Despegue

The Peseta 🥳

The pandemic is in the past, Covid is now classed as just another respiratory disease and as such, no cruise line or airline will enforce restrictions again ( thank God). You are obviously free to take your own precautions as you see fit.

kind regards 

Capt. Tino

57 minutes ago, longhorn2004 said:

Will it be a variation of the Helios Class or something different?

I think that Meyer potentially wants indeed more Excellence-class orders ( sorry, Helios class is a subclass of the Excellence class and is used to identify  the Aida vessels), maybe with some minor changes or slight increase in tonnage.

the Fincantieri design shobe completely new.

On 1/17/2024 at 10:57 PM, cruiseny4life said:

Wait....I thought those were skin colored yoga pants....is there maybe a bathing suit somewhere there? WOW!

Hahahaha, you Americans are such Prudes 😂🤣 

For the Mainstream mass market cruiselines, the target is to have the ship itself as the main destination, and visited ports as a mere “additional attraction “. Keeping guests onboard increases the revenue obviously. 
My info is telling me that at least 2 ships will go to Carnival, one to Aida and another undecided. There is also the probability of additional vessels. 
Also Meyer Shipbuilding is hoping for extra orders for the Helios Class ships ( Mardi Gras and her sisters along the Carnival corp. brands).  

I expect to see at least one vessel going to Aida Cruises though. Their two sister vessels ( AidaNova and AidaCosma ) of the Carnival Jubilee are always full and Aida is one of the bettter performers within the group. Same for P&O actually.

I don’t see Princess needing such a large vessel though… 

Just now, BlerkOne said:

My guess is China

The Chinese market vessels will be built in China . 

https://www.shippingitaly.it/2024/01/12/carnival-si-appresta-a-ordinare-a-fincantieri-navi-da-208-000-gt-e-quasi-10-000-persone/

A  first of a new class of ships has been ordered with Fincantieri last week by Carnival corp.

Measuring 208.000 tons, she will be the largest vessel of the whole Carnival group. It is currently not known with whom she will sail, but it is expected that it will be Carnival Cruises.

Also take into account that gratuities are included with Aida as are soft drinks, house wine and beer during meals in the buffet restaurants.

One great thing about Aida are their fabulous sauna areas. 
 

The smaller Sfinx-class vessels indeed have daily changing buffets in all buffet restaurants, as they lack the included a-la-carte options ( except Almhutte/Brauhaus)

Quick clarification regarding the buffets:

the buffet selection during dinner is completely different in each Buffet restaurant, but each individual buffet does not change their choices each day. So each day, the choice will be the same , more or less. Exemption is the Yacht Club Buffet, which has themed evenings.

Regarding Breakfast: choices are vast really , but do bear in mind that Germans normally have a cold breakfast with the typical charcuterie (choices are way  more than on American vessels)and breads. you can always opt to have a sit-down breakfast in French Kiss, with nice choices and great presentation.

In General, Aida is not a step-up from MSC or Costa. Where did you get that idea? It is a different concept, but also mass-market and especially  kids friendly. 

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I've heard plenty of stories of cruisers who have three or more plates of lobster on Lobster Night in the MDR on many different cruise lines.  I've heard very little about cruisers who down 3 main courses otherwise.

I have seen plenty of guests ordering the whole lot, and having one bite of each plate, or just for bloody “Instagram” or “Tiktok”. For me, such people can walk the plank in a Tiger shark infested ocean.

21 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I tried one on the Vista in early December. It was in the normal ramekin, but tasted horrible. It was bitter, as if there was less sugar in it than usual.  

Actually, a chocolate fondant should taste a bit  “ bitter” and most certainly not too sugary as it is always made with dark fondant chocolate! 
 

Hello,

although we are not German, and my wife nor my children speak any German, we do regularly cruise with Aida.

There is simply no other cruise line that is as child-friendly as Aida, and that includes Disney.

Aida prices already include gratuities, what you see is what  you pay, although there is an option to tip your servers .

Buffets are the focus of the food experience k especially on the smaller vessels. But they are of higher quality than on American ships, and during meal times, soft-drinks, house wine and beer are included.

on the larger ships (Prima, Perla, Nova and Cosma), you have also more sit-down dinner options, that do require reservations in advance (except the German Beer bar/restaurant), but are included. All drinks are extra however, unless you have a drinks package. Then, some drinks are included but still limited actually.

