AIDA Cruises - AIDA Cruises

AIDAluna in Scarborough Harbor, Tobago
Brief information
Head office	Rostock
Passenger volume	1.1 million (2018)
Number of beds	30.460 (2019)
Internet	www.aida.de

In 1996 the first ship in the AIDA fleet went into service. This made cruises known to a wider audience. In the meantime, this type of travel has become so popular that several and larger new buildings are planned for the coming years. After a thorough overhaul, the old club ship is now under the name AIDAcara

history

The history of AIDA began in 1993 as the privatized company German shipping company decided to build a new cruise ship. This was in 1996 under the name AIDA-the club ship put into service. After some initial difficulties, the company came to the company P&O Princess Groupswho teamed up with the Carnival group. In this context the AIDA Cruises became the Carnival subsidiary Costa Crociere SpA subdivided. Therefore the ships sail under the Italian flag, home port is Genoa

Cruise routes

The focus of the routes offered varies according to the season and the ship. In the European summer there are routes to Northern Europe, to Svalbard and to Greenland, in winter tours are mainly offered to the Caribbean, the Orient and the Indian Ocean. The duration of the tours depends on the Zuelen, the majority of the offers are 7-10 days, there are also several tours with 14 days and more. Detailed route descriptions in the catalog.

Regions:

• Northern Europe, Scandinavia, Iceland
• Western Europe and Northern Europe, French Atlantic coast, UK
• Baltic Sea
• Mediterranean, Adriatic
• Western Mediterranean and Spanish Atlantic coast
• Canaries, Madeira, Cape Verde
• Orient, also Maldives or India
• Southeast Asia Maöaysia, Singapir, Vietnam, Hong Kong
• Caribbean, Antilles, Central America, the southern United States
• North America: East coast of the USA and Canada
• Southern Africa and the Undian Ocean with Madagascar and Mauritius
• Transfer routes: usually 14 days and only a few landings
  • Transamerica: From Western Europe or from the Canary Islands via the Azores to the Caribbean
  • Transatlantic: From the Canary Islands to the Caribbean or from Western Europe to New York
  • Trans-Arabia: From the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf to Dubai
  • Transasia: From Europe to India or Thailand
  • Trans Europe: From the Mediterranean to the North or Baltic Sea.
  • Transmauritius: From Europe to Mauritius via the Seychelles and Madagascar or back to Europe

• World travel:

• a 1. World tour (116 days: AIDAcara, from Hamburg with exchange ports Valparaíso and Singapore) from October 17, 2017 to February 10, 2018, the trip was successfully completed.
• One is in preparation and has long been booked out second world tour on the AIDAaura, it lasts 117 days from October 8, 2018 to February 2. 2019.

Itinerary: Hamburg - A Coruña - Leixoes - Funchal - Mindelo (Cape Verde) - Salvador - Rio de Janeiro - Montevideo - Buenos Aires - Puerto Madryn - Ushuaia - Punta Arenas - Amalia glacier - Puerto Montt - San Antonio - Robinson Crusoe Island - Easter island - Papeete - Bora Bora - Apia - Lautoka - Port Vila - Mystery Island - Île des Pins - Nouméa - Sydney - Sydney - Burnie - Melbourne - Fremantle - Port Louis - Saint-Denis (Reunion) - Ehoala - Richards Bay - Durban - Port Elizabeth - Cape Town - Luderitz - Walvis Bay - Dakar - Tenerife - Lisbon - Honfleur - Hamburg

• A third world tour, also on the AIDAaura, is available for the period October 28, 2019 - February 22, 2020, also for 117 days.

Itinerary: Hamburg - A Coruña - Leixoes - Funchal - Mindelo (Cape Verde) - Salvador - Rio de Janeiro - Montevideo - Buenos Aires - Puerto Madryn - Ushuaia - Punta Arenas - Puerto Montt - San Antonio - Robinson Crusoe Island - Easter island - Papeete - Bora Bora - Rarotonga - Tauranga - Wellington - Picton - Sydney - Melbourne - Kangaroo Island - Esperance - Fremantle - Port Louis - Le Port - Maputo - Richards Bay - Durban - East London - Port Elizabeth - Cape Town - Luderitz - Walvis Bay - Dakar - Santa Cruz de Tenerife - Lisbon - Honfleur - Hamburg

fleet

AIDA Cruises has (as of March 2019) 14 ships. Further ships are under construction and in planning.

