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AIDA Cruises

AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A.,[1] which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany,[1] AIDA Cruises caters primarily to the German-speaking market; as seagoing "club resorts", AIDA ships have on-board amenities and facilities designed to attract younger, more active vacationers.[2] As of September 2023, the cruise line operates 11 ships.

AIDA Cruises has been Carnival-owned since 2003.

History

The company was founded in 1952 as VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (German Shipping Company Rostock) as the German Democratic Republic's state-owned shipping company, based at Rostock, and became VEB Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock in 1973.[3] It began its passenger operations with Völkerfreundschaft ("Peoples' Friendship"), in the 1960s.[4] After the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock was privatised and became Deutsche Seereederei Rostock GmbH.[3] DSR acquired Seetours of Bremen and cruises were marketed under the Seetours brand.[4] On 1 January 1998, DSR split their operations into cargo and tourism, with a new company Arkona Touristik taking over the cruise business.[5] Then during 2000 a company was formed, known as AIDA Cruises; with P&O Cruises acquiring a 51% stake in the new organisation, and Arkona Touristik retaining the other 49%.[6]

As subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc

In 2001, P&O Princess Cruises acquired the remaining 49% interest in AIDA and the cruise business associated with Seetours International.[7] In 2003, P&O Princess merged with Carnival Corporation, to form Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest cruise holiday company.[8] The Seetours cruise business, that had been acquired by P&O, was rebranded as AIDA Cruises in 2004.[9]

Following the merger, executive control of AIDA Cruises was transferred to Costa Cruises Group, one of the main operating companies of Carnival Corporation & plc, with responsibility for the group's European brands.[9][10] AIDA Cruises is now one of ten brands owned by Carnival Corporation & plc, based at Miami, Florida, accounting for 6.5% of its share of revenue[11] and has been led by President Felix Eichhorn since 1 September 2015.[12]

In October 2017, AIDAcara departed from Hamburg on the company's first World Cruise. After a 116-day sailing, the ship returned to Hamburg on 10 February 2018.[13] The ship visited Southampton, Lisbon, Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Ushuaia, Easter Island, Tahiti, Singapore, and the Maldives, among other destinations.[14] On 8 October 2018 AIDAaura left Hamburg on the company's second World Cruise; the 117-day voyage visited 41 ports in 20 countries on four continents.[15] Several of the destinations were new to the company, including South Africa, Namibia, Melbourne, Tasmania, Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia.[16]

In December 2018, AIDA debuted AIDAnova, the first cruise ship to be fully powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).[17] Earlier, in May 2016, AIDAprima and AIDAsol had become the first two ships in the AIDA fleet to be simultaneously powered by LNG.[18] In August 2019, AIDA signed an agreement with Corvus Energy to install battery storage systems for the electrification of their ships.[19] In October 2019, AIDA announced that it would test a new fuel-cell technology for large-scale cruise ships aboard the AIDAnova as early as 2021.[20]

Fleet

Current fleet

Former fleet

As Deutsche Seereederei/DSR/Arkona Touristik

AIDA former fleet

As Deutsche Seereederei/DSR/Arkona Touristik

AIDA former fleet

Future fleet

In April 2025, the order of two ships at Fincantieri was announced. The delivery is planned for early 2030 and late 2031.[35][36] The contract was concluded on 7 April 2025.[37]

