AIDA Cruises has announced its winter deployment for the 2027-2028 season, comprising more than 300 voyages to destinations that include South Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, South America, and Northern Europe. The German cruise line confirmed its return to South Africa for the first time in several years, while operations in the Middle East remain suspended.
According to the company’s release, the forthcoming season will feature sailings ranging from 7 to 48 days, distributed among ten vessels across the fleet. The programme emphasises extended itineraries to warmer regions, including what AIDA terms its “big winter breaks,” connecting the Caribbean with South America and other long-haul destinations.
AIDAblu will undertake a combined South Africa and Indian Ocean programme, offering voyages that link African ports with island nations in the southern Indian Ocean. Between November 2027 and March 2028, the vessel will operate a series of 14-night roundtrip cruises from Cape Town, calling at East London, Durban, and Port Elizabeth, together with Walvis Bay in Namibia. Select itineraries will include calls at Réunion, Mauritius, and Madagascar, blending coastal Africa with tropical archipelagos.
Following its South African deployment, AIDAblu will reposition to Port Louis, Mauritius, in early 2028 to operate a sequence of Indian Ocean sailings visiting Seychelles, Madagascar, and Réunion before returning to Europe for the summer season.
In the Caribbean and Central America, AIDAbella, AIDAluna, and AIDAprima will operate island-hopping cruises of 14 to 21 nights from La Romana, Dominican Republic, and Bridgetown, Barbados. AIDAmar will offer longer sailings from Hamburg, including a 48-day voyage to Brazil and South America, and a 21-day itinerary calling at the Azores and Morocco. AIDAnova will also depart from Hamburg with sailings to ports in Scandinavia, Denmark, and Western Europe. Meanwhile, AIDAsol, AIDAstella, and AIDAcosma will be based in the Canary Islands and Madeira for the duration of the winter season.
AIDA has confirmed that early booking benefits will apply to reservations made before April 30th, 2027, offering discounts of up to EUR 975 per person. Additional incentives include complimentary cabin selection, a Rail&Fly ticket for train travel within Germany, and two bottles of mineral water provided daily onboard.
The Middle East remains absent from the deployment plan, following the earlier cancellation of the 2025-2026 Arabian Gulf season due to regional security concerns. AIDA made no reference to future resumption of operations in the area, indicating a continued emphasis on consolidating established markets in Europe, Africa, and the Indian Ocean.
AIDA’s withdrawal from the Middle East marks a pause in a deployment pattern dating back to the 2006-2007 season, when AIDAcara inaugurated the line’s regional presence with weeklong cruises from Dubai. Over subsequent years, vessels such as AIDAdiva, AIDAblu, AIDAstella, AIDAprima, and AIDAnova have successively operated in the Gulf, forming a consistent component of the company’s winter scheduling until recent seasons.