I've heard from Germany that the ceremony at Hamburg was truly spectaular. It seems surprising how AIDA (the brand mark IS is capitals) has evolved from the dull and humourless East Germany of the '50s to the vibrant company it is today. The answer is two-fold, firstly AIDA is now owned by the megalithic Carnival Corporation, and secondly modern Germany has the most lucrative cruise market in Europe - so it's not difficult to see where Carnival is going to direct a lot of their their investment.
The present company name seems to have been adopted in 1996 with the acquisition of the first AIDA, and rumour has it that the chairman of the owning company was a great opera fan ..... and his favourite composer was Verdi, ...... and his favourite opera was ..... (you guessed it).
As Aida (the opera) was set in ancient Egypt this probably explains the hieroglyphic style of the eyes painted on the bows of their ships.
Although being very impressed with the technology involved I am normally quite indifferent towards modern cruise ships (being of the liner generation I find the relevant word here is "ships" rather than the term floating holiday camps).
However there is a degree of eccentricity about the AIDA fleet I like a lot. For example, the company name on the funnel seem to be made from gigantic fridge magnets, and the huge triangular wedge-like observation section halfway down the hull of the larger ones give them an identity of their own. I also like the rounded forward superstructure - it must add quite a bit to the cost - but it's a nice touch.
As AIDA ships seem to have slid down the German builders stocks faster than the eye can see, Mitsubishi in Japan are building them two 125,000 tonne monsters. I could be totally wrong but I suspect these will be operating in the Med or the Caribbean.
The main thing for us is that AIDA clearly like Dover, so we should be very thankful for that.