AIDA Cruises to Offer World Cup Live Action Across Its Fleet

Carnival Corporation’s AIDA Cruises has announced that the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will be broadcast on all twelve ships of its fleet, according to a press release.

The German cruise line will place an emphasis on games with German participation, which guests will be able to watch live on LED screens in the Theatrum, pool deck, and Four Elements area. World-class experts and a football show team comprised of freestyle athletes will add to the World Cup atmosphere onboard on select sailings, according to AIDA Cruises.

The AIDAprima’s metropolitan voyage will feature an impressive football program with ball acrobatics, while football fans can learn tricks and juggle at upcoming workshops. The 7-day voyage departs from Hamburg on November 19, 2022, with the big event starting the next day.

The freestylers will also be onboard the AIDAbella during World Cup match days, offering an entertaining program in their trick camps on both the “Great Winter Break Canaries” and “Great Winter Break Caribbean” sailings.

Pedro Gonzalez will be a guest onboard the AIDAdiva as World Cup host during the Caribbean voyage “Antilles & Mexico.” A sports scientist, the DFB fitness trainer has coached world champions such as André Schürrle, Toni Kroos, and Thomas Müller, as well as Olympic champions in cycling and boxing. During the World Cup, he will report from the field and host the round of 16, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final on December 18, 2022.

Moreover, the AIDA crew’s expert panel will provide entertainment and enhance the football atmosphere during the live broadcasts. The onboard program further includes public viewing events, a “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” football and World Cup special, fan talk rounds, betting games, and football quizzes.

No vacancies? River ships offer to pick up the slack

By Michelle Baran

Insight Hotel room availability an issue? Try a river cruise! That’s the marketing approach some river cruise companies are taking in places like Brazil and Myanmar where demand is outpacing hotel capacity.

For the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament in Brazil this summer, Amazon River cruise specialist Rainforest Cruises has introduced five-day Manaus World Cup Amazon cruises to correspond with the World Cup matches taking place in the Amazonian city of Manaus. For $1,999 per person, based on double occupancy, passengers will cruise onboard the 24-passenger Iracema, which launched in March 2011, or the 24-passenger Victoria Amazonica, which launched in 2000.

There will be four World Cup soccer matches played in Manaus — including USA vs. Portugal on June 22 — which has a new, 42,618-seat stadium to accommodate the fans. MichelleBaran

“With that in mind and with excitement building, hotels in Manaus are likely to book up far in advance,” Rainforest Cruises told travelers in a recent release promoting its World Cup cruises.

The Rainforest Cruises World Cup itineraries are designed so that the vessels will be docked in town during the matches and sailing through the Brazilian Amazon the remaining days.

It’s not the first time a river cruise line has offered up its available capacity, however big or small, to alleviate a capacity crunch on land. There’s a similar situation taking place in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), where river cruise companies are racing to build overnight passenger vessels that can serve as an alternative to a hotel infrastructure that isn’t ready for the country’s massive increase in tourists.

Consequently, Haimark Ltd. is introducing a 56-passenger river cruise vessel in Myanmar this September; Pandaw River Expeditions will launch two additional 40-passenger river cruise vessels in Myanmar this July; Sanctuary Retreats will launch the 48-passenger Sanctuary Ananda in Myanmar later this year; and AmaWaterways is launching the 56-passenger AmaPura there this year, as well.

And thus, a hotel capacity challenge becomes a river cruise opportunity.