Royal Caribbean Keeps Steady Eye on Pullmantur

Royal Caribbean Cruises has recently been keeping a close eye on the Spanish economy lest the effects of eurozone problems should have an effect on its Spanish brand Pullmantur Cruises.

It had already revealed, for example, that its proportion of Spanish passengers had dropped from 85 percent to 40 percent, achieved largely through numerous winter charters in Brazil and also because of its more recent expansion into the French market.

Pullmantur now operates three ships, the 2,306-berth Sovereign, the 1,600-berth Empress and the 1,378-berth Zenith, as well as the Horizon, sister ship of the Zenith, which it transferred this spring to its French brand Crosières de France to replace the Bleu de France, sold on to Saga.

A fifth ship left the fleet this spring when the 1,022-berth Ocean Dream was chartered to Japan’s Peaceboat for world cruising. The Ocean Dream followed an earlier Pullmantur ship, the turbine-powered Oceanic, which has now gone for scrapping.

The Spanish economy has already claimed the smallest Spanish operator, Happy Cruises, formerly Quail Cruises, which went out of business last September.

Of its three vessels, the 800-berth Gemini and 1,076-berth Ocean Pearl were returned to International Shipping Partners of Miami and laid up at Tilbury while the 650-berth Happy Dolphin was delivered back to her Greek owners and has now been chartered to Turkish operator Apex Tur.

The Gemini was used as an accommodation ship during the 2012 London Olympics just ended, alongside Fred Olsen’s 930-berth Braemar, her once sister ship prior to being lengthened by Fred Olsen. Ocean Pearl has meanwhile been sold to Far East buyers, who accepted delivery in April.

Meanwhile, over at Carnival Corp & plc’s Iberocruceros brand, Costa, which manages Ibero, took the 840-berth Grand Voyager off their hands earlier this year when she became the Costa Voyager, thus reducing the Iberocruceros fleet from four ships to three.