Pullmantur Cruises

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Besides being Spain's largest cruise line, Pullmantur Cruises is also one of the most rapidly growing lines in the world. Yet this hugely successful firm was virtually unknown outside its native country until late 2006 when Royal Caribbean made the stunning announcement that it had purchased the company.

Since then, many more foreigners have taken notice as they've found that favorite ships -- like Celebrity's Zenith and Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas -- are being transferred to Pullmantur from now parent company RCI. As well, the expansion of the fleet signals a new era for Pullmantur in particular -- and for the Spanish cruise market as a whole.

Pullmantur's hold on the Spanish cruise market began when the Madrid travel agency and tour operator of the same name, founded in 1971, chartered Premier Cruises' Seawind Crown in the late 1990's. The company experienced moderate success, and when Premier went bankrupt in 2000, Pullmantur bought that line's largest and most modern ship, Oceanic, and founded its own cruise line. Pullmantur began operating cruises from Barcelona in 2001. At the time, few could have imagined the impact the new company would have on cruising in Spain and the cruise industry as a whole.

In 2001, Spain was just beginning to discover cruising, mostly on foreign cruise ships, with many leaving from foreign ports. The formation of Pullmantur Cruises, with Oceanic's weekly departures from Barcelona, jolted Spanish cruising into overdrive. With low, all-inclusive fares, smart marketing and a quality product, Pullmantur had an effect in Spain that can be compared to that of Carnival in the United States: Suddenly, a company was making cruising affordable and popular to the masses.

Expansion came quickly. In 2002 the company bought the one-time Pacific Princess, the famed "Love Boat", from Princess Cruises. 2003 brought yet another new ship: Holiday Dream, formerly Star Cruises' SuperStar Aries and originally Hapag-Lloyd's uber-luxury Europa. (It was replaced in 1999 with the current ship of that name.) After buying three ships of its own, and still desperate for more capacity, Pullmantur chartered the R Five in 2004 from the creditors of the bankrupt Renaissance Cruises, marketing the ship as Blue Dream. In 2005, R Six, marketed as Blue Star, joined the fleet.

Later that year, R Five left Pullmantur to become Oceania Cruises' Nautica, and Pullmantur bought R Six outright and named her Blue Dream (confusingly, the marketing name previously assigned to R Five). Meanwhile, the charterer of R Seven, Delphin Seereisen, had gone bankrupt, so in 2006 that ship too was bought by Pullmantur and renamed Blue Moon. That same year, in its final acquisition before being taken over, Pullmantur bought P&O Cruises Australia's Pacific Sky, formerly Princess' Sky Princess and before that Sitmar's Fairsky. The ship was renamed Sky Wonder. Then, a few months later, came the announcement that Pullmantur -- including its tour operator and airline sister companies -- had been scooped up by Royal Caribbean, the world's second largest cruise line. It now had the backing of a much larger, wealthier company to help continue its expansion. The deal gave Royal Caribbean a strong presence in the European market.

While Pullmantur's management remains intact, Royal Caribbean quickly began leaving its mark on Pullmantur's fleet. A "ship swap" was announced whereby Pullmantur would send Blue Dream and Blue Moon to Royal Caribbean subsidiary Celebrity, while Celebrity's aging Zenith -- whose name remained unchanged -- became the latest member of the Pullmantur fleet. (Blue Moon entered service with Celebrity's newly created upper-premium brand Azamara Cruises as Azamara Journey in May 2007; Blue Moon will follow in October as Azamara Quest.) The former Mona Lisa (before that Victoria, Sea Princess and Kungsholm), a classic liner built in the 1960's, was chartered by Royal Caribbean for its new university ship initiative, The Scholar Ship, and has been renamed Oceanic II. It will be operated by Pullmantur during the summer season when it is not in use as a floating university.

And in 2008, Pullmantur will get its largest ship yet as Royal Caribbean transfers its smallest ship, Empress of the Seas, to the Pullmantur fleet.

