February 9 marked the official start of the 2010 cruise season with the christening of the “AIDAblu”. According to media reports, tens of thousands of locals and numerous onlookers who had come to Hamburg especially for the event followed the ceremony at Hamburg’s Fischmarkt.
The Port of Hamburg had already welcomed the “AIDAblu”, the seventh ship in the AIDA fleet, on 5 February. The wintery temperatures and the ice-covered River Elbe provided the appropriate setting for the christening’s motto “When fire meets ice”.