According to a press release issued on April 12th, AIDA Cruises announced that next Sunday, April 14, 2024, AIDAmar will open this year’s cruise season in Warnemünde. The Baltic seaside resort in the north is the home port for AIDA Cruises, the market leader in the German cruise industry based in Rostock and is therefore a special port of call for the Kussmund fleet. AIDAmar and AIDAdiva will make a total of 69 calls this year from April 14 to November 4. This means that almost half of all cruise calls in Warnemünde during the 2024 season will be made by AIDA ships. AIDAmar in particular will be calling at Warnemünde regularly this year – a total of 40 times during this year’s cruise season. AIDA guests can set sail for Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland or discover the Baltic and Scandinavian countries on either 3- to 5-day or 7- to 12-day voyages. AIDAdiva makes 29 calls during the season. AIDAdiva departs from Warnemünde on 7-day voyages to Norway, but also to Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Finland and Estonia. In October, there is a 4- and 5-day trip to Scandinavia. Special tours are the 12-day trips to the Baltic States to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Sweden. A special highlight in 2024 that cruise fans should definitely make a note of: Both ships will dock in Warnemünde at the same time a total of five times. This concerns the calls on June 8, July 6, August 24, September 21 and October 31, 2024.
AIDA season highlights 2024 in Warnemünde
AIDA Cruises is also involved in several events in Warnemünde in 2024: During the Hanse Sail (August 8-11), AIDAmar (August 9) and AIDAdiva (August 10) will be on site. AIDA Cruises is a sponsor of the largest maritime event in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which attracts up to one million visitors every year. At the Rostock Cruise Festival in September, which AIDA also supports as a sponsor, both AIDA ships will even be on site at the same time on September 21. Other events include the Rostock Chamber of Industry and Commerce Fair on April 18, 2024, where prospective trainees can find out about apprenticeships from around 90 companies in the region in the form of speed dating on AIDAmar, and a children’s concert will take place on AIDAmar on October 17 as part of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.
Shore power in Warnemünde
For AIDA Cruises, the use of shore power is an important contribution to reducing the ships’ local emissions. This is because it allows the cruise ships’ main engines to be switched off while they are docked and the on-board systems to be supplied with energy from shore. Nine out of eleven AIDA ships are currently shore power capable, including all ships in the AIDA fleet that will be setting off on cruises to the North and Baltic Seas from German ports this summer. For the port in Warnemünde, this means that shore power is planned for all 69 calls by AIDAdiva and AIDAmar, even on the dates when both ships are in port. The first double supply took place last year: On April 16, 2023, AIDA Cruises celebrated a special premiere with the double call of AIDAsol and AIDAmar in Rostock-Warnemünde, as both ships were connected to the shore-side system in parallel for the first time. Germany is a pioneer in Europe when it comes to the provision of shore-side power. Europe’s first shore-side power plant in Hamburg Altona has been in regular operation since 2017. This was followed in 2021 by Kiel and Rostock-Warnemünde, whose systems were also opened with an AIDA ship.
Cruise tip for the weekend: Big party to kick off the season this weekend
The season opening on April 14, 2024 with AIDAmar will be celebrated with a big party around the Rostock-Warnemünde cruise terminal: Together with the traditional ship Santa Barbara Anna, a three-master, AIDAmar will create a real seafaring atmosphere. The port party on the central pier starts at 11 am. The festive highlight will be the “cast off” of AIDAmar in the evening, accompanied by music, on its way to Gotland and Stockholm.
