Pullmantur Cruises

Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain.[1] It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by U.S.-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.,[2] but Royal Caribbean later sold a 51% stake in the cruise line to Spain-based investment firm Springwater Capital, retaining a 49% stake.[3]

Pullmantur Cruises
IndustryCruises
HeadquartersMadrid, Spain
Area served
Caribbean, Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
Owner
SubsidiariesCDF Croisières de France
Websitehttp://www.pullmantur.es

Pullmantur Cruises is the largest Spain-based cruise line. The company mainly markets to Spanish passengers, although cruises are also sold by some travel operators outside the Spanish-speaking world. Some of the company's ships operate an "all-inclusive" product, where some extras, such as brand alcoholic beverages, are included in the cruise price.[2] Originally, most Pullmantur ships do not operate cruises for the company during the northern hemisphere winter season. Instead, they are either laid up or under charter to other cruise lines, such as the Brazil-based Viagens CVC.[2]

History
Portico Building, Pullmantur head office
MS Ocean Dream at Valletta sporting a former Pullmantur livery.
SS Sky Wonder in the harbor of Villefranche-sur-Mer, in the blue-funneled Pullmantur colours.

Pullmantur began cruise operations in the 1990s by initially selling cruises on board SS SeaWind Crown, founded by Anastasios Kyriakides (subsequently merged with Premier Cruises), in the Southern Caribbean from Premier Cruises and later also on board Premier Cruises flagship the SS Rembrandt in the Mediterranean. Premier changed its business plan in 1997 and canceled its contracts with operators, such as Pullmantur, and later collapsed in 2000. Pullmantur then acquired SS Big Red Boat 1 and started its own cruise line, Pullmantur Cruises.[2] Big Red Boat 1 reverted to her original name SS Oceanic, and began cruising around the Mediterranean from Barcelona in May 2005.[4] The Oceanic became very successful, and in 2002, Pullmantur acquired a second ship, MS Pacific, from Princess Cruises,[2] and chartered the former Renaissance Cruises ship MS R Five from Cruiseinvest. R Five was marketed under the name Blue Dream.[5] Two more ships followed in 2003 when Pullmantur acquired MS Superstar Aries from Star Cruises and renamed her MS Holiday Dream,[2] while R Five's sister ship MS R Six was chartered as Blue Star.[6]

In 2004, R Five was chartered to Oceania Cruises.[5] In 2005, Pullmantur purchased R Six, and renamed her MS Blue Dream after R Five exited the fleet. A third R-class ship followed in 2006 when Pullmantur bought Delphin Renaissance and renamed her MS Blue Moon. Later that year, Pullmantur's fleet grew to six ships when it purchased Pacific Sky from P&O Cruises Australia and renamed her SS Sky Wonder. In August 2006, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced it would purchase Pullmantur, making it Royal Caribbean's first wholly owned European brand.[7] The acquisition was expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of the year.[7]

Following the acquisition by Royal Caribbean, several transfers were carried out between the Pullmantur fleet and those of other Royal Caribbean brands. In 2007, Blue Dream and Blue Moon were transferred to Azamara Club Cruises, while MS Oceanic II and Celebrity Cruises' MS Zenith joined the Pullmantur fleet in their place.[2] Oceanic II had only spent the 2007 summer season operating for Pullmantur.[8]

In 2008, Pullmantur received Empress of the Seas from Royal Caribbean International and renamed her MS Empress.[2] Pacific and Holiday Dream left the Pullmantur fleet in April and May for Quail Cruises and CDF Croisières de France, respectively.[8][9] Also in May, Pullmantur purchased Pacific Star from P&O Cruises Australia and renamed her MS Ocean Dream.[2] MS Sovereign of the Seas was also transferred to Pullmantur and renamed MS Sovereign.[10][11] In April 2008. Lloyd's List reported that Pullmantur was in the process of purchasing Pride of Aloha from Norwegian Cruise Line's subsidiary NCL America.[12] However, the deal fell through and Pride of Aloha joined Norwegian's fleet.[13] In January 2009, Sky Wonder was renamed Atlantic Star,[14] and in March, Oceanic was sold to Peace Boat.[15] In mid-April 2009, Island Star was transferred from Island Cruises to Pullmantur Cruises.

In March 2012, Royal Caribbean announced Monarch of the Seas would be transferred to Pullmantur on 1 April 2013.[16] Ocean Dream was chartered to Peace Boat to replace Oceanic and Pacific Dream, which had been renamed Horizon, was transferred to CDF. In 2014, Zenith joined her sister ship L'Horizon in the CDF fleet. On 22 October 2015, it was announced that Empress would be transferred back to Royal Caribbean in early 2016.[17] In late 2016, it was announced CDF would cease operations in early 2017. Both ships in the CDF fleet would be transferred back to Pullmantur.[18] In July 2019, it was announced Zenith would leave the fleet in early 2020.[19] Later that year, Pullmantur announced Grandeur of the Seas would be transferred from Royal Caribbean to Pullmantur, joining the fleet in April 2021.[20]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than half of the crew members onboard Horizon were reported to have tested positive for the coronavirus following the company's suspension of operations.[21] On 22 June 2020, Pullmantur's owners announced that, due to the significant economic impact caused by the pandemic, they had filed for reorganization of Pullmantur under Spanish insolvency laws.[22]

Fleet

Current fleet
ShipBuiltEntered service
for Pullmantur		CapacityGross tonnageFlagNotesImage
MS Sovereign19882008285273,192 GT MaltaPreviously Sovereign of the Seas. Transferred from Royal Caribbean International in November 2008.
MS Monarch19912013285273,192 GT MaltaPreviously Monarch of the Seas. Transferred from Royal Caribbean International in April 2013.
MV Horizon19902009/2017187547,427 GT MaltaPreviously Horizon, Island Star, Pacific Dream. Sailed as CDF Horizon from 2012 to 2017. Identical to the Zenith.

