Citing strong demand for voyages from northern German ports, AIDA Cruises will deploy another Sphinx-class ship from Kiel, according to a press release.
On August 15, 2021, the first four-day short cruise to Gdynia will start followed by a three-day cruise to Gothenburg.
Both voyages will be offered alternately through Oct. 14.
The name of the ship will be announced shortly, the company said, and all cruises are already open for bookings.
On the four-day voyage, the ship calls at the Polish port of Gdynia after a relaxing sea day passing the island of Gotland, among others.
AIDA started operating from Kiel in May with the AIDAprima sailing every Saturday on week-long cruises in the Baltic, calling in Gothenburg, Visby on the island of Gotland, and Stockholm.
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 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.
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.
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.
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