Pullmantur Cruises

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SS Sky Wonder in the harbor of Villefranche-sur-Mer, in the blue-funneled Pullmantur colours.
SS Sky Wonder in the harbor of Villefranche-sur-Mer, in the blue-funneled Pullmantur colours.

Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in 2006.[1]

Contents

[edit] Overview

Pullmantur Cruises is the largest Spain-based cruise line. The company mainly markets to Spanish passengers, although cruises on Pullmantur ships are also sold by some travel operators outside the Spanish-speaking world. Most of the company's ships operate an "all-inclusive" product, where some extras, such as alcoholic beverages, are included in the cruise price.[1]

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.[1]

[edit] History

Pullmantur began cruise operations in the late 1990s by chartering MS SeaWind Crown from Premier Cruises. After Premier Cruises collapsed in 2000, Pullmantur acquired their SS Big Red Boat 1 and started their own cruise line, Pullmantur Cruises.[1] The Big Red Boat 1 was reverted to her original name SS Oceanic, and begun cruising around the Mediterranean from Barcelona in May 2005.[2] The Oceanic became hugely successful, and already in 2002 Pullmantur acquired a second ship, MS Pacific (formerly Princess Cruises' famous MS Pacific Princess that starred in The Love Boat TV series),[1] and chartered the former Renaissance Cruises ship MS R Five from Cruiseinvest. The R Five was marketed under the name Blue Dream.[3] Two more ships followed in 2003. Pullmantur acquired MS Superstar Aries from Star Cruises and renamed her MS Holiday Dream,[1] while the R Five's sister ship MS R Six was chartered under the marketing name Blue Star.[4]

Pullmantur Cruises' MS Blue Moon departing Helsinki, Finland, July 2007.
Pullmantur Cruises' MS Blue Moon departing Helsinki, Finland, July 2007.

In 2004 the R Five was chartered by her owners to Oceania Cruises.[3] In 2005 Pullmantur purchased the R Six, confusingly renaming her MS Blue Dream. A third R-class ship followed in 2006 when Pullmantur bought the Delphin Renaissance and renamed her MS Blue Moon. Later the same year the Pullmantur fleet grew to six ships when the Pacific Sky was purchased from P&O Cruises Australia and renamed SS Sky Wonder. A few months after the purchase of the Sky Wonder the entire Pullmantur company was sold to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.[1]

Following the acquisition by Royal Caribbean several transfers were carried out between the Pullmantur fleet and those of other Royal Caribbean brands. In 2007 the Blue Dream and Blue Moon were transferred to Azamara Cruises, while MS Oceanic II and Celebrity Cruises's MS Zenith joined the Pullmantur fleet in their place[1] (the Oceanic II only spent the 2007 summer season sailing for Pullmantur).[5] In 2008 Pullmantur received Empress of the Seas from the fleet of Royal Caribbean International, and renamed her MS Empress.[1]

More changes are due to follow in 2008. The Pacific and Holiday Dream leave the Pullmantur fleet in April/May for Quail Cruises and CDF Croisières de France, respectively.[5][6] The former P&O Cruises Australia ship Pacific Star is due to enter service as MS Ocean Dream in May.[1] A further new ship is set to join the Pullmantur fleet in late 2008, when RCI's MS Sovereign of the Seas will be transferred to Pullmantur as the Sovereign.[7][8] In April 2008 Lloyd's List reported that Pullmantur were also in the process of purchasing MS Pride of Aloha from Norwegian Cruise Line.[9]

[edit] Logo and livery

Between 2001 and 2008 Pullmantur ships ran in a variety of liveries. All ships had Pullmantur's logo depicting arrows across a globe on their funnels and the company name and logo on their hulls, but the colours of the funnels and hulls varied from one ship to another. SS Oceanic, SS Sky Wonder, MS Oceanic II and MS Zenith were painted with a white hull and blue funnel,[8][10] MS R Five, MS Blue Dream and MS Blue Moon with a black hull and white funnel, MS Pacific with a white hull and white funnel, and MS Holiday Dream with a white hull and blue funnel with red stripes.[8]

