By
Rebecca Gibson |
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has officially delivered AIDAperla to AIDA Cruises at its shipyard in Nagasaki, Japan.
The traditional Japanese handover ceremony was attended by Michael Thamm, CEO Costa Group; Felix Eichhorn, president of AIDA Cruises; Shunichi Miyanaga, president and CEO of MHI; and Kazuaki Kimura, president and CEO of Industry and Infrastructure at MHI.
“Employing their creativity and innovative strength, our team has convincingly succeeded in meeting our high standards of product quality in an exemplary manner,” said Thamm. “Future guests of AIDAperla, the second cruise ship of this new generation, can look forward to unique cruising experiences onboard thanks to the high-quality and innovative technology.”
Sister to AIDAprima, the new AIDAperla recently completed sea trials, demonstrating her manoeuvrability under the supervision of her captain Boris Becker. He has previously successfully commissioned several new vessels, including AIDAluna and AIDAblu, and also supervised the construction and deployments of AIDAprima.
“It is a great honour and responsibility for a captain to accompany a ship on its first journey,” said Becker. “I look forward to joining my crew and taking AIDAperla to the Mediterranean Sea, where we can welcome aboard the first guests.”
AIDAperla will now head to Palma de Mallorca in Spain. From 1-6 June, the ship will sail a welcome cruise from the port, calling at Marseille in France, and the Spanish ports of Barcelona and Valencia. This will be followed by several introductory cruises before an official christening cruise on 24 June to 1 July, where guests will visit Rome and Florence in Italy, and Barcelona.
The vessel will be christened by model and presenter Lena Gercke on 30 June in Palma de Mallorca. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the internet and via various social media channels.
From 1 July 2017, AIDAperla will sail seven-day western Mediterranean cruises from Palma de Mallorca to Barcelona, calling at Rome, Corsica and Florence. In March 2018, the ship will make her maiden visit to Hamburg and sail various seven-day roundtrips from the German city to destinations in Western Europe.
“With the successful commissioning of AIDAprima in May 2016, we have inspired many guests for a cruise vacation,” said Eichhorn. “With the sister ship AIDAperla we will be injecting further important growth momentum into the German vacation market. Today, with our 12 ships sailing on 130 different routes to more than 250 ports worldwide, we offer the greatest vacation diversity and we will inspire even more holidaymakers for one of the most beautiful ways of traveling.”