Hapag-Lloyd Cruises: Hanseatic nature and Hanseatic inspiration.

[lakediver]

14 hours ago, Floridiana said:

Has anyone here booked a cruise on the Hanseatic nature or inspiration? We booked one for the Amazon and the other for the Austral Islands - Mangareva - Pitcairn - Easter Island, both in 2020. I am looking forward to having naturalists on board who will do lectures and/or guided wildlife observations on sea/cruising days - at least I hope so.

 

If there is as scant a daytime program as we had on the Europa 2, I will be sorely disappointed. I love reading and doing my own thing, but additional activities are nice for a break. Two 1 hour daytime programs in two weeks with many sea days is simply not enough for me.

 

 

 

We are booked on the Hanseatic nature for June this year and the Amazon next year and have done an Antarctic expedition 2 years ago on the old Hanseatic.

 

On the sea days there were 2 - 3 lectures daily - from historical stuff to geology to whales to birds (I can now differentiate penguins!) and the re-/precap (mandatory!) - so there wasn't too much "free time". Some days we were sitting in the lecture room for several hours per day. The lectures were also broadcast on the stateroom TVs (computer presentations and sound) but by watching them there you missed out at watching the (sometimes more than funny) faces of the lecturers.... I'm sure it will be the same on the new ships.

 

I have attached one of the daily programs.....

 

Susanne

20170113.pdf

[Floridiana]

Thank you lakediver for the program. Interesting lectures and nothing else. I don't count the musician and the fitness instructor. Did they have a library? What was the definition of sportlich elegant? Is that with or without jackets for gentlemen?

[Jacqueline]

From what I could make out, our trip was very similar.  My other half brought a dinner jacket but not everyone did. Most people’s suitcases were stuffed with their winter layers and we had weight limitations on our flight to Ushuaia which restricted the amount of dinner wear one could bring,

We had some themed lunches but mostly all the programming was related to Antartica, or the areas of specialization of the scientists. We had a week of seas days after our visits to the polar regions. This should all be better within the new spaces. We enjoyed the library and I loved the exercise. There were very few books in English. 

Which way are you fellow travelers doing on the Amazon? I am starting in Belem.

[lakediver]

34 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

From what I could make out, our trip was very similar.  My other half brought a dinner jacket but not everyone did. Most people’s suitcases were stuffed with their winter layers and we had weight limitations on our flight to Ushuaia which restricted the amount of dinner wear one could bring,

We had some themed lunches but mostly all the programming was related to Antartica, or the areas of specialization of the scientists. We had a week of seas days after our visits to the polar regions. This should all be better within the new spaces. We enjoyed the library and I loved the exercise. There were very few books in English. 

Which way are you fellow travelers doing on the Amazon? I am starting in Belem.

 

 

My husband brought one sports coat and several nice sweaters so not much of formal wear. Didn't take too much winter wear since we knew we would get thick parkas and the wellies (which were perfectly fine!!!).

 

Amazon will also be from Belem for us - are you on the Nature or the Inspiration?

 

😀We had Captain Engeldrum and Heike Fries too - we hope to see them again in June. Heike has a very dry sense of humour ("outdoor furnishing for the useless fowl"....).

 

 

 

 

[English Voyager]

With the publication of the German language  2020-21 catalogues, hopefully the English language versions will  be available shortly.

[Floridiana]

We'll start in Buenos Aires and end in Iquito. It's the inspiration. We haven't been to the coast of Brazil yet, but we've been on an Oceania Regatta Amazon cruise from Miami to Manaus and back. Some small ports and Manaus will be the same, but I don't mind. We had low water conditions in November and will have high water conditions in the spring. Different animal.

 

Since the Amazon is a hot weather area, no sweaters. I like casual clothing - not sloppy.

Edited January 25, 2019 by Floridiana

[Floridiana]

Thank you for the program Jacqueline.

[Jacqueline]

Heike  was amazing for the English speakers! She went out of her way for us to and we formed a nice bond. At the end of the trip she put together a  log book for us detailing every day (Actually Ushuaia to Rio) See below.

Of course, she knew a lot about the penguin behaviors and spent time explaining them to us. After a while, the German speakers were wondering why we liked geology so much! But it was really Heike. Oh and that Captain! Very easy on the eyes. He is very popular with the crew as well, as he tries to be sure that they get experiences and time off. It resulted in a very happy ship. 21 days at sea, effectively in our case, as there were no true ports of call. The crew got to make some landings and had time ashore.

On the packing, one of our table mates brought multiple pair of ski pants! I didn’t find myself cold once, in fact usually overheated. 

I haven’t worked out any of the details of our trip beyond making the deposit. Packing should be simple as it’s all just hot hot hot. 

Edited January 25, 2019 by Jacqueline

[Floridiana]

That is a great log book!

Guides can really make or break an experience.

[Catlover54]

I am confirmed in a balcony cabin on the Hanseatic Nature Lisbon to Dublin for nine days, solo, its second cruise, late April/ early May, to check it out, even though based on the itinerary there will not be much expeditioning per se. I hope the weather is not constant rain.

If I like it, DH might consider joining me on the bilingual Inspiration ( identically laid out) for a real expedition voyage next year or 2021. 

 

I plan to take pictures and provide balanced commentary.

[Jacqueline]

I just got an offer in the mail for the inspiration repositioning cruise, Tenerife to Barbados. Two for one or no single supplement. 

 

To be fair, early cruises on a new ship are known for having some service issues as things shake out.. I know that they were concerned that there was such a big gap of time between the one international ship going off and this going on. Staffing isn’t easy according to them because everyone has got to be fluent in German.  

