MS Columbus
Technical data
Built: 1997 (Wismar, Germany)
Gross registered tonnage: 15,000
Length, beam, draught (metres): 144/22/5
Total power: 10.560 kW
Maximum speed: 16 knots
Stabilisers: yes
The ideal size
MS Columbus was built in Germany and entered service in 1997. Small and manoeuvrable, the ship can enter a wide range of harbours. Excellent housekeeping and maintenance and regular refurbishment keep the vessel looking fresh.
She can accommodate 420 passengers, but we are limiting the number to 236. Keeping the same number of crew (170), this considerably increases levels of service, eliminates the risk of overcrowding, allows the lowest categories of cabin to remain empty and means we can sell a good proportion of the cabins for sole occupancy.
Small enough to enable passengers to learn their way around within a day or two, she yet has a variety of public spaces sufficient to suit different moods and to find seclusion and quiet.
Comfort and style
MS Columbus equates very approximately to the standards of a four-star hotel, though service is worthy of a five-star rating.
The decor is light, bright, upbeat, slightly nautical and vaguely post-modern. Colours usefully distinguish each deck, and these are carried through to the cabins in a muted form.
There are two restaurants, a large lounge (the decor here is garish) which we use for lectures and the occasional concert, three bars of different character, a library and various other sitting areas. There is ample open-air deck space with tables and chairs, loungers, awnings and a small heated swimming pool (6.3 x 4.3 x 1.2 metres).
Other facilities include a fitness room, sauna, hairdresser, laundry and dry cleaning services, shop, internet access and bicycle hire.
Excellent service
We have chartered the vessel from Hapag Lloyd, the historic and highly regarded Hamburg-based shipping line. The officers and most of the front-of-house staff are German, Swiss or Austrian, with others from the Philippines. Staff selection and training is of a very high order and service is courteous, efficient and willing. They hone their skills by moving between the four Hapag Lloyd cruise ships, one of which is consistently rated by Berlitz as the best in the world.
All crew have good English, which is the sole language of the ship during our charter.
Eating and drinking
The main restaurant is large enough to accommodate all passengers at a single sitting. The à la carte menu offers several choices for each course. The Palmengarten (Palm Garden) has a self-service buffet with 144 places plus additional seating on the open deck.
The food is very good and varied, the style international. Bread is freshly baked and fish locally sourced. As well as breakfast, lunch and dinner there are snacks mid-morning, mid-afternoon and late in the evening.
We practise an open-seating policy which means you can sit wherever you want, and no notice has to be given of which restaurant you want to go to. You also have some choice about when to begin.
Library
The library on board will be MRT’s own, the result of two years of assiduous acquisition from many sources. The books mainly cover the subject matter of the cruises, with key works in multiple copies. There is likely to be no finer Classics library afloat.