German cruise line
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.,[1] which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany,[1] 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.[2] As of September 2023, the cruise line operates 11 ships.
AIDA Cruises has been Carnival-owned since 2003.[3][4]
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.[5] It began its passenger operations with Völkerfreundschaft ("Peoples' Friendship"), in the 1960s.[3] After the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock was privatised and became Deutsche Seereederei Rostock GmbH.[5] DSR acquired Seetours of Bremen and cruises were marketed under the Seetours brand.[3] On 1 January 1998, DSR split their operations into cargo and tourism, with a new company Arkona Touristik taking over the cruise business.[6] 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%.[7]
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.[8] In 2003, P&O Princess merged with Carnival Corporation, to form Carnival Corporation & plc, the world's largest cruise holiday company.[4]
The Seetours cruise business, that had been acquired by P&O, was rebranded as AIDA Cruises in 2004.[9]
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.[9][10] 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[11] and has been led by President Felix Eichhorn since 1 September 2015.[12]
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.[13] The ship visited Southampton, Lisbon, Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Ushuaia, Easter Island, Tahiti, Singapore, and the Maldives, among other destinations.[14] 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.[15] Several of the destinations were new to the company, including South Africa, Namibia, Melbourne, Tasmania, Fiji, Samoa and New Caledonia.[16]
In December 2018, AIDA debuted AIDAnova, the first cruise ship to be fully powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).[17] Earlier, in May 2016, AIDAprima and AIDAsol had become the first two ships in the AIDA fleet to be simultaneously powered by LNG.[18] In August 2019, AIDA signed an agreement with Corvus Energy to install battery storage systems for the electrification of their ships.[19] 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.[20]
History of AIDA Cruises[6]
| 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
|
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