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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 Rostock Aida Cruises shipping company, the Canary Islands tours are a renewed attempt to restart operations after the forced breakup of Corona. Both ships were supposed to depart for New Year’s Eve voyages to various Canary Islands on Saturday and Sunday. Nothing comes of it now – Aida has canceled both trips.
“Unfortunately, we are currently affected by IT restrictions,” the shipping company announced on Facebook on Friday. »Therefore, we are currently not available to our customers by phone or email. This particularly affects the communication required with guests arriving ‘for New Year’s Eve trips. IT problems are evident both at Rostock’s corporate headquarters and on its ships. Aida has not yet provided further details, the company cannot be reached.
In the Facebook post, passengers report on the situation on the ships: “We are in the Aidamar, we are seeing the problems. The entire 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 stress show you », writes one user.
A mother tells what her daughter experiences in the »Aida Mar«: »Unfortunately, technically nothing works at the moment, since in the old days, paper and pencil have to show what they can still do.« There is disappointment among the customers : »Very, very sad. Test result available, negative! Printed boarding passes. Then the rejection of 15 minutes ago when packing ”.
As a passenger from “Aida Mar” reported to “Bild”, the problems started on Christmas Eve. The captain reported massive IT problems at headquarters via a loudspeaker announcement. All of Aida’s ships are also affected. “The boarding pass system has stopped working,” the cruise guest told the newspaper. Scraps of paper are used that would otherwise be automatically debited, for example when you buy something. The information system on board through the television screen in the cabin does not work either.
As the cruise blog Cruisetricks reports, both the internet connection and the passenger check-in and check-out systems for the shore permit, as well as the waiter ordering systems in restaurants and bars, are apparently affected by the flaw. The two ships continued their voyages, but the “Aida Mar” had been shortened by one day and missed a planned stopover in Tenerife.
For the Canary Islands a travel warning appears again
There is speculation among passengers about an attack by hackers, reports the “Bild”. In mid-December, 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.
Basically, Aida has canceled the entire 2020/21 winter season – the Rostockers still operate cruises only in the Canary Islands. TUI Cruises also operates two ships there and offers 7, 14 and 21 day trips. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises currently uses its “Europe 2” on the Spanish islands.
A travel warning from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs applies to Spain, but the Canary Islands were an exception for a few weeks. Therefore, the shipping companies focused their programs on the Spanish islands. However, since December 20, they have once again been considered a risk area, cruises, as well as tourist packages, were not canceled by the organizers for this reason.
