AIDA to Debut Canary Islands Cruises in December

(12 p.m. EST) -- Carnival Corporation's German leisure cruise brand, AIDA, announced Wednesday it will offer sailings to the Canary Islands beginning in December.

AIDAperla will begin offering weeklong sailings departing from Gran Canaria on December 5, while fleetmate AIDAmar will debut in time for the Christmas holiday season on December 20, 2020.

AIDA stated it is operating all voyages in compliance with the Spanish authorities, which instituted regulations for safe travel in the Canary Islands this month.

AIDA has also rolled out its own health and safety protocols and procedures onboard, including free COVID-19 testing, medical care, social distancing requirements, and shore excursion "bubbles" that require passengers to participate in an AIDA-sponsored excursion as a condition of going ashore.

The new Canary Islands voyages aboard AIDAperla and AIDAmar will depart on Saturdays and Sundays.

In the same press release, AIDA revealed it was cancelling planned voyages aboard AIDAstella and AIDAprima that were planned for the Arabian Gulf and the Western Mediterranean. All voyages aboard the two vessels that were planned between December 1, 2020 and January 26, 2021 are now cancelled.

The Carnival Corporation brand is not the first line to pin its hopes on winter voyages through the Canary Islands. Royal Caribbean part-owned TUI Cruises has deployed its Mein Schiff 2, which also caters to the German-speaking market, on winter sailings through the Canary Islands, where it has been successfully operating for several weeks now.