Before we make our next blogger trip with AIDA to Norway in September, we were invited to the 1st AIDA Barcamp and Blogger meeting on board the AIDAperla in Hamburg. Of course, we were very pleased about this 🙂 It was a task to celebrate the 1st birthday of AIDAperla in Hamburg with other AIDA storytaggers, to spend a creative day together and to exchange ideas.
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The Hotel 25hours Hamburg HafenCity
And so we drove in bright sunshine on Friday afternoon with the ICE in a good 3.5 hours from Frankfurt to Hamburg. From Hamburg Central Station it is a short walk of about 20 minutes to the Hotel 25hours Hamburg HafenCity, where we stayed for the next 2 nights. After we were so enthusiastic about the Zurich 25hours Hotel in Langstrasse, the anticipation increased even more, because the furnishings of the 25hours hotels shine with their individuality and attention to detail. So is the hotel in HafenCity, where you can find a piece of Hamburg. Each room is decorated differently and tells stories of ports, seafaring and the sea. Pure feel-good atmosphere!
The cruise ship AIDAperla
On Saturday morning we started at 9.30 a.m. in bright sunshine at the hotel. By taxi we went through the Hambug harbour area to the Cruise Center Steinwerder, where AIDAperla has laid out. The sight of the AIDA immediately reminded us of our last AIDA holiday in the Caribbean, where we hopped from island to island for two weeks. AidAperla, together with aidAprima, is one of aidA’s newest and currently largest cruise ships (Hyperion class). The 300-metre-long ship can accommodate up to 3,300 passengers on 17 decks. Here is a nice video of the christening of AIDAperla last year in Palma de Mallorca by Lena Gercke and a virtual tour of the ship:
The 1st AIDA Barcamp
After we have our day boarding passes with the inscription “Such a boarding pass is really good to you.” (how right they are ;-)) in their hands, it went straight to the ship. Our group consisted of a total of 24 travel bloggers and photographers – this sounds like an exciting and information-rich day. For the workshop part we were accommodated in a crew conference room on deck 3, which was already lovingly covered by crew members and decorated with birthday girllands. Because even though we were actually here to work and network, the birthday party of AIDAperla should not be forgotten. As a result of this occasion, AIDAperla was also in the port of Hamburg until 9 p.m. today, so that we could really stay on board until 8.45 p.m. Our day on board consisted of various workshops on cinemagraph, blogger relations, food photography, storytelling and a great boat tour. We did part of the workshop in the cooking studio, where we could also marvel at many loving fruit and fruit carvings.
A tour of the AIDAperla
During the two-hour tour we were able to get to know many areas of the ship: from the champagne bar to the patiodeck with the infinity pools and the MAGNUM Pleasure Store to the climbing garden, the beach club or the D6 disco. There was something new to discover on every corner. We particularly liked the Skywalk – a kind of glass balcony – from which you had a great view of the harbour from a height of 45 meters. And this in the best weather 🙂
In the evening there was a delicious a la carte dinner in the Brasserie French Kiss followed by a great show in the theatrium. The singer and actor Gil Ofarim congratulated AIDAperla with a birthday party and then put a tango on the parquet with Ekaterina Leonova (known from Let’s Dance). Wow, today really one highlight chased the next one.
The phasing out of the AIDAperla in Hamburg
Just in time at 8.45 p.m. we left the ship and yes, it was really difficult for us. How happy we would have stayed on board and made the metropolis tour (Hamburg – Rotterdam – Zeebrügge – Le Havre – Southampton) with the Perla. But the day wasn’t over. After we had left the ship, we went in a slightly smaller group to the museum harbour Övelgönne and waited here for AIDAperla. A short time later she passed us and drove towards the sunset. The departure of such a large ship is always a highlight and beautiful to look at 🙂
This was a really great day on board the AIDAperla and we are really looking forward to our trip with AIDAsol in September through the fjords of Norway. Again, we will hopefully be able to bring you many great impressions, experiences and pictures 🙂