Despite all that, Pullmantur's appetite for new tonnage is so voracious that even Royal Caribbean and Celebrity can't spare enough older ships to fulfill it. In perhaps the most surprising move yet, Pullmantur recently announced that it bought P&O Cruises Australia's Pacific Sun, formerly Costa's Costa Tropicale and originally Carnival's Tropicale. The ship is set to enter service alongside Empress of the Seas in 2008. This marked the first time -- albeit indirectly -- that Carnival or Royal Caribbean had sold a ship to the other, and the deal was a huge surprise to those who expected Pullmantur's fleet to consist only of former Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships.

With its huge popularity in its home market and its equally enormous potential for expansion, Pullmantur is certainly a company to watch closely in the future. But just what the future will bring isn't clear. It might be the addition of more former Royal Caribbean or Celebrity ships; perhaps the introduction of new-builds; or even expansion outside Spain to other European markets to compete with Carnival's Costa. But whatever it is, it certainly promises to be interesting.

In the meantime, Pullmantur offers high-value, high-quality cruising with a spicy Spanish-Mediterranean flair. And while it markets mainly in Spain, the company welcomes international passengers -- the onboard product is largely bilingual with printed materials and the like in English. It's an intriguing option for those looking for a change from the usual English-speaking mass-market cruise lines.

The Fleet
It simply doesn't get more diverse than the Pullmantur fleet, offering ships from five decades (at least until its sole ship built in the 2000's, Blue Moon, leaves the fleet in October), and in an unbelievable range of styles. Like snowflakes, no two Pullmantur ships are the same.

The matriarch of the fleet is the company's first ship, the 38,772-ton, 1,136-passenger Oceanic, built way back in 1965 and sailing for Home Lines and Premier Cruises before joining Pullmantur. While by no means a luxury ship, most passengers find Oceanic far nicer than its age and fares might suggest. The ship's fairly modern (if plain) decor mostly dates to the late 1980's when it was the flagship of the Premier fleet. It's extremely well maintained and has large cabins (with lots of third, fourths and even fifth berths, a legacy of the Premier "Big Red Boat" days). An especially nice feature is a huge pool deck with two pools and a sliding glass dome, unusual for an older ship.

The other 1960's veteran in the fleet is the 28,891-ton, 728-passenger Oceanic II, built as Swedish American Line's flagship Kungsholm in 1966, later Princess' Sea Princess, P&O's Victoria and most recently German operator Holiday Kreuzfahrten's Mona Lisa. Until recently this was an upscale ship -- when new it was arguably the most luxurious in the world -- and despite many changes, this still shows in things like the spacious, wood-paneled cabins in the original parts of the ship.

Another classic -- albeit built as a cruise ship, not an ocean liner -- is the 20,186-ton, 658-passenger Pacific, which began life as Sea Venture in 1971 and later sailed as the original Pacific Princess of "Love Boat" fame. Pacific Princess is still the longest-running member of the Princess fleet (27 years from 1975 to 2002). The smallest ship in the Pullmantur fleet, it also has some of the smallest cabins, but its public rooms are bright and airy -- the ship was one of the first to feature many of full-length windows -- and like Oceanic, the ship features a pool deck with sliding glass dome. (It and sibling Discovery are perhaps the smallest ships to boast this feature.)

Built in 1981, the 37,012-ton and 752-passenger Holiday Dream sports decor that is decidedly less elegant than that of its original incarnation as Hapag-Lloyd's Europa, one of the highest-rated ships of the 1980's and 1990's. Nevertheless, it still offers bigger cabins and more space per passenger than almost any other mid-priced ship, and the Club Belvedere observation lounge is still one of the nicest at sea.

The 46,087-ton, 1,184-passenger Sky Wonder was built in 1984 as Sitmar Cruises' Fairsky, and will be well known to Americans as Sky Princess and Australians as Pacific Sky. Although its interior decor is a bit dated in places, this is another very spacious ship with large cabins and some unusually high ceilings in public areas, as well as some of the best open deck space you'll find on a ship this size. Ship buffs will note that it was the last large steam-powered passenger ship built, and today it's the largest one remaining. (Its older, slightly smaller fleetmate Oceanic comes in at number two). For passengers this means an especially smooth ride, as steam turbines cause less noise and vibration than modern diesels.