 

[English Voyager]

36 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

I just got an offer in the mail for the inspiration repositioning cruise, Tenerife to Barbados. Two for one or no single supplement. 

 

To be fair, early cruises on a new ship are known for having some service issues as things shake out.. I know that they were concerned that there was such a big gap of time between the one international ship going off and this going on. Staffing isn’t easy according to them because everyone has got to be fluent in German.  

 

I have wondered what the employee churn rate is for the Company.

 

On my cruises on the Europa 2  there was noticeable understaffing in the main restaurants, and the staff who were there looked absolutely exhausted.

 

[Jacqueline]

When the Hanseatic went offline, there were many employees with no place to absorb them. And then they are going to need to gear up for the inspiration. This was not ideal.

And it seems that the staff would prefer not to work on a new ship, although I think that they are going to have nicer amenities, so that may influence things. It’s nice to step into a well oiled machine.

 

Again, I believe the problem is finding fluent German speakers to work in the service industry. There were quite a few Eastern Europeans.

 

We were on the Hanseatic for three weeks with a week of sea days. So there was a lot of time to chat

[Catlover54]

I got a response on one of the three options I had submitted after the Vorschau came online, confirming an offer on the bilingual Inspiration , INS2020, Hamburg to Porto, Oct 7-18 2020, now viewable on the regular website. They offer music concerts at four of the ports on the way. Only a couple ports like St. Malo are tenders, so again, only softcore “expedition”

 

Offer accepted, Grand Suite confirmed for me and DH though he does not know it yet 🙂 That is the only suite with a bathtub, and one with an ocean view at that, big bathroom. The layout has both the sitting area and bedroom with floor to ceiling ocean views, as it is on the back of the ship. Am excited, hope nothing prevents it from happening,

 

That cruise still has suites open BTW including for solos, so come say hello if you book too.

 

I am still waiting on my two other requests for me solo in northern Europe in summer 2020, hopefully also with an Ocean Sun classical music Festival.

[Floridiana]

We got the brochure today. The Hanseatic inspiration is going to ban smoking everywhere starting in October 2020! Thank goodness. Unfortunately our cruise is before that date. 

Edited February 10, 2019 by Floridiana

[lakediver]

The hull of the Hanseatic Inspiration will start its first journey very soon - the tug "Diavlos Force" is almost at the shipyard in Tulcea (confirmed by Hapag-Lloyd). They (HL) don't have any new pictures yet but something should be available soon.

 

You can track the progress on marinetraffic.com (Diavlos Force) or on the HL website (Schiffe live => Hanseatic Inspiration).....

 

Susanne

 

 

 

[lakediver]

 

Here she is - Istanbul.....

[English Voyager]

HL has posted a video on the Ocean Academy, and it's 'Study Wall' :

 

 

[Floridiana]

Mail: I got a brochure for two inspiration cruises, one of them the cruise from Buenos Aires to Belem which we booked as well as the following leg up the Amazon. The itinerary has lots of Brazilian beach resorts and vacation islands, Rio, of course. I'll probably come home with thousands of nature, beach, and colonial architecture photos before we even get to the Amazon River. 😉

The other cruise is Barbados to Ushuaia. You can get off or on in Callao/Lima. It looks like all the Antarctica cruises are sold already. They are not in the brochure. 

[Jacqueline]

What a great idea to book the earlier cruise as well. I didn’t think to look at that.

 A small part of me thinks I should add Machu Pichu post Amazon as the return flight is out of Lima anyhow. I didn’t add it to my Galapagos cruise, so this is my second chance.

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by Jacqueline

[Floridiana]

On ‎2‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 8:27 AM, Jacqueline said:

What a great idea to book the earlier cruise as well. I didn’t think to look at that.

 A small part of me thinks I should add Machu Pichu post Amazon as the return flight is out of Lima anyhow. I didn’t add it to my Galapagos cruise, so this is my second chance.

 

I remember that people who went to Lima, Iquitos and Machu Picchu on land trips told me that the plane from Lima to Iquitos had a stop in Cusco which is the airport for Machu Picchu. You may want to look into it.

 

We went to Machu Picchu on a separate  land trip. I got serious altitude sickness during the first night in Cusco. It hit me like a brick. Luckily the clinic and doctors were really good. One day at the clinic made me well enough to continue the trip. My advice: Don't stay overnight in Cusco, continue immediately down into the Sacred Valley. Agua Caliente, the town at the base of Machu Picchu is at a lower altitude than Cusco so is Machu Picchu.

 

We also stayed two nights in Ollantaytambo at the end of the road from Cusco. You need to take the train from there. Oll… has impressive ruins as well and is less touristy. It had Peruvian visitors, many in local dress.

 

Our trip was organized by Escaped to South America. It was just for the two of us with reserved hotels, guides, vans, drivers, train and long distance bus tickets to Lake Titicaca.

[Jacqueline]

Thank you so  much for your suggestions. Once we return from this years big trip, I will focus on planning 2020.

We will be in Egypt/ Botswana for most of March. Egypt has been delayed and rescheduled on our part, but it looks like we are finally going.

We are spending a week on the Sanctuary Sunboat IV.

 

[Floridiana]

Jacqueline, That sounds wonderful. 

[English Voyager]

• HL has posted a, German language, video on the Hanseatic nature's speciality restaurant 'Hamptons' :

 

 

 

 

[Floridiana]

I was shocked when they said American cuisine, but it sounds delicious and is presented beautifully.