Pullmantur Cruises

Pullmantur Cruises
Industry Cruises
Headquarters Madrid, Spain
Area served
 Caribbean, Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
Parent Royal Caribbean
Subsidiaries CDF Croisières de France
Website http://www.pullmantur.es
MS Ocean Dream at Valletta sporting the old Pullmantur livery.

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]

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 brand 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]

History

Pullmantur began cruise operations in the 1990s by initially selling cruises onboard SS SeaWind Crown, originally founded by Anastasios Kyriakides (subsequently merged with Premier Cruises), in the Southern Caribbean from Premier Cruises and later also onboard Premier Cruises flagship the SS Rembrandt in the Mediterranean. After Premier Cruises changed their business plan in 1997 and decided to cancel their contracts with operators such as Pullmantur and their following collapse 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]

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]

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

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's subsidiary NCL America.[9] The deal fell through however, and the Pride of Aloha returned to the "normal" Norwegian Cruise Line fleet instead.[10] In March 2009 the Oceanic was sold to Peace Boat and the Sky Wonder was renamed Atlantic Star in April 2009.. In mid April 2009 the Island Star was transferred from Island Cruises to Pullmantur Cruises.

It was announced on March 20, 2012 that Royal Caribbean International's Monarch of the Seas will be transferred to the fleet on April 1, 2013.[11] The Ocean Dream was chartered to Peace Boat to replace the Oceanic, the Pacific Dream/Horizon was transferred to CDF Croisières de France. In 2014, the Zenith will join her sister ship L'Horizon sailing under the CDF Croisières de France brand.

As of December 2012, the L'Horizon has returned to the Pullmantur Cruises fleet, it resumed the name Horizon once again

Logo and livery

MS Sovereign in 2013 with the new 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][12] 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]

In 2008 the company changed livery to a white circle with a red letter ñ on it. Coinciding with this the ships were painted in the new livery with a red funnel and a white hull, with the word "Pullmantur" written on the hull towards the rear in small letters.[8]

In 2012/2013 Pullmantur changed livery into a blue hull and blue strip type. The first ship to receive the new livery was the Empress, which now has a blue hull and blue funnel, and Pullmantur's new logo, followed by the Sovereign. Also in December Horizon returned to Pullmantur Cruises for a 2-month service and also received the new livery but without Pullmantur logo on it. All ship in Pullmantur will be changing liveries.[13] As of early 2013 the Empress, Horizon, Sovereign and Monarch have received the new livery, with the Horizon getting the Pullmantur logo on her funnel. However the Zenith still kept the old red funnel / white hull logo [14]

In mid 2013, the Zenith received the blue funnel, but kept her white hull / old logo.

In late 2013, the Zenith received the new logo, but still kept her white hull.

As of 2014, the Zenith has received the livery to match the rest of the fleet

Fleet

Current fleet

Ship Built Entered service
for Pullmantur 		Capacity Gross tonnage Flag Notes Homeport (Summer & Winter)
MS Empress 1990 2008 2020 48,563 GT  Malta Formerly Empress of the Seas for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Malmo (Copenhagen)/Tallinn & Valencia/Palma of Majorca/Malaga
MS Sovereign 1988 2008 2852 73,192 GT  Malta Transferred from Royal Caribbean International in November 2008 Barcelona
MS Monarch 1991 2013 2852 73,192 GT  Malta Transferred from Royal Caribbean International in April 2013. Colon/La Guaira/Cartagena de Indias/Oranjestad/Curaçao

Future fleet

Ship Built Builder Enters service
for Pullmantur Cruises 		Gross Tonnage Planned Flag Notes
MS Majesty 1992 Chantiers de l'Atlantique 2016 73,941 GT  Malta Currently sailing as the Majesty of the Seas for Royal Caribbean International.

Former fleet

Ship Built In service
for Pullmantur 		Capacity Tonnage1 Status as of 2015
SS SeaWind Crown 1961 1990s—2000 734 23,306 GRT Scrapped in China, 2004
MS R Five 2000 2002—2004 702 30,277 GT Since 2004 MS Nautica with Oceania Cruises
MS Blue Dream 2000 2003—2005
2005—2007 		702 30,277 GT Since 2007 MS Azamara Journey with Azamara Cruises
SS Oceanic 1965 2001—2009 1800 38,772 GT Previously operated for Peace Boat. Scrapped in 2012.
MS Holiday Dream 1981 2004—2008 1158 37,301 GRT Since May 2008 MS Bleu de France with CDF Croisières de France[5] Sold to Saga cruises, enter in service in 2012.
MS Pacific 1972 2005—2008 626 20,636 GT Scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 2013.
MS Blue Moon 2000 2006—2007 702 30,277 GT Since 2007 MS Azamara Quest with Azamara Cruises
MS Oceanic II 1966 2007 782 27,670 GRT Since 2008 MS Mona Lisa for Lord Nelson Seereisen, after her career with Lord Nelson Seereisen she is now a house ship in Oman
SS Atlantic Star 1984 2006—2008 & 2009 1550 46,087 GRT Scrapped at Aliaga, Turkey in 2013.
Ocean Dream 1982 2008—2012 1412 35,190 GT Formerly Pacific Star for P&O Cruises Australia.[5][15] The ship will be on bare-boat charter to Peace Boat from April 2012.
MV Horizon 1990 2009—2012 1875 46,811 GT Former MV Island Star of Island Cruises. Transferred to CDF Croisières de France in April 2012 as MV L'Horizon.
MV Zenith 1992 2007—2014 1774 47,255 GT Formerly Zenith for Celebrity Cruises; Transferred to Croisieres de France in 2014.[16]
1May be specified in gross tonnage (GT) or gross register tons (GRT).

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Newman, Doug (2007-08-27). "Cruise Ship Reviews > Pullmantur". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler, Inc. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  2. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "S/S Oceanic (1965)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Five (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 4, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  4. ↑ Asklander, Micke. "M/S R Six (2000)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Newman, Doug (2007-09-27). "Pullmantur Cruises 2008 Itineraries & Fleet". At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  6. ↑ Newman, Doug (2008-01-24). "Quail Cruises Unveils 2008 Program". At Sea With Doug Newman. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  7. ↑ "Say goodbye to Sovereign! The first ever modern megaship to join Pullmantur fleet". Cruise Business Review. 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-13.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Boyle, Ian. "Pullmantur". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  9. ↑ Joshi, Rajesh; Lowry, Nigel (2008-04-14). "NCL close to offloading cruiseship trio". Lloyd's List. Archived from the original on 2008-04-26. Retrieved 2008-04-14.
  10. ↑ Newman, Doug (2008-05-07). "From Norwegian Sky to Pride of Aloha and back again". At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved 2008-07-12.
  11. ↑ http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/6986-royal-caribbean-moving-monarch-of-the-seas-to-pullmantur.html
  12. ↑ Koutsoukis, Georges. "M/S Oceanic II i Pireus 31/5-2007". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
  13. ↑ http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/8268-pullmantur-rebranding.html
  14. ↑ http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/8483-photos-pullmantur-and-costa-in-santos.html
  15. ↑ "P&O Cruises Australia Renews Fleet as Capacity Grows". P&O Cruises Australia news release. 2007-05-31. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
  16. ↑ http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/8667-cdf-confirms-second-ship-for-2014-season.html

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pullmantur Cruises ships.