| AIDA Cruises | |
| Type: | Public |
| Foundation: | 1960 |
| Location: | Rostock, Germany |
| Industry: | Tourism |
| Products: | Cruises |
| Parent: | Costa Crociere S.p.A. (of Carnival Corporation & plc) |
AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A.,[1] which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany,[1] AIDA Cruises caters primarily to the German-speaking market; as seagoing "club resorts", AIDA ships have on-board amenities and facilities designed to attract younger, more active vacationers.[2] As of September 2023, the cruise line operates 11 ships.
AIDA Cruises has been Carnival-owned since 2003.
The company was founded in 1952 as VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (German Shipping Company Rostock) as the German Democratic Republic's state-owned shipping company, based at Rostock, and became VEB Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock in 1973.[3] It began its passenger operations with Völkerfreundschaft ("Peoples' Friendship"), in the 1960s.[4] After the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock was privatised and became Deutsche Seereederei Rostock GmbH. DSR acquired Seetours of Bremen and cruises were marketed under the Seetours brand. On 1 January 1998, DSR split their operations into cargo and tourism, with a new company Arkona Touristik taking over the cruise business.[5] Then during 2000 a company was formed, known as AIDA Cruises; with P&O Cruises acquiring a 51% stake in the new organisation, and Arkona Touristik retaining the other 49%.[6]
In 2001, P&O Princess Cruises acquired the remaining 49% interest in AIDA and the cruise businessassociated with Seetours International.[7] In 2003, P&O Princess merged with Carnival Corporation, to form Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest cruise holiday company.[8] The Seetours cruise business, that had been acquired by P&O, was rebranded as AIDA Cruises in 2004.[9]
Following the merger, executive control of AIDA Cruises was transferred to Costa Cruises Group, one of the main operating companies of Carnival Corporation & plc, with responsibility for the group's European brands.[10] AIDA Cruises is now one of ten brands owned by Carnival Corporation & plc, based at Miami, Florida, accounting for 6.5% of its share of revenue[11] and has been led by President Felix Eichhorn since 1 September 2015.[12]
In October 2017, departed from Hamburg on the company's first World Cruise. After a 116-day sailing, the ship returned to Hamburg on 10 February 2018.[13] The ship visited Southampton, Lisbon, Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Ushuaia, Easter Island, Tahiti, Singapore, and the Maldives, among other destinations.[14] On 8 October 2018 left Hamburg on the company's second World Cruise; the 117-day voyage visited 41 ports in 20 countries on four continents.[15] Several of the destinations were new to the company, including South Africa, Namibia, Melbourne, Tasmania, Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia.[16]
In December 2018, AIDA debuted AIDAnova, the first cruise ship to be fully powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).[17] Earlier, in May 2016, AIDAprima and AIDAsol had become the first two ships in the AIDA fleet to be simultaneously powered by LNG.[18] In August 2019, AIDA signed an agreement with Corvus Energy to install battery storage systems for the electrification of their ships.[19] In October 2019, AIDA announced that it would test a new fuel-cell technology for large-scale cruise ships aboard the AIDAnova as early as 2021.[20]
| Company name | Dates | |
|---|---|---|
| VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (DSR) | 1952—1974 | |
| VEB Deutfracht/SeereedereiRostock | 1974—1990/1993 | |
| Deutsche Seereederei Touristik & Seetours | 1994—1997 | |
| Arkona Touristik | 1998—1999 | |
| AIDA Cruises | 1999—present |
| Ship | Built | Builder | Entered Service for AIDA | Pax[21] | Flag | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sphinx Class | ||||||||
| AIDAdiva | 2007 | Meyer Werft | 2007 – present | 2,050 | 69,203 tons | |||
| AIDAbella | 2008 | Meyer Werft | 2008 – present | 2,050 | 69,203 tons | |||
| AIDAluna | 2009 | Meyer Werft | 2009 – present | 2,050 | 69,203 tons |  Italy | ||
| Icarus Class | ||||||||
| AIDAblu | 2010 | Meyer Werft | 2010 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | Italy | The name was used for a former AIDA ship from 2004 to 2007. | |
| AIDAsol | 2011 | Meyer Werft | 2011 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | Italy | ||
| AIDAmar | 2012 | Meyer Werft | 2012 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | |||
| AIDAstella | 2013 | Meyer Werft | 2013 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | |||
| Hyperion Class | ||||||||
| AIDAprima | 2016 | Mitsubishi | 2016 – present | 3,286 | 125,572 tons | Delivered on 14 March 2016[22] and began operating on 25 April [23] (Flagship of AIDA) | ||
| AIDAperla | 2017 | Mitsubishi | 2017 – present | 3,286 | 125,572 tons | Delivered on 27 April 2017[24] and began operating on 28 May | ||
| Excellence Class | ||||||||
| AIDAnova | 2018 | Meyer Werft | 2018 – present | 5,252 | 183,858 tons | Largest ship ever built and operating for AIDADelivered on 12 December 2018[25] and performed inaugural cruise on 19 December 2018 | ||
| AIDAcosma | 2021 | 2021 – present | 5,464 | 183,858 tons | Steel cutting ceremony 15 August 2019[26] Delivered on 21 December 2021 | |||
| Ship | Built | In service for Deutsche Seereederei | Gross Tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 | 1960–1985 | 16,144 GRT | Ex-Stockholm. Later sailed as Volker, Fridtjof Nansen, Italia I, Italia Prima, Valtur Prima, Caribe, Athena, and Azores for various cruise lines. Former Astoria for Cruise & Maritime Voyages. Laid up as of 2022. | ||||
| 1981 | 1985–2001 | 18,853 GRT | Originally operated by HADAG as Astor. Was later sold to Transocean Tours as Astoria in 2002. Sailed as Saga Pearl II with Saga Cruises. Sold for scrap in 2022. |
| Ship | Class | Built | Builder | In service for AIDA Cruises | Gross Tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crown | 1990 | 2004 – 2007 | 69,845 tons | Before entering AIDA fleet in 2004: Crown Princess and A'Rosa Blu After exiting AIDA fleet in 2007: Ocean Village Two, Pacific Jewel, and Karnika. Scrapped in Alang in 2020. | |||||
| AIDAcara | 1996 | Kvaerner Masa-Yards (Finland) | 1996 – 2021 | 38,557 tons | Previously AIDA. Sold in 2021 to a currently unnamed company, renamed Astoria Grande. | ||||
| Unnamed | Excellence | 2023 | Meyer Werft | Never entered service | 183,858 tons | Ordered on 27 February 2018 with Meyer Werft[27] Ship transferred to Carnival Cruise Line during construction.[28] | |||
| AIDAmira | Mistral | 1999 | 2019 – 2022 | 48,200 tons | Transferred from Costa Cruises and formerly sailed as Costa neoRiviera. It was sold in 2022 to Ambassador Cruise Line and now operates as Ambition.[29] | ||||
| AIDAvita | 2002 | 2002 – 2023[30] | 42,289 tons | Italy | Sold, now operating as Blue Dream Melody for Blue Dream Cruises[31] | ||||
| AIDAaura | 2003 | Aker MTW | 2003 – 2023 | 42,289 tons | decommissioned on 21 September 2023, now operating as Celestyal Discovery for Celestyal Cruises[32] [33] [34] |