Operational history
AIDAluna started her maiden voyage on 22 March 2009, departing Hamburg. This 14-day voyage culminated in Palma de Mallorca, with stops at Le Havre, Santander, A Coruña, Lisbon, Cádiz, Tangier, Valencia, and Barcelona.[6] In Summer 2009, she was deployed in Baltic Sea and in Winter, she was redeployed in Canary Islands.[8] AIDAluna made her first call in Kiel on 22 April and in Rostock-Warnemünde on 8 May, departing from Palma de Mallorca. She made ten roundtrip cruises in the Baltic during the 2009 Summer season.[14] In 2011, AIDAluna was redeployed in the Caribbean and offered 14-day cruises, with additional 6 to 8-day sailings. On her way to the Caribbean, AIDAluna sailed the United States East Coast, calling at New York City.[15] AIDAluna made the first visit to Bermuda by an AIDA Cruises' ship in September 2011.[16] In April 2014, the ship had a scrubber system installed to reduce its emissions.[17]
At around 5 a.m. on 9 September 2018, the German pop singer Daniel Küblböck jumped overboard when the vessel was in open waters about 185 km north of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in the Labrador Sea. The Canadian Coast Guard launched a search operation,[18][19][20] assisted by AIDAluna and the Holland America cruise ship MS Zuiderdam.[21] The search was abandoned the following day, as the water temperature was 10 C and the maximum survival time in cold water had been exceeded,[22][23] and Küblböck was later officially declared dead.[24]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, AIDA Cruises suspended all cruises in March 2020, only resuming operations after clearance from local governments.[25][26] The ship was the seventh and last of the AIDA cruises fleet to resume operations, sailing in September 2021.[27] During the Winter season of 2024–2025, AIDAluna serviced the Caribbean, departing from Martinique and visiting the Caribbean islands, Mexico, Central America and a single stop in Colombia at Santa Marta.[28] In October 2025, the ship entered dry dock to undergo the "Evolution" refit, in which the ship will get new features and an interior overhaul. The vessel is expected to return to service in early December 2025.[29]
