November 21st, 2006 The Aruba Ports Authority (APA) is happy to confirm that once again Aruba is welcoming more European cruise ships to Oranjestad Harbor with Aida Cruises calling on the tropical destination as home port. After successfully welcoming the Spanish company Pullmantours Cruises in October 2006, APA recently announced that starting in the 2007-2008 high cruise season, Aida Cruises, which is part of the Carnival Corporation, will be home porting in the capital city.
Aida Cruises is a leader cruise ship company for the German market and is part of the Carnival Corporation & PLC. The company’s actual float consists of four ships with a capacity of more than 10,000 passengers and there are three larger ships currently under construction that are expected to be delivered between 2007 and 2010.
Aida Cruises will operate two itineraries, each two weeks long, on the Aida Vita and Aida Aura ships departing every Saturday from Oranjestad. These are fairly new ships as they were delivered in 2002 and 2003 and with a capacity of 1582 passengers. They will start to operate in October 2007 through April 2008, and a “butterfly run,” meaning that one week Aida Aura will cruise and the next week Aida Vita will depart from Aruba.
