AIDAnova Celebrates Five Years in Service

AIDAnova Celebrates Five Years in Service

The AIDAnova is completing its fifth year in service this month. After being delivered by the Meyer Werft shipyard, the LNG-powered vessel joined AIDA Cruises fleet on December 12, 2018.

As the first in a series of LNG-powered cruise ships built by Carnival Corporation, the AIDAnova introduced a new generation of vessels for AIDA.

Now sharing the title of largest ship in the fleet of the German operator along with its sister ship AIDAcosma, the 5,200-guest vessel spent its inaugural season in the Canary Islands.

Soon after being delivered, the AIDAnova welcomed guests for its inaugural cruise in St. Curz de Tenerife on Dec. 19, 2018.

On that day, the vessel departed on a seven-night cruise that sailed across the Spanish archipelago and also included a visit to Funchal, in Portugal’s Madeira Island.

In late April 2019, the AIDAnova repositioned to Southern Europe for a summer season in the Western Mediterranean.

Sailing from Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona, in Spain, the ship’s regular seven-night itinerary featured three additional ports in Italy and France: Civitavecchia for Rome, La Spezia for Florence, and Marseille.

Currently sailing from Hamburg, in Germany, the AIDAnova is offering a series of cruises to Northern and Western Europe during the 2023-24 winter.

Different itineraries will be offered through late April, including seven-night voyages to Norway and Denmark, and week-long cruises to Germany, England, Belgium, the Netherlands and France.

The cruises can be combined to create a single 14-night cruise that visits Western Europe, the North Sea and Scandinavia.

The AIDAnova remains in the region during the 2024 summer, offering different itineraries to the Norwegian Fjords, Scandinavia and more departing from the German port of Kiel.

Carnival’s AIDA Brand Reports Record Bookings

Carnival’s AIDA Brand Reports Record Bookings

AIDA Cruises has joined P&O Cruises UK as two Carnival Corporation brands reporting record cruise bookings to start 2023.

Felix Eichhorn, President of AIDA Cruises, said: “We are seeing very strong interest for AIDA cruises across all channels. The record level of bookings covers the entire cruise program for 2023 and beyond. We are delighted that the AIDA fleet is on top of so many people’s minds when planning their vacations and that – whether for the first time or for a repeat – they are embracing our multi-faceted travel offering to the world’s most beautiful destinations.”

For long-haul destinations, AIDA said it is providing additional flight options for sun-hungry guests.

Helping the bookings has been AIDA’s sales push, with children up to 15 years old travelling free in the same cabin as their parents, for cruises booked for the summer 2023 season by the end of January.

Itineraries that have performed well, according to the company, are seven-day voyages from/to Kiel with the AIDAnova to Norway and Denmark or the one-week  “Mediterranean Treasures from Mallorca” with AIDAcosma.

AIDA Denies Plans to Use AIDAbella as Quarantine Ship for Crew

AIDA Cruises has denied that it had plans to use its 2,030-passenger ship AIDAbella as a ”quarantine ship” for crew members.

“No, this is not true,” AIDA’s press department told Cruise Industry News. “There are no concrete plans for the AIDAbella now.”

An article by the German website moin.de stated that the AIDAbella was being transformed into a quarantine ship for 1,500 crew members. The quarantine was supposed to take place in Kiel, Germany. According to moin.de, those onboard would be crew members for the AIDAcosma which is set to debut later this year.

“The latest ship in the AIDA fleet (the AIDAcosma) is to be put into operation in Bremerhaven in December. However, before the crew can start their work on the cruise ship, they have to go into isolation because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. And that's what AIDAbella is intended for,” the website wrote.

The AIDAcosma, AIDA Cruises’ latest ship, was floated out at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany in July. Initially scheduled for a spring 2021 debut, the AIDAcosma’s debut is now set for later this year. With the change, the vessel’s inaugural season in Europe was entirely cancelled and the first voyage was rescheduled to Dec. 22, 2021.

AIDA Cruises’ nearest deployment plans include AIDAdiva’s launching of the 2021 season on Oct. 16, becoming the eighth AIDA ship to restart commercial cruises.

On March 20, 2021, the AIDAperla became the first AIDA ship to restart cruise operations after the pandemic – initially around the Canary Islands and, since July 10, from Palma de Mallorca with seven-day cruises in the western Mediterranean. On May 21, the AIDAsol followed from Kiel, becoming the first ship to resume cruise operations from a German port. On May 22, the AIDAblu began cruises to Greek destinations from/to Corfu.

The AIDAprima resumed cruises from/to Kiel – and visiting Stockholm, Gothenburg and Visby – on July 10. In the course of this, AIDAsol moved to Rostock/Warnemünde, where Baltic Sea voyages have been on the program since July 1.

On July 29, the AIDAstella, the fifth ship of AIDA Cruises, set sail again. Two days later, on July 31, the first seven-day voyage with the AIDAmar departed from Hamburg, Germany. From Aug. 28, the AIDAmar sailed to Norway for the first time after the pandemic with fully-vaccinated cruises (or for those who can prove that they have recovered from the coronavirus).

On Sept. 5, 2021, the AIDAluna became the seventh ship in the AIDA fleet to start its season – the latest AIDA ship to resume operations.

AIDA Status Update: The Latest and Greatest

AIDA is one of the cruise lines that has managed to resume service after a pandemic-related break, at least partially.

In this short update, Cruise Industry News recaps what the German cruise line has been up to since it stopped sailing in March 2020.

Service Resumptions

Over the last year, AIDA continually looked for service resumption opportunities. While some plans ended up scrapped before the actual service start, others went ahead. The German cruise line already welcomed passengers back three times.

First, in October, it reactivated the AIDAsol in the Mediterranean, in an all-Italian itinerary visiting Naples, Palermo, Catania, La Spezia and Civitavecchia. After a couple of sailings, however, the operation had to be cancelled due to new travel restrictions in Germany.

After cancelling other restart plans, AIDA had its second service resumption on Dec. 5, with the AIDAperla in the Canaries. A second ship, the AIDAmar, was added to the program before Christmas. On Dec. 29, AIDA was forced to cancel the operation after IT issues. 

While plans initially called for a January restart, a new lockdown in Germany prompted further cancellations.  

Sailing in the Canaries

The AIDAperla then re-entered service on March 20, marking the third AIDA resumption. The ship is currently sailing in the Canaries, offering a week-long cruise departing Gran Canaria and visiting Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.

The operation was recently extended until June, replacing a set of previously announced Mediterranean cruises. 

Intact Fleet  

With the Carnival Corporation having sold 18 ships already since the start of the pandemic, the AIDA fleet remains intact. So far, none of its 14 vessels had to depart the fleet.   

After the sales in other brands, AIDA ended up with some of the older and smallest vessels across the nine brands of the corporation – including the 38,000-ton AIDAcara built in 1996 and the 48,200-ton AIDAmira built-in 1999.

AIDAcosma Delayed

AIDA’s 2021 new build, meanwhile, was significantly delayed. Initially scheduled for a spring debut, the LNG-powered AIDAcosma was pushed to the third quarter. With the change, the vessel’s inaugural season in Europe was entirely cancelled and the first voyage rescheduled to Oct. 23, 2021.

In other AIDA shipbuilding news, the cruise line announced in November that it is progressing on its way to emission-neutral ships. The cruise line also said that it plans to install batteries onboard the AIDAperla and fuel cells onboard the AIDAnova in 2021.

By the Numbers:

Ships:

• Ships shed: -0
• Ships added: +0

Result: No Change

Berths:

• Berths shed: -0
• Berths added: + 0

Result: No Change