The AIDAsol is of course on her inaugural visit to Kiel. She was welcomed in the traditional manner with a water fountain display by a fire-fighting ship, also appropriately named Kiel, and then accompanied to her mooring at the Ostseekai Terminal.

This was followed by a grand reception on board the ship. The Port of Kiel’s Managing Director Dirk Claus and the Lord Mayor of the state capital, Torsten Albig, both delivered welcoming speeches to the captain and crew of the ship. They then presented the captain with a brass memorial commemorating the vessel’s first visit to the city.

Torsten Albig had the following to say: “We are very proud that AIDA Cruises decided to name ‘AIDAsol’ in Kiel. The entire city is looking forward to a splendid occasion that will attract many thousands of enthusiastic spectators.”

The port will be quite busy during the upcoming summer season. It will host cruise ships on no less than 127 occasions between April and the end of October – a season that is markedly longer than the previous year.

The number of cruise ships docking at Ostseekai will also increase from 109 to 111 this year. This follows after the Bollhörnkai-Nord was reserved for Stena Line’s gigantic ferries and will, therefore, not be available to cruise liners any longer.

Dirk Claus stated confidently that the port was on course for strong future growth. He added that the total number of passengers on cruise holidays will, for the first time, exceed 350,000 this year.