AIDA Cruises has announced the cancellation of ship relocation voyages (RepositionCruises.com) for three of its vessels slated to traverse the Red Sea in the coming weeks.
The Carnival Corporation-owned German company AIDA Cruises stands as the first major cruise line to address the challenges associated with relocating ships currently deployed/operational in the Middle East, South Africa, the Indian Ocean, or Asia back to Europe for their scheduled summer programs.
In a notification sent to travel advisors and passengers, the cruise line stated that in light of the recent developments in the Red Sea, they regretfully found themselves compelled to cancel the voyages of AIDAbella, AIDAblu, and AIDAprima in spring 2024.
"In the interest of safety for our guests and crew, this is the only responsible option."
The disruption in schedules is anticipated to span ~3 months, commencing in late February with the 71,300 GT AIDABlu, which is currently navigating the Vanilla Island region encompassing destinations such as the Seychelles, Madagascar, Reunion, and Mauritius. The ship has foregone the repositioning journey along the East Coast of Africa and to the Greek Islands, with a projected return to commercial service slated for the end of March in the Mediterranean.
The 125,572 GT AIDAprima, presently operating from Dubai UAE, has similarly canceled ~6 weeks of operations. Originally scheduled to commence her repositioning from Dubai at the end of March through the Mediterranean en route to Germany, the vessel will now remain out of service until May when she resumes operations from Hamburg
. Additionally, AIDABella, currently in Southeast Asia, has canceled a repositioning slated to begin from Dubai in April and is not expected to resume service until the end of May.