As of 2008 the company is in the process of adapting a new logo, a white circle with a red letter ñ on it. Coinciding with this the ships are painted in a new livery with a red funnel and a white hull, without the company name or logo on the hull.[8]

[edit] Fleet

Ship Built Entered service
for Pullmantur		 Capacity Tonnage1 Flag Notes
MS Empress 1990 2008 2020 48,563 GT Flag of Malta Malta
MS Ocean Dream 1982 11 May 2008 1412 35,190 GT Formerly Pacific Star for P&O Cruises Australia.[5][11]
SS Oceanic 1965 2001 1800 38,772 GT Flag of Spain Spain
SS Sky Wonder 1984 2006 1550 46,087 GT Flag of Malta Malta Chartered to Viagens CVC, Brazil during the north hemisphere winter season[5]
MS Zenith 1992 2007 1774 47,255 GT Flag of the Bahamas Bahamas Chartered to Viagens CVC, Brazil during the north hemisphere winter season[5]
1May be specified in gross tonnage (GT) or gross register tons (GRT).

[edit] Future fleet

Ship Built Due to enter service
for Pullmantur		 Capacity Gross tonnage Planned flag Notes
MS Sovereign 1988 Late 2008 2852 73,192 GT Due to transfer from Royal Caribbean International late 2008.

[edit] Former fleet

Ship Built In service
for Pullmantur		 Capacity Tonnage1 Status as of 2008
MS SeaWind Crown 1961  ????—2000 734 23,306 GRT Scrapped in China, 2004
MS R Five ("Blue Dream") 2000 2002—2004 702 30,277 GT Since 2004 MS Nautica with Oceania Cruises
MS R Six ("Blue Star")
MS Blue Dream		 2000 2003—2005
2005—2007		 702 30,277 GT Since 2007 MS Aamara Journey with Azamara Cruises
MS Blue Moon 2000 2006—2007 702 30,277 GT Since 2007 MS Aamara Quest with Azamara Cruises
MS Oceanic II 1966 2007 840 27,670 GRT Since 2007 sailing for The Scholar Ship
MS Pacific 1972 2005-2008 750 20,636 GT In service for Quail Cruises since april [6]
MS Holiday Dream 1981 2004-2008 1158 37,301 GRT Transfered to CDF Croisières de France in May 2008[5]
1May be specified in gross tonnage (GT) or gross register tons (GRT).

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Newman, Doug (2007-08-27). Cruise Ship Reviews > Pullmantur. Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler, Inc. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
  2. ^ Asklander, Micke. S/S Oceanic (1965) (in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
  3. ^ a b Asklander, Micke. M/S R Five (2000) (in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
  4. ^ Asklander, Micke. M/S R Six (2000) (in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Newman, Doug (2007-09-27). Pullmantur Cruises 2008 Itineraries & Fleet. At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  6. ^ a b Newman, Doug (2008-01-24). Quail Cruises Unveils 2008 Program. At Sea With Doug Newman. Retrieved on 2008-01-28.
  7. ^ Say goodbye to Sovereign! The first ever modern megaship to join Pullmantur fleet. Cruise Business Review (2007-10-12). Retrieved on 2007-10-13.
  8. ^ a b c d Boyle, Ian. Pullmantur. Simplon Postcards. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
  9. ^ Joshi, Rajesh; Lowry, Nigel (2008-04-14). NCL close to offloading cruiseship trio. Lloyd's List. Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
  10. ^ Koutsoukis, Georges. M/S Oceanic II i Pireus 31/5-2007 (in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-04-16.
  11. ^ P&O Cruises Australia Renews Fleet as Capacity Grows. P&O Cruises Australia news release (2007-05-31). Retrieved on 2008-01-28.

[edit] External links

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