Astoria Grande is a cruise ship which entered service as Aida in 1996 in the fleet of German cruise company, AIDA Cruises. She was their first cruise ship and in 2001 became AIDAcara. In 2021 the ship was sold to a Russian company and renamed Astoria Grande.[1]
History
The ship was built, at a cost of DM 300 million, by Kvaerner Masa-Yards at their Turku New Shipyard in (Finland), for Deutsche Seetouristik/Arkona Reisen, Rostock, as a "Clubschiff" (Club Ship),[2][3] She was launched in 1996 and entered service in June that year with the name Aida. When P&O Cruises purchased a controlling stake in Arkona Reisen in 1999, they transferred the ship, and it became part of the new