The Ocean Liner Society’s 2013 Annual Cruise On Board MS “Hamburg” – Hamburg to Kiel 27th-31st May 2013 Sold Out

In May 2013, the London-based Ocean Liner Society will cruise on Plantours’ MS Hamburg

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In 2010, the Ocean Liner Society chose Croisières de France and its 37,301-ton Bleu de France (delivered 1982 as Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ last Europa) for its annual group cruise. This cruise proved such a success that in 2012 the Society returned to Croisières de France in its 46,811-ton Horizon. In 2013, however, the Society will return to another former Hapag-Lloyd ship, this time the 15,067-ton MS Hamburg, which betwen 1997 and 2012 operated as Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Columbus.

The 2013 cruise will take in a North Sea itinerary, departing Hamburg on Monday, 27th May for a five-day four-night cruise to Sylt, Borkum and Helgoland, and a transit of the Kiel Canal before arriving at Kiel on Friday morning, 30th May.  Here are some things to do in Hamburg before sailing.

For more than two decades between 1991 and 2012, Plantours + Partner operated the 7,478-ton Vistamar, which had been rebuilt in 1989 from the Spanish ferry Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Indeed, several Society members have cruised in her. The MS Hamburg, which has replaced the Vistamar, carries 400 passengers compared to the 299 in the earlier ship – twice the tonnage but only one-third more passengers, for a respectable passenger space ratio of almost 38 tons per passenger, compared to 25 on Vistamar.

The MS Hamburg was built by Mathias-Thiesen Werft (MTW) at Wismar, Germany, in 1997 as the Columbus, a ship whose design originated from a desire by Hapag-Lloyd to re-introduce cruising into the Great Lakes of North America. Indeed in her fifteen-year career with Hapag-Lloyd, the Columbus completed eleven seasons in the Great Lakes. She also undertook a world cruise every winter. After Hapag-Lloyd acquired a larger ship to replace the Columbus Bremen-based Plantours took her over, renaming her MS Hamburg at a ceremony in the old Hanseatic port of Hamburg in June 2012.

Plantours is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Venice-based Ligabue Group, which was founded  in 1919 by Anaceleto Ligabue, who began supplying food to the Società Veneziana di Navigazione a Vapore, a company whose fleet was absorbed into Italia and Lloyd Triestino in the 1930s. Today Ligabue is active in shipboard catering and river cruising, with a total of fourteen managed vessels, and also supplies catering services on  board the cruise ships Aegean Odyssey and FTI Berlin.

OLS group fares are valid for a minimum number of cabins, and there is an allocation of cabins available for singles. Bookings can be made through the OLS group agent The Cruise People Ltd in London.  Fares include passage, full board and port charges. A special drinks package is available for €52 per person (very good value at only €13 a day).

Daily Itinerary

Depart HAMBURG 16:30 hrs Monday 27th May 2013

LIST / SYLT (home of the famous Sansibar club) from 06:00 to 17:00 Tuesday

BORKUM from 08:00 to 19:00 Wednesday

HELGOLAND from 08:00 to 16:00 Thurssday

TRANSIT OF THE KIEL CANAL ON THURSDAY NIGHT

Arrive KIEL 08:00 hrs Friday 31st May 2013

Ocean Liner Society Group Fares – MS Hamburg 27.05.2013 

                             Early Booking Fares Expire 31.01.13

Five days (4 nights)  27-30 May 2013	Brochure Fare HAM1613	Special OLS Fare	OLS Cabins Remaining
Category	Euros	Euros	Cabins
Cat 2 Double Inside	€749	€710	Sold Out
Cat 5 Double Outside	€949	€900	Sold Out
Cat 7 Double Outside	€1099	€1045	Sold Out
Cat 9 Double Outside	€1259	€1195	Sold Out
Singles
Cat 2a Single Inside	€1199	€1135	Sold Out
Cat 6a Single Outside	€1299	€1235	Sold Out

Fares are cruise only, per person in double occupancy or single as indicated, and include port charges. Drinks package available for €52 per per person. OLS Group fares include an allocation of single cabins. Extra cabins beyond our allocation will be subject to availability. A deposit of 25% will confirm a reservation.

Members of the general public can qualify to travel on this cruise by joining the Ocean Liner Society. Membership is £20 in the UK, £23 in Europe and £25 in the rest of the world. As well as the opportunity of joining OLS group cruises, this includes a subscription to their 48-page quarterly journal, Sea Lines. Further details can be found at http://www.ocean-liner-society.com.

For further information and availability for this cruise please contact The Cruise People Ltd at 020 7723 2450, Freephone 0800 526 313 or e-mail cruise@cruisepeople.co.uk.