RCC buying Pullmantur

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is expanding in Europe and Latin America by purchasing Pullmantur, the largest cruise ship operator in Spain with five cruise ships.

In addition to its cruise ships, Pullmantur has a tour operation that sells vacation packages to Caribbean resorts to Spanish customers, and European tour packages to customers in Latin America. It also operates three 747 jumbo jets that provide flights to its package tour destinations and cruise home ports.

Pullmantur will be Royal Caribbean’s first wholly-owned European brand and has a fleet mix of two newer and three older ships. The Blue Moon and Blue Dream, the former Renaissance R-6 and R-7, are only six years old and carry 716 passengers each. The three older ships include the 750-passenger Holiday Dream, the 1,200-passenger Sky Wonder and the 1,500-passenger Oceanic.

Pullmantur will remain an independent brand under the Royal Caribbean umbrella, keeping its distinctive and successful customer experience.