Surname	size	Cabins	crew	Routes 2020/2021, remarks
AIDAcara	38,557 GT	590	369	Northern Europe, Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea, Canaries, Mediterranean, Iceland, Greenland. - Commissioned in 1996 as "AIDA - Das Clubschiff". World tour 1 (Oct 17 / Feb 18)
AIDAvita	42,289 GT	633	389	Northern Europe, Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Transreisen
AIDAaura	42,289 GT	633	389	Northern Europe, Baltic Sea, World Tour 2 (Oct 18 / Feb 19) and 3 (Oct 19 / Feb 20)
AIDAmira	48,200 GT	624	500	Mediterranean, southern Africa, trans travel
AIDAdiva	69,203 GT	1025	607	Northern Europe, Baltic Sea, Scandinavia, North America, Transreisen
AIDAbella	69,203 GT	1025	607	Southeast Asia, Northern Europe, Western Mediterranean, Transreisen
AIDAluna	69,203 GT	1025	607	Caribbean, Northern Europe, Iceland, North America
AIDAblu	71,100 GT	1096	611	Adriatic Sea, Transreisen, Indian Ocean
AIDAsol	71,100 GT	1097	611	Western Europe, Northern Europe, Iceland, Mediterranean
AIDAmar	71,100 GT	1097	611	Baltic Sea, Scandinavia, Canaries
AIDAstella	71,100 GT	1097	611	Mediterranean Sea
AIDAprima	124,500 GT	1643	900	Baltic Sea, Transreisen, Orient. - Came from Japan in April 2016 after a year and a half late
AIDAperla	124,500 GT	1643	900	Northern Europe, Caribbean. - In use since June 2017
AIDAnova	183,900 GT	2626	1500	Mediterranean, Canary Islands. - In use since December 2018. Propulsion: LNG

Accommodation

Cabins

Various types of cabins are available on the ships of the AIDA fleet. They are graded in ascending order:

• Inside cabins do not have a view of the sea.
• Outside cabins have a porthole or a window with a view to the outside. With some cabins, however, the view is restricted, e.g. by lifeboats, with some outside cabins there is a freely accessible deck in front of the windows.
• Balcony cabins offer a patio directly in front of the cabin.
• Suites are available under the designation junior suite and premium suite.

The cabins all have a shower / toilet, the suites have bathrooms with tubs. The electrical voltage is 220 V, there is at least 1 socket in the cabins, there is a connection for a shaver next to the washbasin. However, the use of heating devices such as kettles or irons is strictly prohibited.

• Each ship has a limited number of barrier-free barrier-free cabins. They must be booked prior to departure.

Infants are welcome on board as soon as they no longer need diapers. During the day there is childcare in the kids club.

Meals

On the AIDA ships, the times of meals vary with the length of stay in the ports, so that passengers can also take part in meals on extended shore excursions. 3 meals and afternoon coffee are included in the tour price, but each ship has several restaurants, usually with a buffet and self-service. Table drinks (water, cola, beer, table wine) are included in the price. Drinks outside of meal times and in the bars must be paid for, and the specialty restaurants are not included in the price of the rice. But no one will miss out on eating, after all, in private, that is AIDA the abbreviation is for the slogan A.b take I.st D.afterwards A.n said. There is no fixed seating arrangement in the buffet restaurants, which often arises after a few days at sea. On request you can barrier-free suitable tables can be reserved.

Tips

Tips are included in the price of the cruise at AIDA cruises, but the members of the crew are happy to receive tips for special services.

miscellaneous

• A safe is built into the closet in each cabin, towels are provided for the shower area and for the pool. A bathrobe is available for each person, life jackets are available in each room.
• Every ship has a laundrette with washing machines and dryers, the prices are paid with the boarding pass, with the exception of Cara: Euro coins (2018). Washing powder costs € 0.50 and develops an amazing bleaching power for colored laundry. Irons are available free of charge.
• The restaurants of the ships are on the upper decks, they can be reached via generously dimensioned staircases (for a minority) or elevators for comfortable passengers (absolute majority).

Arrival and departure

For some routes, it is advisable to organize the arrival and departure yourself and not to book the arrival and departure package offered by AIDA. Example: Caribbean tour with start and destination port Barbados. There is no chance of even setting foot on the ground between the airport and the cruise port. Even specially booked excursions will be canceled at short notice and the costs will be reimbursed. The same applies to Singapore, for example. Recommendation: individual arrival and departure with one or more additional overnight stays. AIDA chartered flights to get to La Romana, which is why you can only arrive here via Santo Domingo or Punta Cana.

activities

On board

• The ships of the AIDA fleet are consistently equipped as club ships, and there are numerous free offers in the area of ​​fitness and wellness. Each ship also has a stage on which a program that changes in the evening is offered. There are also paid offers in the area Body & Soul
• The entire upper deck with the obligatory swimming pool is available to sun-hungry passengers, and sports such as volleyball and golf are also possible. Part of the deck area is designated as a nudist area on some ships.