Quality of these sit-down restaurants is in general somewhat higher than on mainstream American lines, and compareable to HAL/ Celebrity before Covid19.

The A-La-Carte restaurants are extra and of high quality, especially Rossini, which can be Michelin star level, depending on the Chef, as the menu changes every 2 days. Unknown of on other Mainstream Lines.

Service in general is fine, but quite less polished than on US ships, especially since after Covid19, as many crew are new and also seemingly less trained. As the focus is on buffets, there are less crew and it also shows in other areas. Waiting times for drinks can sometimes be ling, we often go to the bar ourselves.

Cocktails are mostly better and stronger than on US lines.

Entertainment: the Show ensemble is generally of a very high standard and shows are in English for the most part.

The Ship Party Band is mostly absolutely Brilliant.

Spa/Sauna: Finally a cruiseline that knows how to build a good spa/ sauna area and has proper sauna etiquette. Everyone is compulsory naked and sauna/spa is indeed mixed. I think that you must be at least 16 to enter the sauna.

Just put data roaming to OFF. You don’t need to out your phone in Airplane mode unless you want to go off-grid completely.

Remember not to accept calls you don’t want in order to avoid roaming charges.

But why only cakes and cookies? Are there no pastries like eclairs, tompousse, fruit tarts, chocolate-mousses, puddings, bavarois ??!!

No lunch in the Dining Room, most Lunch venues are junk fast food joints like burgers,  chickenburgers, hotdogs, shoarma, fries, pizza, deli sandwiches, some pasta or rice bowls,...that is for us, Europeans the biggest issue in terms of food on Carnival. The very poor lunch options if you want a quality meal.

21 hours ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

Uh, what makes you say that? 😉

Because it is so ridiculous and frankly insulting to the original. 

And please get rid of that ridiculous fig leaf!

On 11/30/2023 at 9:28 PM, kirkc said:

Only if the Captain orders them to practice their Dutch dancing in wooden shoes. 
 

actually the bridge is normally a quiet as a library.  

Don’t think so as her Master is Belgian 😜... 

They have completely lost the plot at HAL! That menu is so boring I fell asleep reading it and it has no real distinction compared to Tamarind, which has a much better menu by the way. 
Poor Poor HAL.

Rudi’s could be replaced by a Dutch/ Flemish restaurant with modern European cuisine,  designed by Jonnie Boer or Sergio Herman, both 3-Michelin Star Dutch chefs. 
The Dutch/ Flemish area has the best Mussels and Lobster in the World ( yes, I dare say that even to my friends from Maine 😜), we have fantastic cheeses, amazing vegetables not grown elsewhere, like our white asparagus, witloof, ... and our chocolate... 
And if they really need to but another Asian option, be more original please than this Morimoto crap. Create a  Dim Sum bar, or have a true “Indonesian” Rijsttafel with another more authentic Indonesian menu as option. ( Rijsttafel is a Dutch invention really, you will not find it in Indonesia, although some dishes are resemble) .

And let us not forget the delightful Indian food. No, not greasy curries ( although I adore them too), but Kerala food for example.... So many options, such a bad choice.
 

1 hour ago, sparks1093 said:

It's the way markets have always worked. All that really matters is am I receiving a good value for my vacation dollar. Until that answer is no I'll continue to sail with them. 

Thing is: The European lines, like Aida, Costa and MSC are now better priced, have better food and service and far less rowdy behaviour. Costa and Aida belong to the same group as Carnival, I am aware, but their product is ( in some aspects far) superiour and cheaper, and they have the same class of ships. 

Nothing like that at all, ever, for non US passengers.

7 minutes ago, ledges1 said:

What is your background to support you as a credible source.

Well,

Studies: Master Nautical Sciences at Antwerp Maritime Academy

STCW II Master 

Chairman of TCAS Maritime and Aviation Safety, developing Safety and Emergency Procedures for the Maritime and Aviation Industry. 
 

Current Captain B747-400 and Simulator Instructor/ Examiner (Aviation).

And various ICAO/IATA and STCW/IMO courses regarding Crowd Management, Emergency Procedures, Security,...

In any case, there are many posters here with better experience than me as I am no longer working onboard cruise ships.

best regards