Carnival has announced retirement plans for its oldest and smallest cruise ship, the 20-year-old AIDA AURA. The ship will be leaving Carnival’s service by September this year.
In its last investor update in December, Carnival stated that it would remove three cruise ships from its service by the end of 2023. It was speculated that the AIDA AURA would be one of the ships to be removed due to her age and size. Carnival has stated that the other two ships to be removed will be from Costa Cruises.
The AIDA AURA is currently cruising around South Africa where its farewell season will begin on January 9th from Cape Town. The ship will sail on several voyages till September. Its visits will include Norway’s Fjords, the Scottish Coast, historic cities throughout Northern Europe, Iceland, Greenland, and more.
The AIDA AURA was named on April 12th, 2003 in Rostock, Germany. AIDA has stated the ship has completed more than 800 cruises and carried more than a million passengers in its time with the company.
It is unknown whether the ship will be offered to another cruise line, sold to another type of operator such as a ferry service, or simply sold for scrap. The plans for the vessel have not been announced.
