AIDAnova Celebrates Five Years in Service

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.

AIDAnova Marks Successful Start to Canaries and Madeira Season

AIDANova in the port of Oslo, Photo Credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr)

AIDA Cruises announced a successful start to its Canaries and Madeira season with the AIDAnova along with positive feedback after an official dialogue series with local partners.

AIDA just completed the first official dialogue series aboard the AIDAnova, the company said in a press release.

The dialogue series took place from November 23 to November 28, 2022, attended by numerous official representatives from politics, the port industry and tourism.

The goal of the dialogue was to inform local partners of AIDA’s current goals as well as to engage in a joint venture.

“We are happy and grateful to know such reliable partners at our side and look forward to making an important contribution to tourism on these beautiful islands again this season,” said Captain Marc-Dominique Tidow.

The AIDAnova made calls at Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Madeira, which were very well received by the partners in the region.

During the winter season, the AIDAnova will set sail on seven-day cruises to the Canaries including the exploration of the volcanic landscapes of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, as well as the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira.

In April 2023, the AIDAnova will set course for the Norwegian fjords while the summer itineraries will include visits to Bergen, Nordfjordeid, Alesund and Stavanger.

AIDA Announces Substitute Ports in the Baltic with Russia Out

AIDA Cruises, Carnival Corporation’s German brand, has announced replacement ports in the Baltic and not call in Saint Petersburg this summer. 

The AIDAdiva, AIDAmar, AIDAnova and AIDAvita will see calls in Russia cancelled and replaced by destinations such as Riga (Latvia), Copenhagen (Denmark), Oslo (Norway) or Visby (Gotland/Sweden).

The AIDAdiva will call at the Latvian capital Riga or Copenhagen instead of Saint Petersburg on its seven-day Baltic Sea roundtrip from Warnemünde starting between May 14 and October 8, 2022. The voyage with a departure date of May 7, 2022, will include a visit to Hamina in southern Finland.

For the seven-day round trips in the Baltic Sea with the AIDAnova from Kiel with departure dates between May 14 and October 15, 2022, AIDA Cruises has developed alternative routes in the Baltic Sea as well as to Norway and Denmark. Baltic cruises now include an extended stay in the Estonian capital Tallinn. Copenhagen/Kalundborg is also new on the itinerary.

The AIDAnova is now setting course for Scandinavia on new voyages. In addition to a visit to Copenhagen and Kristiansand, AIDAnova’s guests can enjoy a two-day stay in Oslo.

On its 10 day Baltic cruises, the AIDAmar will call at the port of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland and the Latvian capital Riga instead of Saint Petersburg.

In addition, the first sailing of the AIDAvita will depart on July 24, 2022.