In the coming days, the first ships of the Aida cruise line should set sail again. Small tours in the Baltic or North Sea without shore leave were planned. But because of a lack of approval, nothing comes of it initially.
The cruise line Aida Cruises has postponed its restart for a short time after the corona break. The planned mini cruises on the Baltic Sea for the first half of August were canceled on Sunday. Contrary to the company's expectations, Aida in Rostock announced that a final formal approval for the start of the short trips from August 5 is still pending.
This is a major setback for Aida Cruises. After the corona-related mandatory break, the company had wanted to set its Kussmund fleet back on the sea since August 5, mid-March. Initially, mini cruises on the Baltic Sea were planned without going ashore. Comprehensive concepts were developed for the new start and all increased hygiene standards and measures to protect against Covid-19 were implemented on board the ships.
The short trips with the Aidaperla from / to Hamburg were canceled from August 5th to August 8th, from August 8th to 12th and from August 12th to 15th. The short cruise with the Aidamar from / to Warnemünde from August 12th to 16th is also affected.
Aida expects the scheduled trips to begin on August 16 that they can take place, as a spokesman said. "Aida very much regrets this delay," it said. The company assumes that it will receive the last formal approval by the flag state of Italy in a timely manner.
All trips have in common that the guests have to fill out digital health questionnaires before their trip. There will also be temperature measurements, signage systems on board, limited capacities for restaurants, bars and theaters on the ship, mandatory masks in elevators, stairwells and cabin corridors as well as a lot of space with a maximum occupancy of 60 percent.
To restart, the subsidiary of the US group Carnival had ordered the ships back to the port in mid-July. 750 crew members from Asia were flown to Laage near Rostock on July 22 with three planes. Corona tests after landing, however, revealed 11 infected people, who were subsequently housed in isolation.
The pandemic had given the worldwide booming cruise ship a stop in spring. After infection also occurred on ships, some countries closed their ports. A little later, the trips were completely stopped. According to industry reports, the number of German cruise passengers rose to over three million for the first time last year. The organizers expect a massive drop in the number of guests and sales for the current year.
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