AIDA Cruises which is owned by the Carnival Corporation and apart from Costa, is the only cruise line that has kept limited sailings through the pandemic has released a major update.
The cruise line has cancelled multiple cruises across the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Norway, and the Adriatic Sea. However, it’s not all bad news as one of its vessels in the Canary islands will extend her season.
AIDA Cancels Cruises
So it looks like for now, operations from AIDA will be limited to just one vessel. Cruise vacations in other locations, including out of Germany and the Mediterranean, will not occur. A large reason for this is likely due to the vaccine rollout and extended lockdowns, including Germany.
Guests will be offered compensation options who originally booked a cruise in the Mediterranean on AIDAstella with departure dates from March 20 up to and including May 11, 2021; on AIDAperla with departure dates up to and including May 14, 2021; on AIDAblu between April 04 up to and including April 25, 2021; and on AIDAmar between March 21 up to and including April 18, 2021.
The same applies to all guests who were originally scheduled to depart with AIDAsol from Hamburg and Rotterdam to Northern Europe and Norway between March 20 and April 3, 2021, or with AIDAluna from Hamburg on March 31 and April 04, 2021.
The positioning cruises with AIDAmira scheduled to depart on April 16, 2021, and with AIDAvita on April 20, 2021, have to be canceled as well.
The cruise line is offering free rebooking for impacted guests to provide flexibility and confidence. There is also the “AIDA Promise” to protect any cruise fare on new bookings up to May 21, 2021. Guests will be contacted about the options available.
Extended Season
AIDAperla will be taking the fleet forward as the only ship that will remain sailing. In February, the Carnival cruise brand announced that starting on March 20, 2021, the ship will be sailing around the Canary Islands.
It has now been decided to extend the season until the middle of May 2021. The large cruise ship will be sailing 7-day cruises from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain. Those guests impacted by the cancellations will also have the chance to rebook on the AIDAperla cruises.
There will, of course, be strict health measures in place to make sure guests and crew remain safe at all times. The islands have enjoyed relatively low infection rates, and new measures include a mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for detecting viruses and bacteria before traveling.
Also onboard there will be regular health checks, extensive distance and hygiene rules, medical care including test capacities on board and other measures.
Main Photo Credit: MikhailBerkut / Shutterstock.com
