# AIDA Cruises

AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A., which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany, 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 September 2023, the cruise line operates 11 ships.
AIDA Cruises has been Carnival-owned since 2003.

## History

The company was founded in 1952 as VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (German Shipping Company Rostock) as the German Democratic Republic's state-owned shipping company, based at Rostock, and became VEB Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock in 1973. It began its passenger operations with Völkerfreundschaft ("Peoples' Friendship"), in the 1960s. After the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock was privatised and became Deutsche Seereederei Rostock GmbH. 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 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, to form Carnival Corporation & plc, 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, 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 departed from Hamburg 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, Lisbon, Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Ushuaia, Easter Island, Tahiti, Singapore, and the Maldives, 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, Namibia, Melbourne, Tasmania, Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia.
In December 2018, AIDA debuted AIDAnova, the first cruise ship to be fully powered by liquefied natural gas (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 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.
History of AIDA Cruises :
| Company name | Dates |
| VEB Deutsche Seereederei Rostock (DSR) | 1952—1974 |
| VEB Deutfracht/SeereedereiRostock | 1974—1990/1993 |
| Deutsche Seereederei Touristik & Seetours | 1994—1997 |
| Arkona Touristik | 1998—1999 |
| AIDA Cruises | 1999—present |

## Fleet
### Current fleet

| Ship | Built | Builder | Entered Service for AIDA | Pax | Gross Tonnage | Flag | Notes |
| Sphinx Class |||||||||
| AIDAdiva | 2007 | Meyer Werft | 2007 – present | 2,050 | 69,203 tons | Italy | |
| AIDAbella | 2008 | Meyer Werft | 2008 – present | 2,050 | 69,203 tons | Italy | |
| AIDAluna | 2009 | Meyer Werft | 2009 – present | 2,050 | 69,203 tons | Italy | |
| Icarus Class |||||||||
| AIDAblu | 2010 | Meyer Werft | 2010 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | Italy | The name was used for a former AIDA ship from 2004 to 2007. |
| AIDAsol | 2011 | Meyer Werft | 2011 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | Italy | |
| AIDAmar | 2012 | Meyer Werft | 2012 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | Italy | |
| AIDAstella | 2013 | Meyer Werft | 2013 – present | 2,192 | 71,304 tons | Italy | |
| Hyperion Class |||||||||
| AIDAprima | 2016 | Mitsubishi | 2016 – present | 3,286 | 125,572 tons | Italy | Delivered on 14 March 2016 and began operating on 25 April (Flagship of AIDA) |
| AIDAperla | 2017 | Mitsubishi | 2017 – present | 3,286 | 125,572 tons | Italy | Delivered on 27 April 2017 and began operating on 28 May |
| Excellence Class |||||||||
| AIDAnova | 2018 | Meyer Werft | 2018 – present | 5,252 | 183,858 tons | Italy | Largest ship ever built and operating for AIDA Delivered on 12 December 2018 and performed inaugural cruise on 19 December 2018 |
| AIDAcosma | 2021 | Meyer Werft | 2021 – present | 5,464 | 183,858 tons | Italy | Steel cutting ceremony 15 August 2019 Delivered on 21 December 2021 |

### Former fleet
#### As Deutsche Seereederei/DSR/Arkona Touristik

| Ship | Built | In service for Deutsche Seereederei | Gross Tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image |
| Völkerfreundschaft | 1948 | 1960–1985 | 16,144 GRT | East Germany | Ex-Stockholm. Later sailed as Volker, Fridtjof Nansen, Italia I, Italia Prima, Valtur Prima, Caribe, Athena, and Azores for various cruise lines. Former Astoria for Cruise & Maritime Voyages. Laid up as of 2022. | |
| Arkona | 1981 | 1985–2001 | 18,853 GRT | East Germany/ Germany | Originally operated by HADAG as Astor. Was later sold to Transocean Tours as Astoria in 2002. Sailed as Saga Pearl II with Saga Cruises. Sold for scrap in 2022. | |

#### As AIDA Cruises

| Ship | Class | Built | Builder | In service for AIDA Cruises | Gross Tonnage | Flag | Notes |
| AIDAblu | Crown | 1990 | Fincantieri | 2004 – 2007 | 69,845 tons | Italy | Before entering AIDA fleet in 2004: Crown Princess and A'Rosa Blu After exiting AIDA fleet in 2007: Ocean Village Two, Pacific Jewel, and Karnika. Scrapped in Alang in 2020. |
| AIDAcara | | 1996 | Kvaerner Masa-Yards (Finland) | 1996 – 2021 | 38,557 tons | Italy | Previously AIDA. Sold in 2021 to a currently unnamed company, renamed Astoria Grande. |
| Unnamed | Excellence | 2023 | Meyer Werft | Never entered service | 183,858 tons | Italy | Ordered on 27 February 2018 with Meyer Werft Ship transferred to Carnival Cruise Line during construction. |
| AIDAmira | Mistral | 1999 | Chantiers de l'Atlantique | 2019 – 2022 | 48,200 tons | Italy | Transferred from Costa Cruises and formerly sailed as Costa neoRiviera. It was sold in 2022 to Ambassador Cruise Line and now operates as Ambition. |
| AIDAvita | | 2002 | Aker MTW | 2002 – 2023 | 42,289 tons | Italy | Sold, now operating as Blue Dream Melody for Blue Dream Cruises |
| AIDAaura | | 2003 | Aker MTW | 2003 – 2023 | 42,289 tons | Italy | decommissioned on 21 September 2023, now operating as Celestyal Discovery for Celestyal Cruises |