On land

Several excursions are offered at each port, the offer mostly varies from sightseeing tours to swimming trips to sporting activities such as diving, snorkeling and cycling. In addition to conventional bicycles, there are also e-bikes. Some excursions are marked as barrier-free. However, this is not always the case when leaving the ship, at some ports you first have to negotiate a gangway with over 50 steps. Tendering is not for everyone either: you change from the ship to a tender boat (usually a lifeboat). If you are lucky, the sea is calm and you drive to the harbor. How disembarking on land works there can often not be foreseen in advance.

When leaving the ship, a German citizen very often enters a foreign country for which a passport or even a visa is required. Only the passenger terminals with their duty-free shops - if available - are then freely accessible. However, the controls are sometimes carried out very superficially, and border officials often only need to look at the boarding pass. Of course, you can't rely on that. The excursions ashore are carried out by a local entrepreneur, AIDA cruises only acts as an intermediary here - at least externally.

Practical advice

Boarding pass

The most important item is the boarding pass, which is given when you check in. All payments can be made on board with the boarding pass, excursions or chargeable activities can be booked. You are not allowed to leave or board the ship without a boarding pass. In addition, when entering the ship, security checks are carried out after each shore leave, similar to those at airports.

Credit on board

Excursions, special drinks, etc. are billed to the AIDA cabin account. However, this account can be topped up with a credit before the trip, e.g. with a voucher or a discount that is granted when booking a combination trip. Such an on-board credit is only offset, it is not paid out in cash. Owning shares in the parent company is a special way of acquiring on-board credit Carnival Corporation & PLC. For this you have to have at least 100 shares with the security identification number PA1436583006 call his own. An email to is sufficient as proof [email protected] with booking number, cabin number and a deposit statement no more than 4 weeks old, possibly as a PDF attachment. The mail must be received by AIDA no later than 14 days before the start of the journey. Then you get € 200 on-board credit per cabin for a 14-day trip, € 75 for 7-day trips and € 40 for short trips. Whether the investment is worthwhile depends on the development of the share price. There are also similar «shareholder benefits» with other cruise lines.

AIDA club levels

The basis of the AIDA Club is a bonus program in which "nautical miles" are credited depending on the duration of the journey, the type of booking and the type of cabin. There are levels

• blue - 1 - 59,999
• red - 60,000 - 89,999
• yellow - 90,000 - 119,999
• green - 120,000 - 149,000
• gold -> 150,000

Depending on the club level reached, you will receive on-board credit, discounts in the photo shop or invitations to an event. Every traveler has to decide for himself whether this club is worthwhile; it only becomes interesting from club level green.

telecommunications

All cabins of the newer ships (from AIDAdiva) are equipped with an interactive TV system, called iTV. In addition to on-board TV, there is (limited) satellite TV available. Messages can be called up with the remote control and a small keyboard, excursions can be booked, the on-board account managed, e-mails sent and retrieved (for a fee), Internet is also possible via iTV. There are Internet terminals with printers near the reception, and WiFi is available in the public area and in many cabins (for a fee). However, the prices for internet and mobile phones on board are significantly higher than in internet cafes on land. If you are further away from the coast, neither the internet nor your cell phone may work.

Laundry service

For washing private clothes, you will find an information sheet in the cabin about the various options for using the service in the cabin at the start of your journey. However, for those who are not afraid of this work, there is a washroom, which can usually be found on deck 7. A washing machine load currently costs € 2 (2016), as does the dryer. Washing powder is extra (50 cents), but if you have delicate laundry, you should bring detergent from home. Oh yes, there is also an iron in the laundry room.

miscellaneous

• Board language is German, the crew members speak English
• Nonsmoker protection: Smoking is only permitted in designated areas of the deck and in a few bars. It is generally prohibited in cabins.

health

A hospital is available on deck 3 for emergencies. The treatment is not free of charge, so it is advisable to take out travel health insurance. Usual medicines are limited in the on-board pharmacy. Medication that is required on a regular basis should be taken with you on the trip in sufficient quantities.

security

• In the first 24 hours of every cruise, since the Costa Concordia accident, before departure from the port, an internationally prescribed emergency drill takes place. Participation is compulsory for all passengers. The signal for the alarm is 7 short and 1 long beeps. You go to the assembly point on deck 6 with a life jacket (wardrobe in the cabin).
• Electrical devices for heating or cooking are generally prohibited due to the risk of fire. Exception: the hair dryer in the cabin.

Booking options

When booking, you have three options:

• AIDA Premium Actually the classic way. You look for a travel date, the associated ship and a cabin that is still available.
• AIDA Vario The date and ship are fixed, the type of cabin as well, only the number remains initially unknown.
• JUST AIDA, you specify the time frame and region, AIDA can fill its vacancies. Inexpensive alternative for customers for whom the journey is more important than the destination.

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