Aida Cruises which is one of Carnival Corporation’s cruise brands is restarting operations on Saturday with enhanced health measures in place.
Aida Cruises Resuming Operations
Aida Cruises which is a German-based cruise line owned by the Carnival Corporation will finally restart operations over the weekend. AIDAblu will kick off sailings on Saturday, October 17, 2020.
AIDAblu will depart Civitavecchia (Rome) on Saturday starting a new service of seven-day cruises calling at Palermo and Catania in Sicily, Naples and La Spezia. The week sailings will continue until November 28, 2020.
Roger Frizzell, chief communications officer for Carnival Corporation, said:
“For all our brands, there is no higher responsibility and no higher priority than compliance, protecting the environment, and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, our crew and the communities we visit.”
“We are excited to have AIDA joining Costa Cruises in resuming sailing operations with a gradual expansion of service over time. As we offer travelers a phased return to cruise vacations, we will continue sharing important learnings and best practices among our world-leading cruise line brands and across the industry to help ensure the resumption of cruise operations is done with the best interests of public health at the forefront.”
What are the Aida Cruises Health Measures?
AIDAblu voyages will only take place out of Italy and only include Italian ports. New health measures include guests and crew being tested for COVID-19 with negative results required prior to boarding.
There will also be regular temperature and health checks for guests and crew, physical distancing guidelines, facial coverings, capacity controls and increased sanitization measures, as well as guided shore excursions managed by AIDA to maintain health protocols.
Also Read: Cruising Is Back In Europe, But What’s It Like?
More Cruise Ships Resuming Operations
AIDAperla will be the second ship in the fleet to restart cruises on November 7. AIDAstella will then start sailing on December 12. More vessels will slowly resume cruises over time and likely to be more localized itineraries.
The resumption of cruises in Europe is an important factor in the eventual return of operations in the U.S. too. Sister brand Costa Cruises has already restarted operations since September and just days ago the flagship Costa Smeralda also resumed cruises on October 10, 2020.
However, it has not been all smooth sailing with Costa Diadema which was the second Costa cruise ship to resume sailings. The ship was forced to cancel its cruise due to the growing cases sweeping across France, read more right here.
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