Categories: SA Cruise News

AIDA Cruises will visit five South African ports on 2020/21 World Cruise

German cruise line AIDA Cruises will be sending its ship AIDAaura to South Africa in 2021 as part of its 117-night World Cruise departing Hamburg on October 26th, 2020.

The 33-night Mauritius to Hamburg leg, the final one of the global voyage, will depart Port Louis in Mauritius on January 18th, 2021 and head for Nosy Be and Antsiranana in Madagascar.

Here AIDAaura’s guests will get to know the impressive fauna and flora, as well as the different cultures before crossing the Mozambique Channel bound for Richard’s Bay. The ship will then visit Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

AIDAaura will visit South Africa on her 2020/21 World Cruise

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Table Mountain and the view from the Lion’s Head in Cape Town, the animal world of the savannas, the gigantic sand dunes of the Namib Desert in Luderitz, Namibia, are just a few of many highlights that guests will experience in Southern Africa.

On the way back to Europe, AIDAaura will make a stop in Gambia, West Africa. The cruise continues on to Gran Canaria and Vigo, in Spain and Cherbourg in France, before coming to an end in Hamburg on February 20th, 2021.

This is just one of three impressive legs of the voyage, which features fascinating moments in South America, sun and sand in the South Seas, and New Year’s Eve in Sydney.

AIDAaura will set sail from Hamburg on October 26th, 2020, and will reach San Antonio, Chile, after a 36-day voyage. AIDAaura will call at 12 destinations along the way, including Portland and Lisbon, and dream destinations like Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego, and Cape Horn on the southernmost tip of South America.

This leg of the World Cruise ends on December 1st, 2020 in Ushuaia, where AIDAaura will stay overnight.

AIDAaura will stay overnight in Ushuaia at the southern tip of South America

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The second leg of the cruise heads west from here to Mauritius. This 48-day voyage departing December 2nd, 2020 will take in destinations including Tahiti, Bora Bora, New Caledonia, Tonga and Fiji where guests will have the opportunity to snorkel among schools of colorful fishes, ray and marine turtles.

Australian ports of call include Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. One dazzling highlight of this cruise is New Year’s Eve in Sydney.

Guests will get to enjoy the world-famous fireworks against the legendary backdrop of the Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge, and welcome in the new year from the other end of the world.

After New Year, AIDAaura will continue her voyage across the Indian Ocean, with 9 full days at sea between Fremantle and Mauritius.

Unfortunately, AIDAaura’s Cape Town departure is not bookable as a separate cruise from Cape Town to Hamburg.

However, AIDAmira, which is homeporting in Cape Town for a full cruise season this year, will be offering a 19-night Cape Town to Palma De Mallorca cruise on April 6th, 2020 for her repositioning cruise from South Africa.

Shaun Ebelthite

Founder and editor of Cruise Arabia & Africa. I try to create the best news and information specifically for cruise passengers taking cruises to and from Dubai (where I live) and South Africa (where I was born). You can contact me at shaun(at)cruisearabiaonline.com.

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