After being acquired by Blue Dream Cruises earlier this 12 months, the previous AIDAvita lately arrived in China.
The 2002-built ship is now anticipated to enter a drydock in Liuheng to endure a serious conversion and refurbishment challenge.
Renamed Blue Dream Melody, the ship will cater to the Chinese language market, providing cruises to Asia from home ports.
Whereas a selected timeline and deployment particulars haven’t been introduced but, the 1,270-guest ship is predicted to start out working for its new house owners earlier than the summer time.
After greater than two years docked, the Blue Dream Melody departed from the Estonian port of Tallinn on January 24, beginning its journey to China. The vessel traveled by means of the Mediterranean and made a technical cease in Egypt earlier than crossing the Suez Canal.
Regardless of some cruise ships avoiding the realm as a consequence of armed conflicts, the previous AIDAvita crossed the Crimson Sea on its option to the Indian Ocean. Regardless of safety issues, the ship safely crossed the area and arrived on the port of Colombo, India.
After stocking up on provisions, the 42,200-ton vessel sailed by means of Southeast Asia, with a technical cease in Singapore, earlier than reaching Shanghai earlier this month.
Initially constructed for AIDA Cruises, the Blue Dream Melody was acquired by Blue Dream Cruises in late January.
As one of many few fashionable vessels but to welcome company again after the COVID-19 pandemic, the ship has been out of income service since early 2020.
After leaving the AIDA fleet in early 2023, the ship was acquired by Beta Marine. The brand new house owners renamed it Avitak, and it remained in heat layup on the port of Tallinn earlier than altering fingers once more.
Inbuilt Germany, the previous AIDAvita was initially designed with a “club-ship” idea, that includes a number of buffet-style eating places and a relaxed and casual ambiance onboard.