Search off Ramsgate for man reported overboard from cruise ship

Search off Ramsgate for man reported overboard from cruise ship

A search is under way off the Kent coast after reports of a crew member falling overboard from a cruise ship.

The coastguard was alerted at about 09:00 BST on Sunday after the man disappeared from the German vessel AIDAperla off Ramsgate.

The HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter was sent from Lydd alongside a fixed-wing aircraft.

The RNLI sent all-weather lifeboats from Ramsgate and Dover to join the search.

The AIDAperla was travelling from Hamburg in Germany to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, the cruise company has confirmed.

A spokesman for AIDA Cruises said: "The captain and crew of AIDAperla immediately initiated all necessary rescue measures, in close co-ordination with the local authorities.

"The search on board confirmed that a male crew member is missing. The ship was immediately stopped and returned to the spot where the incident was believed to have taken part in the search."

AIDAdiva and AIDAperla Back In Action After Drydocks

AIDAdiva and AIDAperla Back In Action After Drydocks

Two AIDA Cruises ships are resuming service after routine drydocks.

Following her drydock at Lloyd Werft, the AIDAdiva will start on her first voyage from Warnemünde to the Norwegian fjords on Saturday, May 14, 2022. 

From April 25 to May 12, 2022, several areas of the ship were redesigned in addition to regular class and maintenance work, the company said. It's just one of many cruise ship drydocks this year, as outlined in the 2022 Drydock and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.

New aboard is the restaurant Almhütte, featuring dishes from the Alpine region and various beer specialities in a cosy hut atmosphere.

Wellness lovers can look forward to another novelty at the Body & Soul Spa: The entire wellness oasis has been expanded to include a spacious outdoor area where guests can relax and unwind with a view of the sea. In addition, the fitness equipment has been replaced by the latest generation of equipment.

The AIDAperla will end its three-week shipyard stay at Damen in Rotterdam on Saturday, May 14, 2022, and set off for Hamburg.

The first guests will embark on the Hanseatic city on Monday, May 16, 2022, for sailing to Norway.

AIDA said the ship received a visual makeover. 

One key highlight is a new ice cream bar, plus a refreshed spa, the company said. After three weeks in drydock, there is also a new fashion accessories store in the shopping area ahead of the ship's summer season of 10-day Norwegian fjord cruises from Hamburg. 

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.

AIDAperla Set to Open Western Med Season in July

On July 10, AIDA Cruises will open its cruise season with the AIDAperla in the Western Mediterranean.

Two different seven-day round trips from/to Palma de Mallorca (Spain) will be offered, which can also be combined into a 14-day cruise. Deployment runs through October 30, according to a press release. Bookings are set to open on June 4.

Port calls include Cadiz, Malaga, Cartagena and Barcelona on one itinerary, while the second voyage heads to Alicante, Ibiza, Valencia and Barcelona.

“We are very happy to offer our guests cruises from Palma de Mallorca again. We have been closely connected with the island for 25 years. AIDA is one of the most important cruise companies when it comes to sustainable local added value, even beyond the high tourist season. I would like to thank all our partners. Without their support this development would not have been possible,” said Felix Eichhorn, President AIDA Cruises.

“The Government of the Balearic Islands welcomes the restart of safe cruises in its ports. We are very satisfied with the results of the talks between the Balearic Islands and the Costa Group over the past few weeks so that we can start safely. We warmly welcome AIDA and its guests,” added Rosana Morillo, Directora General de Turismo Illes Balears Conselleria de Model Econòmic, Turisme I Treball.

AIDA Cruises To Sail in Greece From May 23

AIDA Cruises has announced that it will be offering new cruises in Greece from May 23, 2021, with seven-day cruises departing from Corfu and travelling through the Greek islands to Crete and Rhodes, as well as to Katakolon (Olympia) and Piraeus (Athens).

Guests will be able to enjoy the amenities onboard with multiple restaurants, bars, cultural activities and sports facilities, as well as organized shore excursions to explore the ports of call.

According to AIDA’s press release, Greece is one of the most popular vacation destinations for German travellers. From May 14, 2021, the Mediterranean country will reopen for tourism.

Booking starts on Apr. 20, 2021, with 23 dates to choose from between May 23 and October 24, 2021. The Greek cruises can also be booked as 14-day trips, AIDA said.

In addition to the new offering in Greece, the AIDAperla is sailing on seven-day voyages around the Canary Islands through June.

All cruises are carried out in compliance with AIDA's enhanced health and safety protocols, as well as applicable laws and regulations.

With a testing strategy for guests and crew members already utilized on several cruises, AIDA said it is its top priority for all guests to safely enjoy their vacation. The enhanced health and safety protocols -- tested by SGS Institut Fresenius and confirmed by the classification society DNV -- includes a mandatory PCR test for detecting viruses and bacteria before travelling, as well as regular health checks, social distancing and hygiene protocols, medical care including testing capacities onboard and other measures.

