Translated from the press release:

Aidamar leaves the dock I

On early Sunday morning the first of April the Aidamar, a new club ship for AIDA Cruises, will leave the dock at Meyer Werft.

The undocking of the ship begins approximately at 07.30 clock. At about 10.00 clock it will be towed into the shipyard harbor and will then carry out there different tests. Probably around 19:00 clock will be berthed at the outfitting pier, the ship at the yard.

After undocking, the first members of the crew will move aboard the ship.

On 13-14 April 2012 Aidamar will transfer via Ems River conveyance to the Emden plant.

The 71 100 gt club ship has an overall length of 252 meters and 32.2 meters wide. It has 1097 rooms and a speed of about 22 knots.

[ 03-28-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Originally posted by Daniel Capella:
She is the last ordered on Germany for AIDA, no? I don't remember if there's another, a last, to the next year.

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There is at least one more of this class, AIDAstella, whose beginnings can also be seen on the far left side in this image from MeyerWerft.

HERE

She is due to enter service in 2013. I am guessing that all of the modules alongside AIDAmar belong to AIDAstella.

I believe that they have signed letters of intent for two more after that of a new class that are to be 125,000 grt. I think they are to be built in Japan at Mitsubishi.

[ 03-29-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

[ 04-01-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:

There is at least one more of this class, AIDAstella, whose beginnings can also be seen on the far left side in this image from MeyerWerft.

HERE

She is due to enter service in 2013. I am guessing that all of the modules alongside AIDAmar belong to AIDAstella.

I believe that they have signed letters of intent for two more after that of a new class that are to be 125,000 grt. I think they are to be built in Japan at Mitsubishi.

[ 03-29-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

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True, I was thinking that this ship was AIDAstella. Thank you for the informations.

The last information about the new ships in Japan, was that Carnival has ended the contracts, but that they were subject to financing yet.

[ 04-01-2012: Message edited by: Daniel Capella ]

[ 04-12-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

[ 04-12-2012: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

Christening ceremony in Hamburg, 12.05.2012.

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Originally posted by Karsten:
I am sure, you will like it ...

Christening ceremony in Hamburg, 12.05.2012.

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Tons more pictures of her at Le Havre, whole ship and close-up parts

Pam

[ 06-01-2012: Message edited by: PamM ]

I still don't understand two things:

1) The lips and eyeball design and what it means, if anything

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
[...]
2) Why Carnival Corp couldn't contract some of these for their other brands.

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The company responsible for the Aida ship design is now working on the new Carnival ships and has already contributed to ships of Carnival and other Carnival brands.

Partner Ship Design

[ 05-31-2012: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
Such amazing pictures Pam! THANKS for sharing them.

I still don't understand two things:

1) The lips and eyeball design and what it means, if anything

2) Why Carnival Corp couldn't contract some of these for their other brands.

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The hull design dates back to the first ship and was done to distinguish the ship and give them a signature look. Which is still does. It all comes from the opera AIDA.

Internally the ships are very different than the standard cruise ship product. (I reviewed one of them over on Maritime Matters if you want a blow by blow tour with photos.)

The big points are now show lounge, very few suites, high passenger density and low crew numbers because of the self service concepts. Also the outdoor deck space is limited by comparison to other similar sized ships, no lidos, no pool area, etc. Theoretically Carnival Corp. could copy the design to other brands but the GA would require substantial changes and then you have to wonder about the economics with higher crew numbers, less passengers, etc.

That said these are some of the most imaginative ships in the industry today and from what I am told very successful for Carnival Corp.

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Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:
[...]
The hull design dates back to the first ship and was done to distinguish the ship and give them a signature look. Which is still does. It all comes from the opera AIDA.[...]

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I am VERY curious to learn more about how all that is related to Verdi's opera.

You have to tell me I am afraid .... I am in New York so while I know the opera I don't know the Germany cultural connection.

What I was told is that when they selected the name for the firm and the first ship they felt the opera was very popular and that it would make a good name. The brand as a cruise line dates back to the mid-1990s -- so it pre-dates I believe Elton John's Aida adaptation. But was it big in Germany at the time? Did the former East German's frequently walk down the street whistling or humming the opera?

Maybe that 's is all just a story thought. Maybe it is just the founder's favorite opera. (Remember the little Boheme was named that because her owner was fond of operas.)

Aida the company of course traces its roots back to East Germany and the old MS Völkerfreundschaft. Their offices remain in Rostock so maybe that has something to do with the name Aida?

Its not a bad name, distinctive versus another Royal Global Cruise Line and the look is sure eye catching. I remember seeing the first AIDA when she was about a year old and you knew what ship you were seeing even in the distance as she sailed by.

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Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:
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You have to tell me I am afraid .... I am in New York so while I know the opera I don't know the Germany cultural connection.

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There is - to my best knowledge - no connection at all. As you said, it's a nice name but I guess that's it.

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Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:
[...]
Elton John's Aida adaptation. But was it big in Germany at the time?

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Originally posted by Ernst:
There is - to my best knowledge - no connection at all. As you said, it's a nice name but I guess that's it.

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Of course, that doesn't answer the question about why Aida was originally chosen as the name for the 1994 ship that was also adopted as the name of the company.

http://www.castlesoftheseas.nl/aida-cruises-1.html :-

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The ships of this German line and simply recognizable, because they all sail with the same hull-art, the mouth, eyes and eyeshadow of Aida, designed by the German graphic artist Feliks Büttner. This design was not randomly chosen, when you give it a closer look, you'll notice that it has similarities to Egyptian hieroglyphics. Next to the Aida name, the inspiration comes from the opera Aida of Verdi. This opera is set in pharaonic Egypt, and is in fact a love story about the young Ethiopian princess Aida. Feliks Büttner has tried to give a sense of the mystery of ancient Egypt in this design for Aida Cruises.

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Arriving at your AIDA ship you can immediately identify the ship because of the unique exterior “hull art” with the AIDA stylized eyes and lips. The giant red lips and bright eyes on the hull are the work of the German artist Feliks Buttner who had the Egyptian Princess Aida of Verdi’s opera in mind when he created the AIDA face. AIDA says the art embodies the playful spirit of the firm and gives the ships a “welcome feeling.”

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