AIDAperla Shifts to Kiel for Winter After Middle East Season Canceled
Guests booked on canceled Middle East sailings will receive a voucher worth ten percent of their previous cabin price for a new booking by December 31, 2026.
AIDA Cruises will deploy AIDAperla from Kiel for winter 2027-28, adding a Germany-based program after canceling the ship’s planned Middle East season. The Rostock-based line said the ship will sail three- to 11-night cruises to Baltic and Nordic cities, Norway’s coast and the Canary Islands from Nov. 13, 2027, through May 2028.
The move puts a 1,643-cabin ship into Northern Europe across the winter months, with itineraries that can be combined into longer voyages. AIDA said its decision to pull Middle East cruises early was intended to give guests and sales partners more planning certainty because conditions in the region cannot be reliably assessed.
Guests booked on canceled winter 2027-28 Middle East sailings will receive a voucher worth 10 percent of their previous cabin price for a new booking made by Dec. 31, 2026. AIDA pointed affected guests to replacement options in the Caribbean, Canary Islands and Northern Europe, including departures from Hamburg, Kiel and Warnemünde.
AIDAperla schedule centers on Baltic and Nordic ports
AIDAperla, listed at 3,286 passengers at double occupancy, will open the Kiel program with Northern European destinations including Copenhagen, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki and Stockholm. For the Christmas cruise departing Dec. 23, 2027, the ship is scheduled to call at Copenhagen, Kristiansand and Aarhus, followed by a New Year’s cruise to Scandinavia with New Year’s Eve in Oslo.
In February and March 2028, AIDA will shift AIDAperla toward Norwegian and Baltic coastal routes. March sailings pair Hardangerfjord, Norway’s second-longest fjord, with Eidfjord, and two voyages include several days berthed in Oslo during the Biathlon World Cup finals at Holmenkollen from March 14-19, 2028.
Canary Islands voyage adds longer winter inventory
The longest addition is the 24-day “Great Winter Break Canary Islands” sailing from Kiel in January 2028, linking the Canary Islands with Madeira, Lisbon and ports in northern Spain. The itinerary can also be booked in sections between Kiel and Tenerife, with the Tenerife-to-Kiel portion beginning Jan. 20, 2028.
AIDA will also operate winter departures from Hamburg aboard AIDAnova, which is scheduled for seven-day voyages to southern Norway and cities on Europe’s west coast. The 2027-28 deployment follows an earlier change for winter 2026-27, when AIDA canceled its Middle East season and assigned AIDAprima to European itineraries from Kiel.
Starting fares were not included in the initial announcement. AIDA plans to publish detailed information at the end of July, when the new trips are scheduled to open for booking.
