AIDA Cruises to Return September 6th
The news is all positive AIDA Cruises, owned by Carnival Corporation, which hasn’t sailed since March. The cruise line has announced its cruise operations will return on September 6th from Kiel, Germany. The cruise line also announced cruises on board AIDAperla to the Norwegian fjords will leave from Hamburg on September 12, 19 and 26, 2020.
According to the press release from the cruise line, they received approval from their ship’s flag country of Italy in order to resume operation.
From the release:
In the coming days, AIDA Cruises will review the specific details of this decision and will work closely with all responsible authorities of the flag state Italy and the classification society in order to carefully implement the new protocols and regulations in the sense of a responsible restart on board the AIDA ships.
Travel Bans Still a Problem
Getting the whole fleet up to speed will take some time due to travel bans still in effect across the globe. No other cruises will leave in the month of September. Depending on how the return cruises go, we could see the fleet back up and running in October.
The cruise line has the opportunity to be one of the first owned by Carnival Corporation to return their whole fleet to service. Carnival’s other brands in America are still waiting on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to lift their no-sail order that’s been in effect since March. Each time the date to sail again has gotten close, the CDC has pushed the date back further. The current date is October 1st, but many expect that to be pushed back once more.
Peace of Mind for Guests
AIDA cruises is giving their guests some options when it comes to those with cancelled cruises. The first is to rebook by August 13th for on-board credit. Depending on the length of your trip, credit amounts range from 100 to 300 euros. For guests who don’t want to rebook by the 13th, guests can opt for a travel credit equal to the payments made to AIDA plus a 10% bonus. Guests can also cancel their trip for free.