Carnival’s AIDA Cruises brand has announced more cancellations as the global situation seems to be heading in the wrong direction with further restrictions. The pause extensions impact multiple cruise ships across different regions including the Canary Islands, Mediterranean, Germany, The Middle-East, and Northern Europe.
AIDA Cruises Extends Suspension
The cruise industry is nowhere near to resuming operations, and with the only hope for some cruises in a few regions, that now seems to be lost. AIDA has been forced to cancel more sailings until the end of February 2021.
The reason for the further suspension comes after a new lockdown in Germany until at least January 31, 2021, further tightening of the measures to contain the virus, travel limitations around the world, and of course, a new threat of the COVID strain that’s sweeping across the UK.
What’s Being Cancelled?
As a result, the German-based cruise line has cancelled all seven-day cruises for AIDAperla and AIDAmar in the Canary Islands through the end of February. The ships were among the very few to be sailing, and recently they were forced to cancel some voyages due to a possible cyber attack.
AIDA now plans on resuming cruises in the Canary islands from March 6, 2021 but that will depend on the situation on Germany as the cruise caters towards the German market.
All other winter sailings have also been cancelled until further notice as follows:
- AIDAprima’s planned orient cruises including the transit voyage from Dubai to Palma (Mallorca) are now cancelled
- The first Mediterranean cruise with AIDAstella will start on March 6, 2021
- AIDAsol will cast off for its first trip to the metropolises of Northern Europe on March 6, 2021
- The transit cruise with AIDAsol from Palma (Mallorca) to Hamburg planned for Feb. 19, 2021 has to be canceled
- Voyages to Norway with AIDAcara and AIDAaura between Feb. 20 up to and including April 3, 2021 (AIDAcara) and March 27, 2021 (AIDAaura) are now cancelled
This is no doubt a major setback for the industry as AIDA Cruises was one of the few cruise lines that resumed sailings towards the end of 2020. It was a path through the pandemic but the situation is not improving and the rollout of the vaccine will take time.
Also Read: No Carnival Cruise Ships Will Sail from the U.S. Until April 2021
The Carnival-owned cruise line is contacting all those guests affected and offering options for future cruise bookings.
This comes after sister lines Carnival Cruise Line, P&O Australia, Holland America Line, and Princess Cruises all recently announced a new series of cancellations into Spring. It’s likely that more cruise lines will follow in the coming days.
Main Photo Credit: 13threephotography / Shutterstock.com
