AIDA Cruises Cancels Two August Sailings

AIDA Cruises has canceled a pair of August sailings as it continues to await final approval from officials in its flag state of Italy.

AIDAperla and AIDAmar were scheduled to depart Hamburg and Rostock-Warnemunde on August 5 and 12, 2020, respectively. AIDAblu is still scheduled to return to service sailing from Kiel on August 16.

The cruise line said that final formal approval for the start of the short trips is still pending.

“We very much regret this delay. We would have loved to welcome our guests back on board from August 5, 2020,” Carnival Corporation & plc said in a statement on Monday. “We assume that we will receive the last formal approval by the flag state Italy in a timely manner. All guests whose trip cannot take place as originally scheduled will be informed immediately. AIDA very much wants guests to enjoy their AIDA holidays at a later date.”

Affected guests will be allowed to rebook a different cruise and receive an onboard credit of 50 percent of their travel costs.

“We will automatically reimburse the travel price already paid and all services already booked on MyAIDA, according to the payment method made,” the company said.

Last week, AIDA Cruises confirmed that at least 10 crew members had tested positive for COVID-19 after boarding AIDAmar and AIDAblu in Germany.