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AIDAluna arrives at Kiel for summer season

Port of Kiel
Dr Dirk Claus (right) greeting Captain Thomas Mey during AIDAluna's arrival at Kiel
AIDAluna arrived at the port of Kiel Monday for a summer homeport operation.

For the first time, AIDA Cruises is basing two ships at Kiel this season.

At a reception hosted to welcome the ship, Kiel Port's managing director Dr Dirk Claus predicted 2015 will see the port setting a new record of cruise passengers.

Addressing Captain Thomas Mey, Claus called the positioning of AIDAluna at Kiel a good example for the dynamic development of Germany as a cruise destination. Dr Claus also said he expected Kiel to exceed an annual volume of 400,000 passengers for the first time due to increasing ship sizes.

AIDAluna is scheduled to make 18 turnaround calls at Kiel this year, operating on a variety of four- to 17-day-itineraries to Baltic and Norwegian destinations.

AIDAluna will also offer cruises to Svalbard, North Cape and Iceland.

The last departure – scheduled for August 26 – will take AIDAluna from Kiel to New York for the beginning of her autumn itineraries.