Hapag-Lloyd Plans 20th Europa's Best With 23 Michelin Stars
Guests will be served at Pool Deck degustation counters, with ten European wine experts and ten haute cuisine specialists joining the short cruise.
Hapag-Lloyd Cruises will hold the 20th-anniversary edition of Europa’s Best on Aug. 21, 2026, bringing 10 chefs with a combined 23 Michelin stars aboard the 408-passenger Europa. The annual culinary program will be staged on the ship’s Pool Deck during a four-night short cruise built around the event.
The program brings European restaurant talent, wine specialists and haute cuisine experts together for a single-night promenade format. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is selling the event both through remaining suite inventory on the Aug. 21-25 sailing and through a limited number of one-night promenade tickets.
Europa chef de cuisine Ben Schuetz will host the guest chef lineup, which includes Thorsten Bender, Thomas Dorfer, Kevin Fehling, Tanja Grandits, Dieter Koschina, Dirk Luther, Marco Mueller, Marcel Skibba, Martin Stopp and Jurgen van der Zalm. The chefs represent five European countries. Ten European wine experts and 10 haute cuisine specialists are also scheduled to take part, with guests served at degustation counters set up on the Pool Deck. The announcement did not include a statement from a Hapag-Lloyd Cruises executive.
The short cruise is titled “Enjoyment in its Highest Form.” After the culinary event, Europa is due to sail from Hamburg to Aeroskobing and Copenhagen before returning to Kiel.
Promenade tickets are priced at 399 euros per person and are available for online purchase from June 30, 2026. Remaining suites are being sold in the PLATINUM fare from 3,190 euros per person, based on double occupancy, for a suite without a veranda.
