HANSEATIC spirit

HANSEATIC spirit entered service in 2021 as the youngest of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' three expedition ships, two years behind HANSEATIC nature and HANSEATIC inspiration. VARD built her in Tulcea and Langsten, to 15,540 gross tons and 138 metres, with 120 cabins for at most 230 guests, 199 in polar waters, and roughly 170 crew. The defining rating is Polar Class 6, the strongest ice notation carried by passenger ships. The second defining fact is commercial: where HANSEATIC inspiration runs bilingually in German and English, HANSEATIC spirit is marketed to the German speaking market, and English speakers are steered toward her sister.

Dining sits in three rooms, a 178 seat main restaurant, a bistro with outdoor seating, and a specialty restaurant serving Japanese and Peruvian cooking. The HanseAtrium is the social hub, Deck 8 holds the forward facing Observation Lounge, the library and the Ocean Academy, and the Main Lounge on Deck 4 carries the lecture technology beside a Smoking Lounge. Sixteen Zodiacs and battery powered E-Zodiacs launch from the Deck 3 marina, two retractable glass floored balconies swing out over the water, the bridge wings retract, and FarSounder sonar reads ice ahead. A heated pool under a retractable glass roof and an ice bar top the ship.

The fare sits at the top of the expedition market, and alcoholic drinks are billed separately in euros, so the closing account climbs above the headline price. Expedition itineraries are statements of intent, not schedules: landings depend on ice, swell and wind, and bad days reduce a voyage to scenic cruising. Scale cuts both ways: across 120 cabins there is one main restaurant, one bistro, one specialty room and a single small pool, so anyone wanting variety after dinner will find the choice thin.

She suits fluent German speakers who want real ice capability at small ship scale, who came for naturalists and Zodiacs rather than shows, and who like a hull that works the Arctic and Antarctica in season then turns to warm water, with South Seas, Amazon and Mediterranean sailings in between. She does not suit travellers without German, better served by HANSEATIC inspiration, nor families wanting children's programming, nor anyone needing a guaranteed port list.

**What this means for choosing a cabin.** The range runs from 22 square metre porthole cabins forward on Decks 4 to 6, through panorama cabins with fixed windows, French balconies on Decks 6 and 7, and 63 balcony cabins of 28 square metres on Decks 5 to 7, to junior suites of 43 square metres and four grand suites of 71 square metres aft. Forward lower deck cabins pitch most in open water, notably on a Drake Passage crossing; midships on Deck 5 or 6 is calmer. Deck 7 cabins sit under the Deck 8 pool and spa, and the lowest cabins lie near the Deck 3 marina, where Zodiac operations carry on landing mornings.