Future fleet
ShipBuiltIn service
for Pullmantur		Gross tonnageStatusImage
TBA1996202173,817 GTCurrently operating as Grandeur of the Seas for Royal Caribbean International.
Scheduled to join Pullmantur in April 2021.[20]

Former fleet
ShipBuiltIn service
for Pullmantur		CapacityTonnage1Status as of 2015Image
SS SeaWind Crown19611999[23]—200073423,306 GRTScrapped in China, 2004.
MS R Five20002002–200470230,277 GTSince 2004 MS Nautica with Oceania Cruises
MS Blue Star / MS Blue Dream20002003–2007
Blue Star – (2003–2005)
Blue Dream – (2005–2007)		70230,277 GTSince 2007 MS Azamara Journey with Azamara Cruises
SS Oceanic19652001–2009180038,772 GTPreviously operated for Peace Boat. Scrapped in 2012.
MS Holiday Dream19812004–2008115837,301 GRTSince May 2008 MS Bleu de France with CDF Croisières de France[8] Sold to Saga cruises, enter in service in 2012.
MS Pacific19722005–200862620,636 GTScrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 2013.
MS Blue Moon20002006–200770230,277 GTSince 2007 MS Azamara Quest with Azamara Cruises
MS Oceanic II1966200778227,670 GRTScrapped at Alang, India in November 2015.
SS Sky Wonder / SS Atlantic Star19842006–2013
Sky Wonder – (2006–2008)
Atlantic Star – (2009–2013)		155046,087 GRTScrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 2013.
Ocean Dream19822008–2012141235,190 GTFormerly Pacific Star for P&O Cruises Australia.[8][24] The ship will be on bare-boat charter to Peace Boat from April 2012.
MS Empress19902008–2016202048,563 GTFormerly Empress of the Seas for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, transferred back to Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines in early 2016.
MV Zenith19922007–2014
2017–2020		177447,413 gross tonnage (GT)Previously Zenith. Sailed as CDF Zenith from 2014 to 2017. Identical to the Horizon. The ship is on bare-boat charter to Peace Boat, after leaving the fleet early 2020.
1May be specified in gross tonnage (GT) or gross register tons (GRT).

See also

References
  1. "Legal Notice Archived 2015-04-25 at the Wayback Machine." Pullmantur. Retrieved on 13 May 2015. "Pullmantur, S.A CIF A28261337. Located on, number 2 Mahonia Street, Madrid 28043." and "Pullmantur Cruises S.L. CIF B84581701. Located on, number 2 Mahonia Street, Madrid 28043."
  2. Newman, Doug (2007-08-27). "Cruise Ship Reviews > Pullmantur". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler, Inc. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  3. Royal Caribbean (10 May 2016). "Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. And Springwater Capital Announce Joint Venture" (Press release). Miami, Florida and Madrid, Spain: Royal Caribbean. PRNewswire. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  4. Asklander, Micke. "S/S Oceanic (1965)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  5. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Five (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 4, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  6. Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Six (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  7. "Royal Caribbean Acquires Spanish Cruise Line Pullmantur". Cruise Critic. 31 August 2006.
  8. Newman, Doug (2007-09-27). "Pullmantur Cruises 2008 Itineraries & Fleet". At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  9. Newman, Doug (2008-01-24). "Quail Cruises Unveils 2008 Program". At Sea With Doug Newman. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  10. "Say goodbye to Sovereign! The first ever modern megaship to join Pullmantur fleet". Cruise Business Review. 2007-10-12. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  11. Boyle, Ian. "Pullmantur". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  12. Joshi, Rajesh; Lowry, Nigel (2008-04-14). "NCL close to offloading cruiseship trio". Lloyd's List. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  13. Newman, Doug (2008-05-07). "From Norwegian Sky to Pride of Aloha and back again". At Sea with Doug Newman. Archived from the original on 2008-07-19. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  14. "Pullmantur's Sky Wonder Renamed, Marketed to Portuguese". Cruise Industry News. 28 January 2009.
  15. Staff, C. I. N. (2009-03-13). "Oceanic Sold". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  16. "Royal Caribbean Moving Monarch of the Seas to Pullmantur". cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  17. "Pullmantur: Another Change of Strategy; Empress Back to Royal - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2015-10-22.
  18. Staff, C. I. N. (2016-12-07). "CDF Will Cease Sailing Its Own Ships". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  19. Mathisen, Monty (2019-07-10). "Zenith Will Sail for Peace Boat". www.cruiseindustrynews.com. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  20. Bond, Mary (16 October 2019). "Grandeur of the Seas will transfer to Pullmantur in 2021". Seatrade Cruise News. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  21. "Pullmantur Horizon Crew Reports COVID-19 Positive Cases Onboard". Crew Center. 2020-04-04. Retrieved 2020-04-12.
  22. "Pullmantur Files for Reorganization". Cruise Industry News. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  23. "TS Infante Dom Henrique". ssmaritime. Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  24. "P&O Cruises Australia Renews Fleet as Capacity Grows". P&O Cruises Australia news release. 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2008-01-28.

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