With the "AIDA promise," the cruise company offers guests more flexibility and security in planning. Generous booking options are part of AIDA's commitment to its guests, ranging from small down payments to free rebooking. The "AIDA promise" is included in the travel price for new bookings up to May 31, 2021, and applies to departures up to March. 31, 2022.

AIDA said that cruises in other destinations will not be possible at this time, with AIDA cancelling the remaining voyages of April through May.

AIDA Cancels Cruises Due to IT Problems

AIDA is canceling its New Year's Eve cruises for the AIDAperla and AIDAmar, citing IT problems as German media widely reported the company was facing a cybersecurity issue.

The AIDAperla is now set to resume service in the Canaries on January 2, followed by the AIDAmar on January 3.

Bild, a German newspaper, reported on Monday a cybersecurity issue at both the AIDA headquarters in Rostock and aboard the company's vessels. Citing passengers aboard, Bild said that the ships' onboard boarding card system was not functioning. 

"The boarding pass system has stopped working," one passenger said. "Slips of paper are used that would otherwise be automatically debited, for example when you buy something. We learned secretly from the staff that there had been a hacker attack on the AIDA servers."

AIDA Moves Restart Forward, Cruising from Italy In October

AIDA Cruises will expand its range of cruises this fall with new voyages visiting the highlights of Italy, starting on Oct. 17, 2020.

Carnival's German brand is thus moving up its restart from November to October.

The new seven-day itinerary departs from Civitavecchia near Rome and travels to Palermo and Catania in Sicily, Naples and La Spezia. In Rome, an overnight stay is planned. AIDA did not say what ship will be put into service first.

The voyages will be offered weekly until Nov. 28, 2020.

Bookings open Monday, Sept. 21.

AIDA had previously announced its fall and winter program for 2020 and 2021, sending the AIDAmar to the Canary Islands, starting Nov. 1, 2020, followed by the AIDAperla Nov. 7, taking over the program originally intended for the AIDAnova.

The AIDAmar will sail from Las Palmas, while the AIDAperla will use Tenerife in addition to Las Palmas for turnarounds.

AIDA also plans to launch service in the Western Mediterranean with the AIDAstella on Dec. 12, 2020, sailing seven day cruises from Palma, Mallorca.

 

Costa Ready to Restart Cruise Operations This Weekend

Costa Cruises is scheduled to restart sailing in Italy this Sunday, Sept. 6.

Carnival's Italian brand will be followed by Germany-based AIDA Cruises scheduled to resume on Nov. 1.

The brands will begin in a gradual, phased-in manner with six initial ships and limited itineraries, becoming the first two of Carnival's nine brands to resume operations.

"Our highest responsibilities and top priorities are always compliance, protecting the environment, and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, the communities we visit and our crew," said Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation. "We are engaged with a large number of medical experts and scientists around the world, and they are providing us with extremely valuable insight that we are using to develop new and enhanced protocols that are in the best interest of our guests, crew and overall public health. In areas of the world where community spread is largely mitigated and authorities are supportive of a gradual return to service over time, we look forward to again welcoming guests onboard.

The initial cruises will take place with adjusted passenger capacity and enhanced health protocols developed with government and health authorities to follow shoreside mitigation guidelines, the company said. 

Costa Cruises is restarting sailing with two initial ships departing from Italian ports beginning Sept. 6.

The Costa Deliziosa will offer weekly cruises from Trieste on Sept. 6, 13, 20 and 27, visiting five destinations in southern Italy, including Bari and Brindisi in Puglia, Corigliano-Rossano in Calabria, and Siracusa and Catania in Sicily.

The Costa Diadema will follow on Sept. 19 from Genoa, calling at Italian ports in the western Mediterranean, including Civitavecchia/Rome, Naples, Palermo, Cagliari and La Spezia.

The one-week itineraries are being reserved exclusively for Italian guests.

AIDA Cruises will resume its cruise operations with two of its ships, sailing from the Canary Islands in November 2020, followed by an additional two ships departing from the western Mediterranean and the United Arab Emirates beginning in December 2020.

The first of the brand's cruises are set to begin Nov. 1, with seven-day voyages to and departures from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, with AIDAmar, followed by sailings from Las Palmas and Santa Cruz de Tenerife with AIDAperla on Nov. 7. In December, AIDA Cruises will resume sailing operations in the Western Mediterranean with AIDAstella departing on seven-day cruises from Palma, Mallorca, beginning Dec. 12. Additionally, AIDAprima will offer seven-day cruises from Dubai starting Dec. 11 and from Abu Dhabi beginning Dec. 15.

In working with global and national health authorities and medical experts, Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises have developed a comprehensive set of health and hygiene protocols to help facilitate a safe, healthy return to cruise vacations, according to a press release.

Aida Cruises aims to start sailing again in November

Aida Cruises aims to start sailing again in November

German cruise line Aida has extended the suspension of cruises until November when it plans to restart operations with a Canary Islands itinerary.

