AIDA and Costa Sign Long-Term Agreement with Central Romana for La Romana

AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises, European brands of Carnival Corporation, signed a long-term agreement with Central Romana Corporation, operator of La Romana International Airport and the La Romana Cruise Port, in the Dominican Republic. The signing took place during the World Travel Market (WTM) tourism trade fair in London and aims to secure future cruise deployments, international air connectivity and infrastructure development at that Caribbean homeport.

The understanding establishes an integrated flight-and-cruise platform that coordinates vessel schedules, international flights and passenger transfers through facilities controlled by the same company. Cruise Industry News specified that this is a ten-year agreement signed by AIDA Cruises for fly & cruise packages departing from and returning to La Romana, while Splash Cruise noted that the parties did not disclose the duration, financial value, minimum vessel commitments or guaranteed passenger volumes.

The agreement formalizes ties that date back decades. Costa Cruises has operated in the area since 1996, when it began activities linked to Isla Catalina, while AIDA established La Romana as a Caribbean homeport in 2003. Portal Portuario detailed that the alliance is built on 30 years of cooperation with Costa and 23 years with AIDA.

According to Cruise Industry News, during the 2026-27 winter season three AIDA vessels will regularly call at La Romana, beginning with the arrival of the AIDAdiva on November 14, 2026, and the same number of ships will continue in the 2027-28 season, with AIDAluna, AIDAprima and AIDAbella, and in the 2028-29 season, with AIDAprima, AIDAdiva and AIDAbella. Splash Cruise added that AIDA's published schedules still include Caribbean itineraries calling at La Romana aboard the AIDAbella, AIDAdiva and AIDAperla, and that Costa Cruises also maintains operations linked to the port.

The agreement was formalized in the presence of the Dominican Republic's Minister of Tourism, David Collado. Anika Birkholz, Vice President of Revenue and Capacity Management at AIDA Cruises, stated that the agreement provides the certainty and mutual guarantees needed to support the continued growth of AIDA and Costa. Luis Emilio Rodríguez Amiama, Director of the Airport and Cruise Port of La Romana at Central Romana Corporation, said that the mutual commitments consolidate La Romana as a strategic homeport and a flight-and-cruise connection hub in the Caribbean.