AIDA Cruises Cancels 2025-26 Season in the Middle East

Posted on 12 July, 2025 by Spacejunkie2

AIDA Cruises Cancels 2025-26 Season in the Middle East

AIDA Cruises is cancelling its 2025-26 season in the Middle East due to security concerns in the region.

It impacts sailings set to take place on the AIDAprima between October 3, 2025, and March 25, 2026.

In a statement sent to booked guests, the company noted that the vessel will now sail in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Islands during this timeframe.

“With this decision, the company wants to provide its guests with reliable clarity about their vacation trips in the coming winter season as early as possible. At the same time, the safety of guests and crew is our top priority,” AIDA reportedly said.

In addition, cruise lines are said to be concerned about transit time around Africa if they cannot transit the Suez Canal.

The company also noted that the safety of its guests and crew is a top priority, adding that the “situation in the Middle East cannot currently be reliably assessed for the foreseeable future.”

The new itineraries will sail from Kiel and Hamburg, visiting destinations in the North and Baltic Seas, as well as the Canary Islands.

Bookings for the new AIDAprima sailings will open on July 30, 2025, cruisetricks.de reported.

Affected guests are being offered rebooking alternatives, in addition to a Future Cruise Credit (FCC) valued at ten per cent of the fare paid for the cancelled cruises.

AIDA had been offering itineraries in the Middle East for nearly two decades.

Excluding the pandemic years, the company’s 2025-26 season will be the first without a ship sailing from UAE ports.

AIDA first introduced itineraries in the region during the winter of 2006-07, with the AIDAcara offering weeklong cruises from Dubai.

Other ships that sailed in the region over the years include the AIDAdiva, the AIDAblu, the AIDAstella, the AIDAprima and the AIDAnova.

With the AIDAprima repositioning to Northern Europe and the Canaries, AIDA also cancelled some sailings that were scheduled to take place onboard the AIDAbella in early 2026.

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.

AIDAnova Marks Successful Start to Canaries and Madeira Season

Posted on 5 December, 2022 by Spacejunkie2

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.