Hapag-Lloyd Cruises has previewed its 2028 programme, featuring 127 routes designed to showcase the company’s long-standing expertise in luxury and expedition travel. The itineraries, available for booking from December 2025, will span destinations from the polar regions to tropical islands, offering what the line describes as an unparalleled combination of cultural depth and natural exploration.
The schedule incorporates voyages across both the luxury vessels EUROPA and EUROPA 2 and the expedition trio HANSEATIC nature, HANSEATIC inspiration, and HANSEATIC spirit. The itineraries reflect the line’s focus on diversification — blending established favourites with new ports and route combinations refined through more than a century of navigational experience.
The EUROPA will dedicate early 2028 to Asia, returning to Japan during the cherry blossom season and including extended calls in the Philippines and throughout Southeast Asia. Subsequent itineraries feature sailings through the Indian Ocean and along Africa’s western coastline before the ship returns to the Mediterranean for a focused summer season of shorter cruises. Autumn routes include Western Europe, Greenland, and Canada, with Caribbean voyages concluding the year.
Meanwhile, EUROPA 2 will open the year in Central America, visiting Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia, before repositioning across the Atlantic. The ship will spend the summer operating Northern Europe itineraries, including rare calls at Svalbard, and later move to the Mediterranean and Arabian Gulf.
The expedition fleet will also expand its operational range. While HANSEATIC inspiration and HANSEATIC spirit continue to explore Antarctica, HANSEATIC nature will spend the early months of 2028 in the Indian Ocean, operating expeditions in Madagascar, the Seychelles, and the remote Aldabra Atoll. Later in the year, it will transition to Northern Europe for a series of short polar and Baltic cruises.
Highlights across the fleet include the return of semi-circumnavigations between South America and New Zealand, first-time expedition itineraries through Indonesia’s Raja Ampat and Australia’s Kimberley region, and renewed focus on North America’s Great Lakes. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises remains the only operator to connect all five Great Lakes within a single voyage.
Across its five ships, the company continues to prioritise small-ship luxury, culinary refinement, and immersive exploration — a combination that has become synonymous with the Hapag-Lloyd name in global cruise navigation.