AIDA Cruises
AIDA Cruises is a brand of British-American cruise operator Carnival Corporation & plc for the German market. The graphic artist Feliks Büttner designed the trademark in 1996. A " kissing lips " with big eyes and blue eyeliner as hull paint the ships. As the kiss mouth with logo lettering AIDA letter appears in four different colors.
Owners and operators of vessels used for the brand is the Southern subsidiary of Carnival, based in Genoa. This is today under the traditional name of Carnival Corp. in 1997. complete acquisition of Italian company Costa Crociere out. The AIDA ships fly the Italian flag.
German Branch of Costa Crociere SpA - For the German branch so that they in Rostock as the AIDA Cruises brand name was added to the company name, operates.
- 2.1 Facts and Figures
- 2.2 Marketing and Sales
- 2.3 Joint Ventures and service companies
- 4.1 AIDA ships
- 4.2 Former ships
- 4.3 new buildings
History
German Seereederei
The German DSR (DSR ) based in Rostock worked in the GDR and the Peoples' Friendship and from 1985 with the Arkona in the vacation service since 1960. In 1993, three years after privatization, the company decided to expand its still powered with the Arkona cruise business by a new building. For the first time in the German market should be doing on the American model Fun Ships ( in German: " fun ships" ) Carnival Cruise Lines, the concept of club holidays are transferred to cruises. The new building was established in June 1996 under the name AIDA - (today AIDAcara ) put into service " The club ship ". It should be similar to the name of the other ships of the company, which also began with the letter A and ended. The choice fell on Aida, a Nubian princess after in ancient Egypt and an opera by Giuseppe Verdi, which is often mistakenly associated with the opening of the Suez Canal, so that a reference was made to the navigation.
Despite good booking figures, however, failed for the company to generate profit by boat. Founded in marketing Arkona Reisen GmbH sold the ship in August 1997 to strengthen the company's liquidity for 324 million marks to the Norwegian Cruise Line ( NCL). By simultaneously agreed charter contract but the AIDA remained in the DSR- German daughter Seetouristik GmbH, which changed its name to Arkona Touristik GmbH 1998.
P & O
In November 1999, founded Arkona Touristik with the British shipping company P & O, the joint venture AIDA Cruises Ltd.. P & O, at this time the No. 3 global cruise business, received a 51 - % majority in society that immediately the first club ship AIDA bought it back and gave two more ships of this type in order. In addition, P & O received the Arkona daughter Seetours International, which was acquired in October 1997 by the TUI and was the AIDA brand and operations of the cruise ship same now entrusted. Since Seetours was the older, well-established name, you added him as part of the name of the German branch to Seetours - German Branch of Aida Cruises.
A year later Arkona Touristik left as agreed their 49 - % stake in AIDA Cruises P & O and received shares in P & O Princess Cruises, had just outsourced its entire cruise business in the P & O. After also Seetours and AIDA Cruises Ltd.. merged into the new company were, the name of the German branch changed in Seetours - German Branch of P & O Princess Cruises.
Carnival Corporation & plc
With the merger of P & O Princess Cruises with Carnival Corporation in April 2003, includes the brand " AIDA Cruises " to the newly formed global market leader for Cruises, Carnival Corporation & plc.
The AIDA Cruises brand and associated vessels were the Italian Carnival subsidiary Costa Crociere in Genoa assumed in 2004. Organizationally, the first daughter Società di Crociere Mercurio Srl also in Genoa, with German Office AIDA Cruises - German Branch of Società di Crociere Mercurio Srl from July 2010 then direct the Costa Crociere SpA, which is why the German branch since then as AIDA Cruises - German Branch of Costa Crociere SpA operates.
Background
Facts and Figures
AIDA Cruises claims to be for some years the market leader in Germany. In the year 2012 632.719 passengers were transported. The area AIDA Cruises employs 6900 employees from 25 countries, of which about 6,000 people on board the ships and 900 work on land. The bed capacity of ten cruise ships is 18,636. Sales in 2009 amounted to 722.1 million euros. Recent sales figures of the Carnival Group will no longer be broken down for individual brands, but according to estimates, with AIDA Cruises in 2012 a turnover of over one billion euros have been achieved.
The offices of the German branch located in the rebuilt old storage houses at the city harbor.
Has assumed the overall management of the Costa Crociere since his predecessor Michael Thamm, Michael Ungerer is responsible as President of AIDA Cruises for the further development of the brand.
Marketing and Sales
Since March 2013, the name Seetours is used as a retail brand again. About an eponymous website Special Offers for all three cruise brands of Costa Crociere can be booked.
Beginning of September 2013 announced the company, to cease using the phrase " The club ship " and these unique by ". To replace again and again. " It is also planned to offer the AIDA website for international sales partners will soon be in English.