External links

References

  1. Impressum AIDA Cruises, retrieved 2023-06-14^
  2. Design 07, ShipPax Information^
  3. Meilensteine in der Geschichte der DSR (Milestones in the history of DSR) Deutfracht/Seereederei DSR, retrieved 12 February 2023^
  4. Peter C. Smith. Cruise Ships: The Small-Scale Fleet Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 2014^
  5. Nils Schwerdtner. German Luxury Ocean Liners: From Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse to Aidastella Amberley Publishing, 2013^
  6. P&O Cruises buys stake in German company Travel weekly, 2000, retrieved 2 December 2019^
  7. Alex. P&O/Priness First Half 2000 Earnings cruiseindustrynews.com, 2000-09-29, retrieved 2019-11-13^
  8. Tom Stieghorst. P&O'S Board OKs Carnival Merger South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 9 January 2003, retrieved 2019-11-13^
  9. Seetours re-brands as Aida Cruises FVW, 4 October 2004, retrieved 7 December 2018^
  10. Costa Cruises, company profile retrieved 13 November 2019^
  11. 2012 World Wide Market Share Cruise Market Watch, 2011-11-20^
  12. Arlene Satchell. Carnival Corp. taps Felix Eichhorn to lead German brand AIDA Cruises sun-sentinel.com, 10 August 2015, retrieved 2019-11-13^
  13. CIN Staff. AIDAcara Returns to Hamburg Following World Cruise 2018-02-12, retrieved 2018-02-13^
  14. Iuliia Tore. AIDA's first world cruise launched from Hamburg www.rustourismnews.com, 19 October 2017, retrieved 2018-02-15^
  15. CIN Staff. AIDAaura Set for 2018 World Cruise 2017-07-21, retrieved 2018-02-15^
  16. Anne Kalosh. AIDA charts new destinations in second world voyage retrieved 2018-03-02^
  17. Carnival's AIDA Cruises to test fuel cell technology Ship Technology, 2019-10-14, retrieved 2019-11-13^
  18. LNG Powers AIDAprima and AIDAsol in Hamburg World Maritime News, 2016-05-15^
  19. AIDA Cruises Plans Fleet Electrification The Maritime Executive, retrieved 2019-10-30^
  20. Carnival's AIDA Cruises Pioneering the Industry's First Fuel-Cell Technology TravelPulse, retrieved 2019-10-30^
  21. AIDA Cruise Ships February 4, 2024^
  22. AIDAprima Delivered Cruise Industry News, 2016-03-14^
  23. AIDAprima in Singapore – Cruise Industry News www.cruiseindustrynews.com, retrieved 2016-04-21^
  24. AIDA Cruises Takes Delivery of AIDAperla World Maritime News, 2017-04-27^
  25. AIDAnova Delivered Cruise Industry News, 2018-12-12^
  26. Shaun Ebelthite. AIDA Cruises cuts steel for second LNG-powered mega ship Cruise Arabia & Africa, 2019-08-15^
  27. Carnival orders new LNG liner for AIDA Cruises LNG World News, 2018-02-27^
  28. Carnival Cruise Line To Grow Fleet By Two Additional Ships by 2023 – Carnival Cruise Line News Carnival Cruise Line, retrieved 23 June 2021^
  29. AIDAmira to Leave Fleet, AIDAsol Joins AIDA Selection Program 2022-01-26^
  30. Die "Aidavita" ist jetzt verkauft 2023-03-21, retrieved 2023-08-26^
  31. Η AIDAvita στην κινεζική Blue Dream Cruises 2024-01-12^
  32. Dieses Schiff startet zur längsten Reise in der Geschichte der Kreuzfahrt 2023-09-21, retrieved 2023-09-21^
  33. Das war's: In Bremerhaven endet die letzte Fahrt der "Aidaaura" 2023-09-20, retrieved 2023-09-21^
  34. Das Ende der "Aidaaura": Kreuzfahrtschiff kommt ein letztes Mal nach Bremerhaven 2023-09-20, retrieved 2023-09-21^
  35. Carnival Corporation Finalizes Agreement with Fincantieri for Two Next-Generation AIDA Cruises Ships Set for Delivery in fiscal 2030 and 2032 2025-04-07, retrieved 2025-04-07^
  36. Fincantieri signs agreement with Carnival Corporation for two cruise ships for Aida Cruises 2025-04-07, retrieved 2025-04-07^
  37. AIDA Cruises erweitert Flotte um zwei Kreuzfahrtschiffe einer neuen Generation 2025-04-07, retrieved 2025-04-07^