AIDAstella Makes Her First Trip

The 71,000-ton AIDAstella completed its river conveyance down the Ems River on Saturday (February 9, 2012) more than twelve hours earlier than originally planned, allowing it to begin sea trials already Saturday afternoon.

AIDAstella is the the last of the series being built for AIDA by Meyer, so the completion was a cause for extra celebration. AIDAstella, therefore, departed Papenburg under a colorful fireworks display provided by the yard.

The river conveyance is always a spectacle, and as usual, local people turned out along the banks to see a giant ship going down the river backwards.

Photos and video courtesy of Meyer Werft and AIDA Cruises.

First Steel Cut for Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas

Royal Caribbean announced today that the first Project Sunshine ship will be named Quantum of the Seas, which will be completed in October 2014. The second ship, to be named Anthem of the Seas, is scheduled for delivery in the spring of 2015.

The first steel was cut at Meyer Werft in Papenburg on January 31 for the 167,000 grt Quantum of the Seas as shown in this ideo.



The complete story appeared in the February 5, 2013, edition of Cruise News Daily.

AIDAstella Floats Out

In the cold and foggy early morning hours, this morning, AIDAstella slowly began her journey out of Meyer's indoor Building Dock I, at times barely visible to the small number of hearty souls who braved the frigid temperatures to be among the first to see the new ship.

Once some of the fog burned off, the ship's brilliant colors could be seen while it underwent tests in the lagoon. Note the ice floating in the water.

AIDAstella's next trip will be a one way trip down the Ems River to the sea, planned right now for February 9/10.


Details appeared in the January 25, 2013 edition of Cruise News Daily.

Photos courtesy of NDR, Meyer Werft and Cruise News Daily.

AIDAstella Gets Her Propellers

Two giant propellers were attached to AIDAstella today at Meyer Werft in Papenburg. Each measures more than 17 feet across and weighs in excess of 14 tons. The ship will be floated up later this week and towed out of the building dock on January 25.

Details appeared in the January 21, 2013, edition of Cruise News Daily.

The Most Visually-Interesting Ad Most People Will Never See

Norwegian Cruise Line has launched a clever advertising campaign - and one of the most visually-interesting we've seen in a long time. The only problem is that most of the
country will never see it.

The television ad is designed for the geographic market which will sail on Norwegian Breakaway's cruises from New York, which has a limited geographic appeal, although the
numbers of potential passengers in that area are huge.

The concept is all the New York experiences that will be available on Norwegian Breakaway's sailings to Bermuda and the Caribbean.