Joint ventures and service companies
For the production of the shows and other entertainment activities, the joint venture, together with Schmidts TIVOLI GmbH in 2001 " SeeLive - Tivoli Entertainment & Consulting GmbH " was founded. The company now is called AIDA and Entertainment GmbH has its headquarters in Hamburg. Since September 1, 2011 Ex - Endemol chief Borris Brandt is the Managing Director.
In 2004, the Call4Cruise GmbH was founded in Rostock, which took over the reservation and booking center for until then had grown to four ships already AIDA fleet. In August 2011, it changed its name to AIDA Customer GmbH.
In the summer of 2008, was created as public-private partnership with the University of Wismar, the European Cruise Academy as a training academy for young professionals in the nautical and technical field. In the winter semester 2008/2009 started a Master's program with a special cut on the cruise industry, three bachelor's degree programs should follow a year later. Early 2012, but it was merged with the company's own training and training center AIDA Academy and the operating company European Cruise Academy GmbH deleted in the same year in the commercial register.
Along with Becker Marine Systems was founded in Hamburg in the hybrid port Energy, which is to operate a barge to power cruise ships at the cruise terminal in the Port of Hamburg. On the 74 m long barge will be generated with the help of powered with LNG special Caterpillar engines and five generators of Zeppelin Power Systems with a peak power of 7.5 MW ( 50/60 Hz), which is comprised of a cable from the water side will be directed to the cruise ship.
Conservation
The environmental commitment of the company will be documented in the annual Sustainability Report AIDA cares. Here, the company provides a number of measures to make the ships more environmentally friendly, such as. Example by optimized hull design, low friction underwater coatings and modern engine technology The cruise line is committed to the initiated by the Federal Government e4ships project for the development of fuel cells for energy supply on cruise ships in the harbor. The motors of two new buildings from a Japanese shipyard to be 2015 and 2016 put into service, will work without heavy oil.
Environmentalists criticize the lack of any exhaust systems for ships of AIDA and most other manufacturers. The Society for Nature Conservation Germany called AIDA as losers of their ranking of 2013, especially because " claim and reality farthest diverge " would. In December 2011, Michael Thamm was awarded the negative price dinosaur of the year the President of AIDA Cruises, alongside Richard Vogel of TUI Cruises.
"Their alleged " White Fleet " are dirty Rußschleudern in truth, for the cruise ships sail on the high seas still with toxic heavy oil. This pushes a single giant ocean liner on a cruise so many pollutants as five million cars on the same route. The dangers to the environment and people's health could easily be avoided, but for profit deny the German shipowner so far the use of marine diesel and installation of exhaust systems such as particulate filters. "
Holger Watter, an expert in sustainable energy systems at the Maritime Centre of Applied Sciences Flensburg, contradicted the account of the NABU. According Watter consume a modern cruise ship, in per capita terms, one-third the energy of a small car.
In August 2013, the company has announced that by 2016 100 million euros to invest in environmental protection. These funds announced in 2015 and 2016, new buildings should receive a comprehensive filter system to reduce exhaust gases, the ships already in service are to be retrofitted with this system. Through the system of emissions of particulate matter, nitrogen and sulfur oxides are filtered and thus between 90 and 99 % can be reduced.
Another part of the investment program is the installation of a LNG barge in the port of Hamburg for the power supply at berth, this is to go during the cruise season in 2014. With this, the emission of sulfur oxides and particulate matter is to be entirely avoided, the emission of nitrogen oxides can be reduced by up to 80 % and carbon dioxide by 30 %, compared to operation of the ship's engine in the port.
Fleet
AIDA ships
The vessels of the branded flying the Italian flag, her home port is Genoa.
Former ships
From 2004 to March 2007 was already a first AIDAblu to the fleet, which had been provided as Crown Princess P & O Cruises or Princess Cruises in service.
New buildings
The fleet currently comprises ten cruise ships. By 2016, the bed capacity is to expand the AIDA ships on 25 136 beds. Carnival Corporation invested with seven new buildings 2007-2013 more than two billion euros in fleet expansion. From 2007 to 2013 presented AIDA Cruises each year a new ship into service, all of which were built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg in Emsland.
In early August, 2011, AIDA Cruises, the appointment of two new buildings with approximately 125,000 gross tonnage known. The vessels will be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan and are scheduled for delivery in March 2015 and March 2016. The AIDA newbuildings will be 300 meters long and 37.6 meters wide. The first AIDA new from Japan, keel laid on 30 June 2013 will start on 22 March 2015 a 86- day maiden voyage - the first world tour of AIDA Cruises.
As the first cruise ships around the world, the two new buildings are equipped with air lubrication for a system of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, this should save seven percent of the propulsive energy. The two ships are to be equipped with engines that can also be operated with environmentally friendly LPG.