, sailing seven-, 14-, 21- and 28-day cruises in Europe departing from Rome, Barcelona or Athens, before repositioning to its new homeport of Shanghai in July 2017. 

The ship will offer many of the dining experiences seen on its sister vessels, including the exclusive Chef’s Table Lumiere dining experience, the Crown Grill & Bar American steakhouse, and Alfredo’s, the line’s Italian and Neapolitan pizza restaurant. It will also debut two new specialty restaurants: Harmony, a haute Chinese cuisine restaurant by Chef Richard Chen, formerly of Wynn Las Vegas “Wing Lei,” the first Chinese restaurant in North America awarded a Michelin star, and Le Bristrot, a casual French home-style dining restaurant in the ship’s atrium. 

In terms of accommodations, more than 80 percent of the ship’s staterooms will have a private balcony, and all will have the new Princess Luxury bed

For entertainment, the ship will offer two shows — “Fiera” and “Fantastic Journey” — as well as Movies Under the Stars on the ship’s outdoor screen and the Water Color Fantasy water and light show. Other onboard amenities will include the SeaWalk glass floor walkway, as well as the SeaView Bar, which offers “flair” bartending and ocean views.

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