HOME ABOUT FAQ CONTACT

SHIP mainpage   SHIPS by NAME   SHIPS by LOCATION
SHIPS by OTHER TOPICS   all SHIP related video clips

Saga Sapphire - ex ms Europa

Saga Cruises's flagship Saga Sapphire was originally built as yard number 1001 at the erstwhile Bremer Vulcan shipyard to become the fifth Europa of Hapag Lloyd. The interior of this seminal ship was designed by Wilfried Köhnemann and Joachim Buchwald - her understated elegance and spaciousness excelled all other ships of her time. Following a concept introduced with ferries like Finnjet, she was the first cruise ship divided vertically with the accomodations in the quieter forward areas and the public rooms aft. Europa pioneered prefabricated cabin modules; even today her standard cabins are amongst the largest found aboard passenger ships. The shape of her ice strengthened hull is related to container ships built by Bremer Vulcan at that time and the power plant bears a greater relationship to container vessels than a typical passenger ship of the era.

In 1992 ms Europa was damaged in a collision with the container ship Inchon Glory, no-one was insured. In 1999 she was sold to Star Cruises where she served as SuperStar Aries until 2004 when she was sold to Pullmantur. Renamed Holiday Dream she was based in Havana for most of the time until Pullmantur became part of the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Group in 2007.
A description of ms Europa can e.g. be found in the January 1982 issue of The Naval Architect or in the book "Das Schiff - die neue Europa" by Wilfried Köhnemann and Udo Burk. A large model of her hull used for the towing tank tests is on display in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. A 1:100 scale model hull and plans of ms Europa are available at Steinhagen Modelltechnik.

In 2008 she was transfered to a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, CDF Croisières de France. Renamed Bleu de France she catered to the French cruise market.

2012 Bleu de France became Saga Sapphire of Saga Sapphire of Saga Holidays and underwent an extensive refit at Palermo - see also KNUD E. HANSEN A/S; video-blog on refurbishment @ YouTube. For more information on Saga Sapphire follow Saga Sapphire's Captain's Blog; more photos of this vessel be found at Simplon Postcards, see also this nice video with aerial views of Saga Sapphire: Saga Sapphire DRONE chase @ YouTube

Although Europa was one of my favourite ships I ever travelled with I hardly have any video material of my own. I am therefore grateful that Mrs. Erika Preiss surrendered some video material from her late husband for publication on this webpage. I also want to express my thanks to Saga Cruises for allowing me to visit the ship in 2017 since Saga's age limit does not allow me to travel with her.

click on a thumbnail image to select a video clip


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
GUEST CONTRIBUTION
ms Europa
arrives @ Kiel


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
Saga Sapphire
leaves Marseille


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
ms Europa
Leaves Piraeus


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
ms Europa
@ Piraeus


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
Saga Sapphire
The Dawing Room


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
Saga Sapphire
On Deck


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
Saga Sapphire
Interior Views


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
Saga Sapphire
Indoor Pool


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
Saga Sapphire
Pole to Pole Restaurant


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
GUEST CONTRIBUTION
ms Europa
Galley


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
GUEST CONTRIBUTION
ms Europa
Great Belt Bridge


WATCH VIDEO CLIP
GUEST CONTRIBUTION
ms Europa
Engine Room

www.galutschek.at - Webage and content © Ernst Galutschek 2006 if not otherwise stated. - All rights reserved.
User of this webpage may not reproduce, republish, modify or redistribute material from this website in any way. External links have been provided on this site as a service and convenience to this site's users. These external sites are created and maintained by other public and private organizations. The inclusion of links to particular external sites is neither intended to reflect their importance or endorse any views expressed, products or services offered on these sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites.
There is no warranty for the accuracy, completeness, currency, or reliability of any content available through this webpage. Users are responsible for verifying any information before relying on it.

Click here for more information on this webpage.