First trip after Corona break: Aida restart runs smoothly

In the corona pandemic, cruise tourism largely comes to a standstill. The first tour of the shipping company Aida Cruises has now reached its destination port under strict hygiene requirements. The organizer is satisfied and is again offering regular sea voyages.

The Rostock cruise line Aida Cruises has drawn a positive balance of its first tour after a seven-month interruption due to corona and is planning further trips. The cruise with the "Aidablu" along the Italian west coast with around 1000 guests on board ended after seven days in Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, said a company spokeswoman. Due to the corona protection precautions, the ship was less than half full. The trip is on the program several times until mid-December, the demand is great, a spokesman said at the start of the tour.

Further Italy cruises are planned and should start on Saturdays in Civitavecchia, it was now said. The requirement for passengers is a Covid 19 PCR test with a negative test result, which must not be older than three days. Before check-in, a contactless temperature measurement is carried out using a thermal scanner.

In addition, a further Covid-19 test will be carried out in the port terminal for all guests who have been in a risk area before the start of the journey or have traveled through one. At the beginning of November a tour with the "Aidamar" around the Canary Islands should start.

In March, Aida Cruises, like the other cruise companies, stopped voyages on its 14 ships. Michael Thamm, head of the Costa Group, to which Costa Crociere and Aida Cruises belong, put the losses for his company at 1.5 billion euros. The German managing director of the international industry association Clia, Helge Grammerstorf, estimates the losses in the entire industry at a double-digit billion figure.

.