Costa Returns to Northern Europe After Three-Year Gap

Costa Cruises is sailing in Northern Europe for the first time since 2019. The brand returned to the region with the Costa Diadema, which kicked off the season on May 27.

The vessel is part of a three-ship program in the region, which will see the company offering itineraries to the Norwegian Fjords, the Baltic, the British Islands, Iceland and more.

Cruising in Northern Europe for the first time, the Costa Diadema is now sailing a series of seven-night cruises to the Norwegian Fjords.

The vessel’s itineraries depart from Kiel (Germany) and Copenhagen (Denmark) and include visits to several ports in Norway, such as Flam, Bergen, Hellesylt, Nordfjordeid, Stavanger, and Haugesund.

Another ship based in Kiel for the summer, the Costa Fascinosa will offer longer cruises to the Baltic and the Cape North.

Starting on June 7, the 3,012-guest ship sails ten- to 12-night itineraries that ports including Helsinki, Stockholm, Riga, Gdynia, Trondheim, Honningsvag, Tromso, Olden and more.  

Resuming service ahead of its program in Northern Europe, the Costa Fortuna completes the deployment lineup.

The 2003-built vessel will offer cruises departing from three different ports in the Netherlands and Germany: Ijmuiden, Amsterdam and Bremerhaven.

Extending from June 11 to August 28, the ship’s program features port-intensive cruises, with 11- to 14-night itineraries to the British Islands, Iceland, and the Norwegian Fjords.

A fourth ship, the Costa Favolosa, was also set to sail in the region for the company in 2022, offering itineraries at the Baltic. 

The vessel’s program, which featured visits to Saint Petersburg, was entirely cancelled by the company due to the recent developments in Russia.

After becoming one of the first mainstream cruise lines to resume service in 2020, Costa focused its European operations in the Mediterranean.

With the travel restrictions in Northern Europe, the company decided to cancel its entire local program in 2020 and 2021.

AIDAdiva and AIDAperla Back In Action After Drydocks

Two AIDA Cruises ships are resuming service after routine drydocks.

Following her drydock at Lloyd Werft, the AIDAdiva will start on her first voyage from Warnemünde to the Norwegian fjords on Saturday, May 14, 2022. 

From April 25 to May 12, 2022, several areas of the ship were redesigned in addition to regular class and maintenance work, the company said. It’s just one of many cruise ship drydocks this year, as outlined in the 2022 Drydock and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.

New aboard is the restaurant Almhütte, featuring dishes from the Alpine region and various beer specialities in a cosy hut atmosphere.

Wellness lovers can look forward to another novelty at the Body & Soul Spa: The entire wellness oasis has been expanded to include a spacious outdoor area where guests can relax and unwind with a view of the sea. In addition, the fitness equipment has been replaced by the latest generation of equipment.

The AIDAperla will end its three-week shipyard stay at Damen in Rotterdam on Saturday, May 14, 2022, and set off for Hamburg.

The first guests will embark on the Hanseatic city on Monday, May 16, 2022, for sailing to Norway.

AIDA said the ship received a visual makeover. 

One key highlight is a new ice cream bar, plus a refreshed spa, the company said. After three weeks in drydock, there is also a new fashion accessories store in the shopping area ahead of the ship’s summer season of 10-day Norwegian fjord cruises from Hamburg. 

P&O Forced to Cancel Cruises Due to Lack of Crew

Citing crew availability issues, P&O Cruises UK has cancelled seven cruises on the Arcadia, extending through a June 23 departure to the Norwegian fjords.

The ship had just restarted service for the brand in late March, marking the Carnival-owned company’s return to full operations.

“The impact of Covid upon airlines and general disruption has necessitated the cancellations as we need to move crew from Arcadia to other ships in the fleet,” P&O said, in a social media post.

With the Arcadia going into a pause state, the ship now returns to service on July 5 for a two-week journey to Iceland, sailing roundtrip from Southampton, England.