AIDAaura is celebrating 20 years of service this month.
She was built at the Aker MTW shipyard in Germany and was christened on April 12, 2003. She was named by top model Heidi Klum during a ceremony in the port of Warnemünde in Germany.
Days later AIDA’s third “club ship,” AIDAaura, set sail with her first guests. The 1,270 passenger ship has a relaxed and informal atmosphere and features open seating restaurants with buffet style service. She also houses several bars and lounges, a two story theater, a library and more. In her inaugural season she sailed the Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Central America.
During the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, she served as the official German Olympic ship.
During her 20 years of service, AIDAaura has sailed over 800 cruises with about one million guests. She joined the cruise line’s AIDA selection program in 2016 and offered trips to Mauritius and Seychelles, the Orient, India and Greenland, as well as Iceland and Svalbard in the Arctic Circle. On October 8, 2018, AIDAaura sailed the cruise line’s first ever world cruise. Passengers visited 41 ports in 20 countries on 4 continents in 117 days.
AIDAaura’s 20th year is ending in retirement. She is currently offering farewell cruises as she will be retired from the AIDA cruises fleet at the end of the third quarter this year.
Her last sailing begins on September 9 and will visit well-known European rivers such as the Thames to Tilbury on the outskirts of the British capital of London, the Seine in France to Rouen, and the Scheldt in Belgium to Antwerp
Happy 20th AIDAaura!