Aida cancels New Year's Eve cruises

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»Aida Perla« (archive): New Year's Eve trip canceled

Photo: Morris MacMatzen / Getty Images

The "Aida Mar" is currently sailing on her first trip to the Canary Islands this season, the "Aida Perla" has been sailing from Gran Canaria for three weeks.

For the Rostock shipping company Aida Cruises, the Canary Islands tours are a renewed attempt to restart operations after the forced Corona break.

Both ships should set out on New Year's Eve trips to several Canary Islands on Saturday and Sunday.

Nothing comes of that now - Aida has canceled both trips.

"Unfortunately we are currently affected by IT restrictions," the shipping company announced on Facebook on Friday.

»This is why we are currently not available to our customers by phone or email.

This particularly affects the necessary communication with arriving guests »for the New Year's Eve trips.

The IT problems are noticeable both in the Rostock corporate headquarters and on their ships.

Aida has not yet given any further details, the company cannot be reached.

In the Facebook post, passengers report on the situation on the ships: “We're on the Aidamar, we're seeing the problems.

The whole system is online based.

All shows are canceled.

Everything is currently being handled offline.

Some of the excursions cannot start.

Here you try not to let the stress show you «, writes one user.

A mother tells what her daughter experiences on the “Aida Mar”: “Unfortunately, technically nothing works at the moment, as in the old days, paper and pencil have to show what they can still do.” There is disappointment among customers: “Very much Sad.

Test result available, negative!

Boarding passes printed out.

Then the rejection 15 minutes ago when packing my suitcase. "

As a passenger on the Aida Mar reported to the Bild, the problems began on Christmas Eve.

The captain reported massive IT problems in the headquarters via loudspeaker announcement.

All Aida ships are also affected.

"The boarding pass system has stopped working," cruise guest told the newspaper.

Slips of paper are used that would otherwise be automatically debited, for example when you buy something.

The on-board information system via the TV screen in the cabin also no longer works.

As the cruise blog Cruisetricks reports, both the internet connection and the systems for checking in and checking out passengers for shore leave as well as the ordering systems for waiters in restaurants and bars are apparently affected by the failure.

The two ships continued their voyages, but the "Aida Mar" had shortened it by one day and left out a planned stop on Tenerife.

For the Canaries there is again a travel warning

There is speculation among the passengers about a hacker attack, reports the "Bild".

In mid-December, the Norwegian shipping company Hurtigruten was exposed to a comprehensive data attack.

Several of the company's systems were paralyzed and the entire global IT infrastructure was affected.

According to Hurtigruten, the systems were allegedly attacked by a virus demanding a ransom.

Aida has basically canceled the entire 2020/21 winter season - the Rostockers still operate cruises in the Canaries alone.

TUI Cruises also operates two ships there and offers 7-, 14- and 21-day trips.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruises is currently using its "Europa 2" around the Spanish islands.

A travel warning from the Foreign Office applies to Spain, but the Canary Islands were an exception for a few weeks.

The shipping companies therefore focused their programs on the Spanish islands.

However, since December 20th they have been considered a risk area again, the cruises - including package tours - were not canceled by the organizers for this reason.

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