AIDAmar – Cruise Ship, Germany

AIDA Cruises will introduce a new cruise ship, AIDAmar, in May 2012. She is the sixth of the seven Sphinx-series ships and ninth in the AIDA fleet. The cruise ship is currently under construction at Meyer Werft's shipyard in Papenburg.

The naming ceremony of the ship will be held on 12 May 2012 and the ship will be unveiled to the public during the 823rd Hamburg Port Anniversary celebration.

The new cruise ship will join its sister ships AIDAluna, AIDAblu and AIDAsol. For the first time in the history, these three AIDA club ships will attend the christening ceremony. The maiden voyage of AIDAmar is scheduled to commence immediately after the launching ceremony at the Hamburg port festival.

In December 2007, the Carnival Corporation placed a €765m contract with Meyer Werft to build two cruise ships, AIDAsol and AIDAmar, for its AIDA Cruises brand. AIDAsol was delivered in March 2011.

Design of AIDAmar

Like her sister-ships, AIDAmar is built around the informal club resort cruise concept of AIDA Cruises. The ship is designed to attract younger and more active guests from Germany.

The cruise ship has an overall length of 252m, width of 32.2m and a draft of 7.2m. The displacement of the ship is 71,100t. It will be served by 607 crew members.

Staterooms, dining and entertainment of Meyer Werft's AIDAmar ship

The ship can accommodate 2,194 passengers in 1,097 double cabins, including 722 outside rooms. The rooms will be available in various categories, such as balcony cabins, panorama balcony cabins, ocean-view cabins, inside cabins and suite rooms.

Dining facilities onboard will include seven restaurants and 12 bars. The restaurants will occupy an area of 4,323m². The Bella Donna Restaurant on deck ten will serve Italian cuisine and the East Restaurant on deck 11 will offer Asian food. The California Grill will serve fresh burgers and wrap creations, grilled steaks and fresh salads. Other dining venues will include Rossini, the Buffalo Steak House and Sushi Bar restaurants.

The onboard brewery will make fresh beers from purified sea water. The Anytime Bar, the Ocean Bar and the Pool Bar on deck 12 will serve a variety of drinks for the guests. The Time Out Bar will be located at the Theatrium, while AIDA Bar will be located on deck ten.

Wellness and sports facilities located on deck 14 will include Wellness Oase, the Body & Soul Spa, Wellness Suite and Sportaußendeck. Body & Soul Spa will occupy an area of 2,602m². The Wellness Suite offers a sauna, whirl-pool and dedicated balcony with an ocean view.

The Cinemare movie theatre on deck 11 will show the latest movies in 4D. The area of sun deck will be 6,620m². The cruise ship will also feature the AIDA lounge, Casino, Buffalo Steak House, AIDA shop, internet station and Kids Club.

Propulsion of the Sphinx-series cruise ship

AIDAmar will be powered by four nine-cylinder MAK diesel engines. Each engine weighs about 127t and delivers a power output of 9,000kW. Two propellers will be driven by a pair of Siemens propulsion motors. The propulsion also integrates two bow thrusters and two stern thrusters.

The diesel-electric propulsion system aboard the AIDAmar will reduce emission levels in the rated load range when diesel engines are running. Four diesel generators will supply electricity for ship systems. The propulsion system will provide a maximum speed of 20kt.

AIDAmar itineraries

After the maiden voyage, AIDAmar will sail on a 14-day Norwegian Fjords voyage from Hamburg. The ship will then operate on a series of cruises to Western Europe and Iceland.