Pullmantur's latest addition is Zenith, built for Celebrity Cruises in 1992. At 47,255 tons and 1,440 passengers, it's the largest ship yet to join the Pullmantur fleet, and like many of its fleetmates, offers larger-than-average cabins. The decor is more modern than most of the company's other ships; it went through a major refurbishment before entering service with Pullmantur. On the other hand, the ship isn't quite as spacious as Holiday Dream or Pacific Sky.

Until October 2007, Pullmantur will operate Blue Moon, built in 2000 as Renaissance's R Seven. At 30,277 tons and carrying 716, this is -- for now -- the most modern ship in the fleet, and the only one with a large number of private balconies. Unfortunately for Spanish R-ship fans, it will leave the fleet to become Azamara Quest in October.

In 2008, two new ships will join the Pullmantur fleet; both will presumably get new names that haven't yet been announced. The first is Royal Caribbean's Empress of the Seas, a 48,563-ton, 1,602-passenger ship built in 1990 as Nordic Empress. Cabins are smaller than on most other Pullmantur ships, but there are more balconies, and the ship brings the company its first atrium and first two-deck dining room.

Also joining the fleet next year is P&O Cruises Australia's 33,250-ton, 1,022-passenger Pacific Star. Built in 1981 as Tropicale, the ship had a massive refit in 2001 when it moved to the Costa fleet as Costa Tropicale, and consequently has unusually modern, stylish interiors for a Pullmantur ship. Large cabins are another feature in common with many of the company's other ships, as is an abundance of open deck space.
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Onboard
The Pullmantur ships offer all the trappings of a traditional cruise -- with a Spanish accent. This means two-seating dining: early seating dinner is at 8 p.m. and late seating at 10:15 p.m. (one example of the Spanish preference for evening meals), production shows, a spa and gym, casino, shops, youth programs and pretty much everything else you'd expect of a typical mass-market cruise experience.

Needless to say, the main onboard language is Spanish, but since the ships are also marketed in Northern Europe, printed materials and such do come in English, and international passengers are welcome. That said, non-Spanish speakers are certainly in the minority, so this is a cruise line best for those who speak Spanish or don't mind being around a lot of people with whom they don't share a common language. (The crew, however, speaks English.)

While Pullmantur is certainly not a luxury cruise line, most passengers seem happy with the product and appreciate the good value it represents. This is especially true of all the ships (except Blue Moon) that offer the line's "all-inclusive" product. This doesn't include shore excursions or gratuities, but it does include extras that are usually costly -- notably, alcohol.

Blue Moon operates on an "almost all-inclusive" plan that doesn't include beverages and is similar to what you'll find on other mass-market lines.
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Itineraries
Pullmantur operates largely in the Mediterranean, but also offers some cruises in the Baltic and the Caribbean.

In 2007, Oceanic and Sky Wonder operate on seven-night Western Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona, while Pacific offers similar seven-night itineraries from Valencia. Zenith operates on seven-night Eastern Mediterranean cruises from Venice to Athens and reverse, while Oceanic II operates seven-night cruises from Athens to Istanbul and reverse. In the Baltic, Blue Moon operates seven-night cruises from Copenhagen to Helsinki and reverse. Holiday Dream is the only Pullmantur ship positioned outside Europe, operating seven-night Southern Caribbean cruises that are offered as roundtrips either from Aruba or Isla Margarita.

With the exception of Holiday Dream's Caribbean itineraries, Pullmantur's ships do not operate over the winter. Oceanic is laid-up, while the rest are usually chartered to Brazilian tour operator CVC, which operates South American cruises.

2008 itineraries have not yet been announced, but they can be expected to be similar. Different ships, however, may be placed on different routes, especially as Blue Moon will leave the fleet and Empress of the Seas and Pacific Star will join it.
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Fellow Passengers
Like most mass-market lines, Pullmantur attracts a wide cross-section of passengers, though naturally on these cruises they're mainly Spanish; nevertheless you'll find passengers of all ages and types. There may also be some non-Spanish-speaking passengers from Northern Europe or Canada, where some tour operators market Pullmantur's cruises.