The Carnival Corporation brand has cancelled its previously announced cruises for September and October and updated its autumn-winter programme because of Covid-19 restrictions.

It said in a statement on Friday: “Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the conditions are currently not in place in Germany’s neighbouring European countries, especially in the north with Norway and Denmark or the Baltic states.

“For many distant destinations outside of Europe, the Federal Republic of Germany has issued a travel warning or the respective countries have prohibited calls of cruise ships until 2021.”

The first ship to begin sailing, Aidamar, will depart on November 1 for seven-day voyages around the Canary Islands, a destination popular with German cruisers.

Aidaperla will follow on November 7 and will take over itineraries originally planned for Aidanova (pictured).

Aidastella will start cruises in the western Mediterranean on December 12, launching from Majorca.

Aidaprima will offer cruises from Dubai from December 11 and from Abu Dhabi from December 15.

Felix Eichhorn, president of Aida Cruises, said: “Even though it is currently not possible for cruise ships to call at Norway, which is so important for our voyages to the north, we are confident that the first Aida ships from Germany will be able to travel to northern Europe again at the beginning of 2021.”

Aida Cruises is also cancelling autumn-winter cruises to destinations in the Caribbean, southern Africa, Indian Ocean and the Far East.

German Cruise Line AIDA Delays Service Resumption, Pending More Approvals

German Cruise Line AIDA Delays Service Resumption, Pending More Approvals

AIDA Perla

he German cruise line AIDA cancelled its planned resumption of service this weekend over an approval technicality.

The line, which is owned by Carnival Corporation & plc., has implemented new health and testing protocols that had caught 10 crew members who were positive for COVID-19 after they boarded two AIDA ships but before any passengers came aboard.

The hold-up for AIDAperla and AIDAmar, leaving on short cruises August 5 and August 12, though, came because the country of Italy, where the ships are flagged, had not given approval for the ships to sail, the company said in a release.

"Contrary to our expectations, the final formal approval for the start of the short trips from August 5, 2020, by our flag state Italy is still pending," the release said. "We assume that we will receive the last formal approval by the flag state Italy in a timely manner."

While COVID-19 is not cited in the release, the spectre of coronavirus hangs over international ships coming back into service, after virus outbreaks among passengers and crew occurred last weekend

 in two separate corners of the world.

In Norway, Hurtigruten faces an investigation after 36 crew and five guests have tested positive for COVID-19. And in French Polynesia, passengers on Paul Gauguin are quarantined on the ship and getting tested, after the ship's doctor found a positive result with a guest. Both lines had resumed sailing with reduced capacity and improved health and safety requirements; Paul Gauguin and French Polynesia both require passengers to present a negative COVID-19 test before boarding or entering the country.

AIDA, too, has implemented strict health and safety guidelines for its resumption. Those guidelines, in fact, had detected the COVID-19 cases among the crew before sailing resumed and passengers could be exposed.

No cases had been detected among crew coming on board AIDAperla, which was the first ship in the fleet to have a scheduled cruise. The incidents had been reported on AIDAmar and AIDAblu on July 22, well before those ships were slated to cruise on August 12 and August 16, respectively.

Current policies call for all crew members to be tested for COVID-19 in their home countries before flying to Rostock, Germany, and getting on board the ship. The crew members then take a second coronavirus test while they are secluded on the ship.

Once the 10 infected crew members were detected, they were taken off the two ships and the remaining crew members were contained to the ship in isolation and underwent a third round of tests, the line said.

AIDA Cancels Most Cruises Through August; Could Still See Gradual Summer Start

AIDA Cruises announced that it is cancelled cruises through August 31, but added believes it will resume its cruise operation later this summer.

The news does not apply to individual departures from AIDAprima, AIDAperla and AIDAdiva.

"AIDA Cruises is in close and constant contact with all of the relevant authorities discussing the brand's interest in restarting cruise vacations, when the time is right, under adapted conditions and in full compliance with all sanitization and hygiene standards and protocols for physical distancing," the company said.

AIDAperla Kisses Nagasaki

Above image of the AIDAperla, the twelfth ship in AIDA Cruises’ fleet, which has undergone a paint job at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ (MHI) shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan. 

Following the completion of the works on the 300-meter long hull of AIDAperla, the newbuilding vessel has now received the mouth and the eyes, the symbols gracing AIDA Cruises’ fleet.

The bow design of the AIDAperla is 261 meters long, according to AIDA Cruises.

Finishing touches to the new ship will follow in the spring of 2017, the company said.

Once completed, the new cruise ship will be able to accommodate 3,300 passengers and 900 crew members.

The AIDAperla is expected to start voyages from September 1, 2017, sailing on four different routes in the Mediterranean Sea.

Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona will be the first and the last ports of call for seven-day voyages.

Apart from Mallorca and Barcelona, the AIDAperla will also visit Corsica, Florence/Livorno and Rome/Civitavecchia.

Image Courtesy: AIDA Cruises