AIDA Shows Off 3D Virtual Tours of Crew Areas

Posted on 14 September, 2025 by Spacejunkie2

AIDA Shows Off 3D Virtual Tours of Crew Areas

AIDA Cruises is now offering a glimpse of its crew areas through a series of 3D virtual tours created in partnership with Liquid Ambient.

According to a report by Crew Centre, the 360º views give seafarers and future employees a behind-the-scenes look at life onboard.

The tours allow potential crew members to explore crew areas, including dedicated restaurants, bars and training centres.

The feature is available for all AIDA vessels, with tours divided by the fleet’s three ship classes: Helios, Hyperion and Sphinx.

Future employees can also explore staterooms onboard the vessels, which include single cabins, single cabins with a shared bathroom and double cabins.

The company said that its ships are not just a place to work but also a “second home” for their employees.

As such, all AIDA vessels also offer further features for crew members’ well-being, including gyms, saunas, sun and pool decks, hairdressers and relaxation areas.

The vessels also offer a Crew Recreation Centre, which is said to provide books, movies and board games.

According to the company’s website, AIDA currently employs 18,000 personnel worldwide in two offices and on 11 ships.

The company’s staff comes from 60 countries and spends three to six months onboard its vessels per contract.

With two newbuilds debuting in the future, the company is expected to add at least 2,500 new crew members to its lineup over the next six years.

Ordered from the Fincantieri shipyard earlier this year, AIDA’s next-generation vessels are set to enter service in 2030 and 2031. At 150,000 tons, the new LNG-powered ships will have a capacity for 4,200 guests each.

In addition to building new vessels, AIDA is currently investing in updating its Sphinx Class ships, which are set to undergo refits over the next few years.

As part of the AIDA Evolution program, the seven vessels are getting a fresher look, as well as more suites, updated public areas and new features.

AIDAnova Celebrates Five Years in Service

Posted on 27 December, 2023 by Spacejunkie2

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.

AIDA Reaches Milestone in Decarbonization Efforts

Posted on 22 April, 2023 by Spacejunkie2

AIDA Cruises has expanded the use of shore power in its fleet, reaching a significant milestone in its decarbonization efforts, according to a press release.

The AIDAsol was recently connected to shore power in nearly all ports during its recent voyage from April 16 to 21, 2023.

The ship was supplied with green energy from shore in Rostock-Warnemünde, Aarhus (Denmark), Kristiansand (Norway), and Hamburg.

The growing shore power infrastructure in Northern Europe has made it possible for AIDA Cruises to achieve this milestone.

AIDA President Felix Eichhorn stated that the company’s goal is to use shore power in all ports where port infrastructure is available. He added that the company’s investments in clean technology are actively supporting the goals of the EU’s “Fit for 55” program to build a corresponding infrastructure in all major EU ports by 2030.

During its recent voyage, AIDAsol made history by being the first cruise ship to conduct shore-side and shipboard integration tests on a newly built facility in Aarhus, Denmark. The official opening of Denmark’s first shore power plant for cruise ships is scheduled for later this year.

The AIDAsol was also supplied with energy from shore during its stop in Kristiansand, Norway, which it already did in 2022.

AIDA Cruises has been investing in sustainable cruising for many years, with a goal to achieve carbon-neutral ship operation for its fleet by 2050.

The company has been considering the use of environmentally friendly technology since 2004, and more than ten years have passed since it was able to start the usage of shore power in regular operation with an AIDA ship in Hamburg Altona in 2017. The company signed a memorandum of understanding in April 2022 with Cruise Baltic, a network of 31 ports and destinations, to use shore power in the ports of the Baltic Sea region.

AIDAsol’s arrival in Hamburg, its home port for this year’s summer season, marked another significant moment in AIDA Cruises’ decarbonization efforts. The ship was connected to Europe’s first shore power plant for cruise ships and switched off its main engines shortly after docking at the Cruise Center Altona.

The expansion of the use of shore power is part of AIDA Cruises’ efforts to use low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other alternative energy sources such as batteries and fuel cells. The company is working with various partners to find solutions for the use of regenerative and synthetic fuels.

“AIDA Cruises shows what can already be possible today,” said Eichhorn. “We can only achieve the energy transition together.”