AIDA Caribbean 2015

As we had enjoyed the AIDA trip in December so much, we decided to do the "Caribbean 16" route next.

In March 2015 the time had come, and on 19 March it was "cast off". As we wanted to spend a few days in Miami after the cruise, we couldn't book AIDA's travel package and booked everything ourselves – by now we had gained enough experience.

In January we looked for flights to Miami. Although considerably more expensive than the competitors, we chose Lufthansa. The advantage for us at that time was that we could fly directly from Hanover and had 40 kg of free baggage (frequent flyer card).

We were a little uneasy because of the many strikes at Lufthansa, but pushed it to the back of our minds, as there were still 2.5 months until departure and Lufthansa can't always be affected by strikes.

On 16 March we watched the news and suddenly read it in the ticker: strikes at Lufthansa had been announced again for 18 March, affecting short- and medium-haul flights. Our first flight was from Hanover to Munich on 19 March, so we checked the flight status several times a day. Long-haul flights weren't affected by the strike, and we made a plan to drive to Munich by car if necessary so as not to miss the flight to Miami.

On 18 March came new news about the strike: now long-haul flights at Lufthansa were being struck too – and exactly on 19 March. The tension rose further, and we asked ourselves: will we get to Miami on 19 March and reach our ship, or will AIDA already be gone? Of course we also found out what it meant and what rights we would have if we missed our ship in Miami because of the strike and the whole holiday fell through. Disillusionment came quickly, and you can read it everywhere: as we had booked everything ourselves and it wasn't a package holiday, we would bear all the costs ourselves – 4,500 euros.

Those were "great" prospects for us. As I had to travel to Munich a lot for work in 2014, I had already been affected by the strikes then. But there was always the option of switching to the train or the car or rescheduling appointments. In general, strikes are a good way for employees to back up their demands in contract negotiations, but what's going on at Lufthansa these days is simply unacceptable. As I read, there were no fewer than 13 strikes between 2014 and March 2015, carried out on the backs of the customers. We have learned from this that we will no longer fly with Lufthansa (the personal opinion of a Lufthansa customer). But back to our booked flights. Early on 18 March we called the Lufthansa hotline and asked about our flights. At that point they hadn't been cancelled, but that could still happen during the day. Lufthansa then offered to rebook us, and we accepted the free offer. Now we would fly from Hanover via Zurich to Miami with Swiss. In a good mood we set off for the airport in the morning.

On 19 March we flew to Miami as planned and without any disruption. Entry into the USA went relatively quickly – only 30 minutes. We had pre-booked our transfer from the airport to the port with Resort Hoppa. Unfortunately it turned out that although we were on the list, there were no vehicles available, so after waiting over 60 minutes we switched to a taxi. The transfer fee we had paid in advance to Resort Hoppa was refunded after our holiday.

Less than 20 minutes later we finally reached the Vita. Quickly checked in, inspected our cabin and off to eat – it was already past 6 p.m.

First a quick detour through the gym – and a little surprise: the fitness trainer Stefan Schatzinger recognised us immediately. We always like to use the sports area a lot. On this trip we – or rather Michael – had already been looking forward to the indoor cycling, as it is led by Stefan Schatzinger. We had got to know Stefan on our first tour on the Vita in December and were already thrilled by his classes then. Stefan has his own style and such a passion that it carries all the participants along.

He adds his own little arm exercises, announces exactly what's coming next and gets the power going. Michael has never met such a good indoor cycling trainer. Unfortunately Stefan is ending his time with AIDA in April and will then take on new challenges in Austria. After dinner it was time for our traditional cocktail in the AIDA Bar.