AIDA Cruises Reviews 

We went on an 11 days cruise. Unfortunately our family experienced two very different holidays. While one parent was stuck on board or only being able to go for short outings with baby on land, the rest of the family got to experience it all. There is a paid babysitting option on board but this means one parent must stay on board. The babysitting is not available after 8 pm making evening entertainment impossible for one parent.
Unfortunately there are no around the clock food options and buffets/restaurants are only open from 6 to 9:30 pm max…
Also only one place where parents can get baby food on Deck 14 making it a hassle at each meal or forcing the family to always eat in the restaurant next to the Baby Corner.
Otherwise it was a good cruise… maybe just not the best option for families traveling with children under 3.

A brilliant cruise from start to finish. Highly satisfied.

We very much enjoyed the cruise overall; however, there are a few points I would like to address that could have made our experience even better.

Firstly, I travelled with my husband and our two children, who do not speak German at all. Unfortunately, most of the communication on board was in German, which made some interactions difficult for them. They would have loved to understand, for example, what the captain shared each morning, as the information and facts were genuinely very interesting. The daily programme and information provided throughout the ship were also mainly in German, which made it difficult for my family to fully engage with what was happening on board. Having more information available in English would make the experience much more inclusive for international families.

Another point I would like to mention is that some members of staff did not always seem particularly friendly and, at times, appeared annoyed when approached. We completely understand that everyone can have a bad day, especially when working in the hospitality industry, but experiencing this on four or five days of a seven-day cruise was disappointing. Thankfully, this was certainly not the case with all staff.

I would especially like to give a huge shout-out to the housekeeping team. They were absolutely tremendous—always smiling, friendly, attentive and happy to help. Their positive attitude really stood out and made a difference to our experience.

Lastly, as this was our first time cruising with AIDA, it took us a little while to get used to the ship and understand how everything worked. We were therefore very disappointed that we were unable to experience some of the restaurants, such as French Kiss or Casanova, because of the booking system. We understand that the buffet restaurants are a great casual dining option, but as a family, we would have really appreciated having at least one opportunity to enjoy a more formal sit-down meal together. Perhaps more flexibility or clearer information about restaurant bookings for first-time cruisers would be helpful.

Overall, we enjoyed our cruise very much and made some wonderful memories. With a few improvements, particularly around multilingual communication, staff interaction and restaurant accessibility, I believe the experience could be even better for families travelling from different countries.

The itinerary was very well planned, the food was great, the decorations too. Very small and dirty feeling swimming pools (but high season and a lot of kids on the boat).

The staff is generally unaware of what is where, and how the ship works, also some really not nice and simply rude and entitled restaurant management and other higher rated staff. Unpleasant people experience. But except that, it wasn’t that bad for a high season.

Nice cruise, but substandard service compared to others. Mostly due to ratio passengers and staff

Besides the disappointments and unpleasant experiences I have already mentioned, there are a few important points I would like to share, as a loyal customer and not because of the rewarded miles.

1) Shuttle bus situation in Marseille

We were told that in Marseille, we needed to take the AIDA shuttle bus because the port entrance was very far away and it was impossible to walk there by ourselves. However, I clearly remembered that exactly one year ago, when I took Celebrity to Marseille, there was a free port shuttle bus that transported passengers conveniently between the ship and the port entrance.

Therefore, I thought maybe the port had changed its policy, or perhaps AIDA was located in a special area requiring a different arrangement.

However, when I left the ship, there was no other option except a fenced path that led us (or, in my feeling, forced us) towards the AIDA shuttle bus parking area. The AIDA crew members were scanning everyone’s boarding cards and charging the €19 shuttle fee without giving us any alternative choice.

If this was truly the only option, I could accept it. However, after paying €19 for each member of my family (6 people in total) and getting on the bus, I saw, just 100 meters outside the AIDA parking area, the free port shuttle bus waiting for passengers.

At that moment, it was already too late, and honestly, I felt misled and almost cheated. This experience left a very negative impression.

2) Service experience at reception

On the first night onboard, I felt that the air conditioning was too strong and the cabin was too cold. However, the control system was confusing, so I went to the reception simply to ask for clarification on how to use it correctly or to request a user manual.

Unfortunately, the service staff member at the reception simply told me that she did not know and that the control panel was simple enough that no explanation was needed. As a result, I had to search online together with other confused passengers to understand how it worked.

While I was waiting in the queue, I also witnessed another situation that concerned me. A crying girl and her father came to the reception because she had been bullied by some boys. Her father was upset but explained the situation in a reasonable way. Other teenagers who witnessed the incident were also there to help clarify what happened.

