AIDA Cruises is a German
cruise line
A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...
founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of
Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...
since 2003.
Based in
Rostock, Germany
Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...
, 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. As of January 2022, the cruise line operates 14 ships.
History
The company was founded as Deutsche Seereederei (German Shipping Company) with a ship called ''
Völkerfreundschaft'' ("Peoples' Friendship"), and entered the cruise industry in the 1960s.
After the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s Deutsche Seereederei was privatised and became DSR. DSR acquired Seetours of Bremen and cruises were marketed under the Seetours brand.
On 1 January 1998, DSR split their operations into cargo and tourism, with a new company Arkona Touristik taking over the cruise business.
Then during 2000 a company was formed, known as AIDA Cruises; with
P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the shipping company P&O and was founded in 1977. Along w ...
acquiring a 51% stake in the new organisation, and Arkona Touristik retaining the other 49%.
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. In 2003, P&O Princess merged with
Carnival Corporation
Carnival is a Catholic Church, Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgy, liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (o ...
, to form
Carnival Corporation & plc
Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...
, the world's largest cruise holiday company.
The Seetours cruise business, that had been acquired by P&O, was rebranded as AIDA Cruises in 2004.
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.
AIDA Cruises is now one of ten brands owned by Carnival Corporation & plc, based at
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, accounting for 6.5% of its share of revenue and has been led by President Felix Eichhorn since 1 September 2015.
In October 2017, ''
AIDAcara
''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''.
History
The ship was built, at a cost of DM 300 ...
'' departed from
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
on the company's first World Cruise. After a 116-day sailing, the ship returned to Hamburg on 10 February 2018. The ship visited
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
,
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
,
Madeira
)
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, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
,
Ushuaia
Ushuaia ( , ) is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. With a population of nearly 75,000 and a location below the 54th parallel south latitude, Ushuaia claims the title of world's southern ...
,
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
,
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, and
the Maldives
Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...
, among other destinations. 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. Several of the destinations were new to the company, including
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
,
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
,
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
,
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
,
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
,
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
and
New Caledonia
)
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, map_alt = Location of New Caledonia
, map_caption = Location of New Caledonia
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...
.
In December 2018, AIDA debuted ''AIDAnova,'' the first cruise ship to be fully powered by
liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...
(LNG). Earlier, in May 2016, ''AIDAprima'' and ''AIDAsol'' had become the first two ships in the AIDA fleet to be simultaneously powered by LNG. In August 2019, AIDA signed an agreement with
Corvus Energy
The company was founded in Canada in 2009. The head office was moved to Norway in 2018. Corvus Energy offers Energy Storage Systems (ESS) suitable for various vessel types, providing energy storage in the form of modular lithium-ion battery syste ...
to install battery storage systems for the electrification of their ships. 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.
Fleet
Current fleet
Former fleet
As Deutsche Seereederei/DSR/Arkona Touristik
As AIDA Cruises
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1960 establishments in East Germany
Carnival Corporation & plc
Companies based in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Companies of East Germany
Cruise lines
Transport companies established in 1960