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Birthday party twin-pack: AIDAprima celebrates its first birthday at the same time as the HAFENGEBURTSTAG HAMBURG port anniversary

As the main sponsor, the shipping company issending four cruise ships to the Hanseatic City and will present a major AIDAfirework display on Saturday evening

Last year, 1.6 millionvisitors experienced the spectacular christening ceremony for AIDAprima on theanniversary of the Port of Hamburg. Since then, the flagship has departed fromHamburg 52 times on 7-day round-trip cruises to the finest cities of WesternEurope such as London, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam.

"Hamburgand AIDA belong together and together we have developed the Hanseatic City intoone the most important cruise metropolises in Northern Europe", confirms Hansjörg Kunze, Vice President of Communication &Sustainability at AIDA Cruises. "Weare delighted to be the main sponsor of the HAFENGEBURTSTAG HAMBURG port anniversary celebrationsonce again for the 6^th time and contribute to its constant furtherdevelopment."

The other projectsbeing promoted by the shipping line together with the City of Hamburg include,for example, the environmentally-friendly operation of AIDAprima on liquefiednatural gas in the Port of Hamburg for one year now. The use of LNG substantiallyreduces the ship's emissions, with the emission of sulfur dioxides and sootparticles avoided completely. The emission of nitrogen oxides has fallen by upto 80% and CO2 emissions reduced by 20%.

At this year's 828^thHAFENGEBURTSTAG HAMBURG port anniversary event, AIDAprima will also celebrateher first birthday – and everyone can join in the celebrations and even the singing.During the port anniversary event, guests can give a rendition of their veryown song in a Video-Box at AIDA World in the HafenCity area of Hamburg. Thebirthday song for AIDAprima will then be created from all the videocontributions.

Under the hashtag #aidacelebration,every fan can share his/her AIDA impressions of the port anniversary weekendand view these on a Social Wall at www.aida.de or on the large LED wall at AIDA World inHafenCity. And we can't forget the birthday cake, of course! Several thousandbirthday cakes will be handed out over the weekend.

In addition, visitorsto the 100 square meter AIDA World facility can also expect a lot of othersurprises. In addition to numerous children's events, guests can gaininspiration from the AIDA feeling close up in the Show Cabin or go on a tour ofdiscovery via 3D glasses and a digital model of a ship. There is also a GIFBooth with digital output, i.e. real moments are transformed into moving images.The animations can easily be sent by email or shared via Facebook, Twitter orInstagram. Visitors can also find out more about AIDA's range of vacationpackages at the HAMBURG del mar Beach Club.

The highlights of thebirthday party will be the big AIDA firework display and the brilliant lightshow on board and on shore at 10.30 p.m. on Saturday May 6, 2017. From theHAMBURG del mar Beach Club, spectators will have an ideal view of the fireworkdisplay and the colorful activities on the water. AIDAprima will leave herberth in Steinwerder at around 7.45 p.m. for this and take up her position infront of the piers. For all of those who would like to relive the past year of AIDAprimafrom Hamburg and cannot physically attend the firework display, there will be aFacebook Live stream from 10 p.m. presented by Entertainment Manager StephanHartmann from the deck. Following the colorful spectacle, which will light upthe night sky over the port, AIDAprima will set course for some of the finestcities in Western Europe.

In addition toAIDAprima, three other AIDA pursed lip beauties will also be visiting for theHAFENGEBURTSTAG HAMBURG port anniversary celebrations. This will start with themooring of AIDAvita at the Steinwerder Cruise Center at around 8 a.m. on FridayMay 5, 2017. She is scheduled to depart again at 7.30 p.m. Before leaving theport, AIDAvita will make a short tour of the harbor past the piers and the HamburgElbphilharmonie concert hall. AIDAvita will then set course for a 14-daySelection Cruise to Great Britain and Ireland.

The celebrations willculminate on Sunday May 7, 2016 in the mooring of AIDAluna at the HafenCityCruise Center from 8 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. and the docking of AIDAsol in Altona from8 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. Visitors can then marvel at the two AIDA ships leaving theport together to conclude the celebrations. AIDAluna will then set course forthe beautiful sights of Norway, with AIDAsol departing on a short 4-day cruiseto Amsterdam and London.

AIDA Cruises has displayedthe strongest presence in the Port of Hamburg this year with 82 visits from atotal of six ships and is once again an important economic factor for theHanseatic City as well as a magnet for many local residents and guests.

The Hanseatic City ofHamburg and AIDA Cruises are also setting standards together for the cruisesector in terms of sustainability. With AIDAprima, AIDA Cruises commissionedthe first cruise ship in the world in 2016 to be fitted with a dual-fuel engineand which can be supplied with low-emission liquefied natural gas (LNG) whilein port. For one year now, AIDAprima has been running successfully onlow-emission LNG at the Steinwerder Cruise Center. A short time later, thesupply of LNG also gradually started in all the other ports (Southampton, Le Havre,Zeebrügge and Rotterdam) that AIDAprima calls at on her 7-day cruises. The useof LNG avoids the emission of soot particles and sulfur dioxides almostcompletely. Nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced by 80% and CO2 emissions by20% compared with the use of low-sulfur marine diesel.

Those who would liketo experience the unique atmosphere of the Port of Hamburg themselves from thedeck of an AIDA ship can book cruises from the Hanseatic City with their localtravel agency, on the Internet at www.aida.de or at the AIDA Customer Center by calling +49(0) 381 / 20 27 07 07.

Rostock, May 3, 2017

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