AIDA Cruises christens new ship for 2019/2020 South African cruise season

AIDA Cruises has taken delivery of the newest member to its fleet, AIDAmira, which will be deployed later this year on the German cruise line’s first ever South African cruise season.

AIDAmira, formerly Costa neoRiviera for Costa Cruises, has undergone a bow to stern refurbishment in dry-dock to bring her in-line with the AIDA aesthetic and is now ready for her 19-night repositioning cruise from Palma de Mallorca to Cape Town on December 4^th.

AIDAmira is the fourth cruise ship in the cruise line’s AIDA Selection fleet, which offer longer, more destination-intensive itineraries in exotic locations around the world.

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“AIDAmira is a perfect addition to the AIDA Selection family,” AIDA Cruises says of the ship in a press release. “The spacious ship design offers lots of room under the sky. On the expansive sun deck with pools and bars, guests can enjoy the view of the sea, soak up the sun, and spend romantic evenings under the stars.”

AIDAmira started out life as Mistral for Festival Cruises in 1999, like MSC Sinfonia and the other three Lirica-class cruise ships in the MSC fleet (which are a slightly enlarged version of her design).

She offers culinary enjoyment and variety in five restaurants and seven bars and 125 of her 700 staterooms feature a balcony or private sun deck.

She has a 1,100 sqm spa and gym with a Wellness Suite, the SPA Signature Treatment “Out of Africa,” a sauna area with a Finnish, aroma and steam sauna, and up to 30 different fitness and relaxation courses per week.

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During each of her roundtrip Cape Town cruises there will be AIDA shows, workshops, readings, lectures and cooking events, as well as talks from guest lecturers on the destinations visited during the cruise.

AIDAmira will sail 14-day cruises from Cape Town this coming cruise season, visiting Durban, East London and Walvis Bay and Lüderitz in Namibia.

The overnight port calls in Cape Town and at Walvis Bay are highlights of the cruise, giving passengers more time to explore ashore.

In April, AIDAmira will depart South Africa bound for Europe. Between May and September next year will depart Corfu on a new butterfly itinerary in the eastern Mediterranean.

One route features Athens, Santorini, Crete and Brindisi in Apulia, and the other features Malta, Sicily, Crotone in Calabria, Olympia and Cephalonia. Both itineraries can be combined and booked as a 14-day cruise.