German Cruise Liner, First Time Here
AIDAmar, a German owned cruise liner, will arrive at the Suva Port for the first time on December 23.
Tourism Fiji chief operations officer Leigh Howard confirmed the arrival of the vessel carrying 1593 passengers and 628 crew members.
Mr Howard said the cruise liner would be in Suva for the day before heading to Lautoka on December 24.
Another day at Lautoka before leaving at 6pm for Mystery Island, Vanuatu and is scheduled to arrive on December 26.
Mr Howard said the AIDA brand has been to Fiji several times before but it would be AIDAmar’s first time here.
About AIDAmar
AIDAmar is fifth in a series of six ships ordered by the German company, AIDA Cruises.
The ship is 252 metres (826 ft 9 in) long and 32.2 m (105 ft 8 in) wide. Displaying a gauge of 71,300 tons. It has 1,096 cabins. Facilities include an additional deck, an onboard brewery and a 2,300 m2 (25,000 sq ft) spa facility. The AIDAmar is a sister ship of AIDAblu and AIDAsol, delivered in 2010 and 2011 respectively. It has a capacity of 2,686 passengers and upto 600 crews.
The ship is on a 117 – day adventure visiting countries in South
America, the South Pacific, Oceania, Australia, the Indian Ocean and Africa.
These included rounding;
■Cape Horn,
■Cape of Good Hope,
■G●acier Alley in Southern Chile,
■ Tierra del Fuego,
■Mauritius
■Cape Town.
■Nuku’a●ofa in Tonga,
■Mystery Island in Vanuatu,
■I●e des Pins in New Caledonia,
■ Geraldton and Sydney in Australia.
During the four month voyage, the vessel will call at 43 ports in 20 different countries on four continents, pass the International Date Line and cross the equator twice.
Guests will welcome the New Year against the magical backdrop of Sydney.
The adventure which started on October 26, 2022 was scheduled for its sister ship AIDAsol but because of a technical fault, it was replaced by AIDAmar.
It is the first time the 10-year-old ship is used for a world cruise.
The adventure will end on February 20, 2023 at Hamburg, northern Germany.
The ship is 252 metres (826 ft 9 in) long and 32.2 m (105 ft 8 in) wide. Displaying a gauge of 71,300 tons. It has 1,096 cabins.