However, the service staff member (the same person who served me later) simply said that she could not do anything, made a few calls to find security staff, but nobody answered. What was even worse was that when the crying girl was explaining how she had been humiliated, the service staff member was laughing about her experience.

I found this behaviour unacceptable and very disrespectful, especially from someone working in a customer-facing position.

3) Internet package quality

I paid an additional €140 shortly before the trip because I expected to have some important online meetings during the cruise.

However, the internet connection was quite unstable. It was acceptable for basic browsing, but it was not reliable enough for video calls. Especially while sailing days (we had 2), the connection quality was very poor.

I understand that satellite internet has technical limitations. However, when I pay extra for a “premium” product, I expect a noticeably better experience.

4) Customer privacy issue

On the second-to-last day, I was waiting for my family for dinner in front of the French Kiss Bar. Suddenly, I heard an announcement from the speaker requesting emergency medical assistance for a cabin and asking the “response team” to go there.

A crew member nearby said: “Oh, that cabin number, I remember that guest. He was here shortly before and ordered something,” and then searched the order history, which contained the customer’s personal information, and shared this information with other customers who he was talking with nearby.

I found this extremely unprofessional. There was no respect for customer privacy, and this behaviour appears to violate basic data protection principles under Datenschutz regulations.

I would like to emphasise that I am sharing this feedback as a loyal AIDA customer who has chosen AIDA many times in the past. I still believe AIDA has strengths, especially for family cruises and German-speaking customers. However, compared with my previous experiences and expectations, this cruise was a significant disappointment.

I hope you will take these points seriously and use them to improve the service quality in the future.

Aida.de cruise is really great. Everything is perfectly organized, professional, reliable and frendly. Highly recommend, you wont regret it. We have cruised aida 5 times and we have always been very satisfied.

Horrible Experience for the whole Family. Too crowded. Not enough spaces. Everything is way to expencive. It's for getting as much Money from the People, Not for a good Holiday experience. It's the Quintessence of Bad Tourism. I felt ashamed to took Part of it.

It was so good. It was a dream come true. The customer service was so top

This cruise felt overpriced, and the overall service quality did not justify the cost. Throughout the trip, I often felt like a source of revenue rather than a valued guest whose preferences matter.

Key issues:

Inflexible tariff policy: We booked the Premium tariff as the only available option at the time, yet just 1.5 months before departure the Vario tariff became €500 cheaper. Our request to rebook was denied – a rigid and guest-unfriendly policy.
Restaurant time limits: The strict seating and time restrictions in the restaurants are unnecessarily rigid and significantly detract from the dining experience.
Inconsistent staff service: While we encountered some friendly and helpful crew members, we also experienced noticeably unfriendly and dismissive attitudes from others. Service consistency clearly needs urgent improvement.
Drink packages: Forcing guests to purchase a full beverage package is inflexible and unfair. We only drink coffee and had no use for the rest. I strongly suggest introducing specialized options, such as coffee cards (e.g., 10 or 30 coffees) or separate alcohol packages.
Final word:
I sincerely hope AIDA invests in better staff training, more flexible policies, and fairer package options to genuinely improve the guest experience. Otherwise, I will only consider booking AIDA again if no other cruise line offers a comparable route.

We were very satisfied with our AIDA cruise. The service was excellent, the crew was friendly, the value for money was good, and the itinerary was genuinely interesting. Flåm was the highlight of the entire journey, while the Silent Party was our favourite experience on board.

There are a few areas that could be improved: more information should be consistently available in English, the AIDA app needs to become much simpler and more intuitive, and the kids’ club booking system should be more flexible. International guests should also be informed more clearly in advance about German sauna customs.

However, these points did not affect our overall experience. We had a wonderful holiday and would gladly recommend AIDA, especially when the itinerary and price are attractive.

A very comfortable ship, excellent food, and an exceptionally friendly crew.

Thank you for the wonderful trip you created for us. I really appreciate it and hope you continue to get better and better every day. Wishing you all the best for the future. 😊

I had a great time on AIDAbella

We had a fantastic trip and enjoyed it 100%, both on board the ship and during stops along the way.

The AIDAPERLA and its staff were, in a word, amazing. Highly recommended.

Very friendly. Everything went smooth and without any complications. I would recommend to anyone who wants to enjoy Cyprus with a car.

Beautiful ship with lots of interesting things and and lots of delicious food. However, it is difficult for an English-speaking person to understand events on the ship and the trips.