AIDA Bella
The German cruise ship AIDA Bella, measuring 253 meters long, and with the capacity of 2,500 people, is the largest passenger ship that has ever docked in
The ship comprises of 14 levels, the lowest two are accessible only to the crew members. Level 3 has a partial passenger access, since this is where the cruse’s medical centre or “hospital” as it was referred to by a crew member, is located.
Above are photos of the ship's two passageways. One on the left leads to the elevators and a staircase at the back, and the one on the right is in the shopping area winding in between speciality boutiques. Notice the stylized golden columns in both pictures that one can also find in other areas of the ship. Somehow, these columns project the proportions of a female's body. Is this the artistic rendition of AIDA, the name of the German shipping company that build and owns the boat, and also the name of the main heroin of Giuseppe Verdi's opera by the same name?
Those stylized AIDA columns are not the only art objects on the ship. There is also an art gallery for the art-loving passengers, seen in the photo just below.
The ship has several dining areas which are open to all the passengers at the same time, unlike in other cruisers where people are scheduled to eat at certain and at different times. In AIDA Bella's dining areas , the food is included in the price of the cruise ticket. In addition, there are several restaurents where the passengers can choose to eat and pay for their food.
There are also several bars on the ship. The largest one is the Star-shaped Bar pictured in the photo above to the right.
What would a cruise ship be without an exercise room and a lounging area. Of course AIDA Bella has them! You can see both in the photos above.
For the warm summer days, there are chaiselongs and swimming pools on the upper-most deck. As you can see from the photos above and below, the design of the upper deck is quite dramatic. It has both futuristic and classical, amphitheatre-like elements.
The ship also has a spa with a jacuzzi set into a tropical setting, and a discotheque which is full of passengers when the ship is at sea.
However, during the ship's stay in Montreal, and only as a special exception due to the panoramic setting of the Montreal's Port in the historical part of the city, the discotheque is turned into a bar with a mellow background music. The people sit on the discotheque's terrace and admire the Montreal's night scenery with its special lights and shapes.
If the pictures above looked devote of people, it is simply because during the day the passengers embark on various tourist excursions. Some take guided tours in Montreal, organized by the Tourism Montreal bureau, others go on a day trip Ottawa or to the Laurentian mountains north of Montreal. The Ottawa trip has proven especially popular this year.
AIDA Bella caters to the German tourists. Those who speak English would feel quite comfortable on the ship, even if they are not German. The AIDA cruise line has not yet ventured into serving multilingual clientele without any knowledge of either German or English.
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