Last “manic Monday”

Final meeting of the Azura and AIDAnova

Thanks to Jaime for pointing out that today ( 13th March ) will see the last time the “dynamic duo” responsible for bringing almost 8000 passengers to Funchal every Monday for the last few months – P&O’s Azura and Aida’s AIDAnova will be in port together.

Hard to believe the CAI ( Cruise Atlantic Islands ) season is drawing to a close but after today the Azura will be relocating to the Mediterranean for the Summer Season. The AIDAnova will continue her weekly visits until the 17th of April – when she will depart for Lisbon heading back to her German home port of Hamburg where she is set to spend the rest of this and next year cruising close to home running from Hamburg to Scandinavian, Norwegian and near continental ports in Holland, France and the UK including Jersey.

As the first LNG-powered cruise ship built in 2018 in a programme of nine for her parent owners Carnival Corporation the AIDAnova was Aida’s flagship on the CAI run since she entered service. Her place later this year will be taken by her younger twin sister the AIDAcosma which is scheduled to debut in the port on the 26th of November.

The Azura’s last visit will be next week – not Monday, but Tuesday 21st when she departs for Cadiz and the Balearics calling at Sardinia before reaching her summer base of Valetta, Malta. Although missing the AIDAnova by one day Tuesday still could be a busy day in town as there are three other cruise ships due that day – the AIDAsol (2100 pax), Norwegian Sun (2400 pax) and the Azamara Pursuit ( 684 pax ) so with a possible 3000 passengers aboard the Azura there could be long queues for the cable car to Monte and in order to fit all 4 ships alongside the Lobo Marinho may well find herself spending her ‘day off’ in Canciçal.

For those hoping for a quieter Funchal on Mondays next CAI season, Jaime reports no such luck as the Azura returns on the 30th of October and “manic Monday” resumes in December when she pairs up with the AIDAcosma.

Cruises have already brought more than 24,000 this month

At the weekend the Diario reported that cruise ships have been present almost daily in the port of Funchal. They observe that Funchal is in the ‘high season’ of cruise tourism, moving hundreds of people, which can be felt in the pulsation of the main arteries of the Madeiran capital. Since the first day of
March alone the port has welcomed 24,506 people, until yesterday, March 12, of which 17,876 are passengers and 6,630 are crew. A figure that will no doubt be added to again this Monday.

COVID-19 in Madeira: updates can be found in an earlier post

All the incidental news from Madeira – up to 60 reports per day – is being continually picked up automatically, translated, and instantly posted on our sister website, madeiraislandnews, no matter how trivial