This month sees four cruise ships are scheduled to make cruise calls. First to arrive on April 21st will be the Viking Sky making her inaugural call when she berths on County wharf. The 48,000 tons Viking Sky which can accommodate 930 passengers will be on her “Barcelona to Bergen” 15 day cruise tracing medieval routes of commerce.

Two days later the German operated Deutschland arrives at the start of her 22 day long cruise “Great Western Europe-Azores and Canaries “ cruise beginning and ending in Bremerhaven. Astor arrives on the same day with German passengers.

Finally, on April 30th the AIDA Cruises AIDAvita arrives from Portland bringing mainly German passengers on a “Western Europe” cruise terminating in Hamburg.

The AIDA ships cater for the mainly German-speaking market and are renowned for their youthful style and casual service. These sea-going “club resorts” are geared up to accommodate younger, more active passengers. The ships carry bicycles for up to 100 people and, during her stay here, I expect many cyclists will be seen in the area.

Artwork or cruise ship graffiti appears to be the norm these days especially on the mega cruise ships.

The artwork on AIDA vessels, the large red lips etc was inspired by an Egyptian opera named Aida of Verdi which started in Cairo back in 1871. The opera featured an Ethiopian princess who was called Aida. AIDAcara was the first ship to sport the new bow art.