Pullmantur Ships for sale.

[BigAl94]

Inspiration beached today and shoehorned in between Fantasy and Sovereign

[Smurf2017]

On 8/5/2020 at 4:41 PM, BigAl94 said:

Inspiration beached today and shoehorned in between Fantasy and Sovereign

 

She didn't quite make it to the beach after getting wedged between Fantasy and Sovereign. What an unceremonious end to a long career.

 

 

[Biker19]

From the SEC 10Q filing listed yesterday:

 

 

During the quarter ended June 30, 2020, we terminated the agreements chartering Monarch of the Seas, Horizon of the Seas and Sovereign of the Seas to Pullmantur Holdings and agreed to sell the ships to a third party. Consequently, the ships met accounting criteria to be classified as held for sale which resulted in a further impairment charge of $15.2 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2020 to adjust the carrying value of the assets held for sale to their fair value, less cost to sell. As of June 30, 2020, the net book value of assets held for sale was not material to our consolidated balance sheet.

[Skipper Tim]

Thanks for that Biker19. 

 

It is little weird that Pullmantur and their agents Worldwide continue to sell cruises on all three of these ships. People right now are choosing cabins on ships currently being dismantled on a beach in Turkey. 

[Smurf2017]

3 hours ago, Skipper Tim said:

Thanks for that Biker19. 

 

It is little weird that Pullmantur and their agents Worldwide continue to sell cruises on all three of these ships. People right now are choosing cabins on ships currently being dismantled on a beach in Turkey. 

 

I've just spoken to Pullmantur UK and enquired about a 2021 cruise on Sovereign. A very amiable person said that the current situation was that:

 

1. That Pullmantur was in administration, but they were anticipating (hoping!) a favourable outcome and that RCCL would transfer some ships across to become the new Pullmantur fleet. He did not have any new news regarding Grandeur of the Seas. 

 

2. They are accepting bookings for all cruises in the current programme from November 2020 onwards, but were not able to allocate cabins and that all were 'Guarantee'. 

 

3. I specified a particular cruise and the prices he quoted were 3 - 6% above what is showing on the UK website. He cited the fact that the site wasn't 'live pricing' and would eventually change.

 

4. They are asking for a deposit of £150 p.p and balance 90 days out. 

 

A very nice agent to deal with, but I have always found that to be the case with Pullmantur UK and Spain.

 

While our lovely old fleet is having a beach holiday in Turkey (Monarch & Sovereign) or bobbing around off the coast of Greece (Horizon), we have to wait.

 

 

[Skipper Tim]

Well done Smurf2017 - good work! It gives me hope that we may yet get to sail on Pullmantur. I am hoping very much that Pullmantur's itineraries will simply be reinstated from mid-November on different ships. That would be a far more attractive proposition than anything RCI or Celebrity currently have on offer - to us at least.

 

We have not cancelled our flights to Dubai yet.   

[coaster]

Carnival Inspiration video with metal scraping sounds. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0uvJCF5-Fs

[Smurf2017]

6 hours ago, coaster said:

Carnival Inspiration video with metal scraping sounds. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0uvJCF5-Fs

 

Ouch! That hurts to listen to. 

[Smurf2017]

Our friend El Rincon del Tripulante has posted a very brief video showing the speed with which they are dismantling Sovereign. 

 

Do you think they maybe be making a gap large enough to squeeze Horizon into? The current destination shows as Piraeus, but she has been bobbing around off the coast of Greece since 6th August now.

Edited August 13, 2020 by Smurf2017

[Skipper Tim]

On a more positive note, I had a reply from Pullmantur this morning for my request for any information. Here it is.

 

 

Good Morning, We inform you that Pullmantur's intention with this reorganization is to be able to operate in the future in the same way that we have been doing up to now. With the same itineraries. To do any management regarding your reservation, you have to contact your travel agency and it can inform you of the different options you have. Thank you very much,

Pagos Venta Directa Grupo Pullmantur Calle Mahonia, 2. Planta 5ª. Campo de las Naciones. 28043 Madrid Phone: 900 835 055  ventadirectapagos@pullmantur.es

Edited August 13, 2020 by Skipper Tim

[Smurf2017]

22 minutes ago, Skipper Tim said:

On a more positive note, I had a reply from Pullmantur this morning for my request for any information. Here it is.

 

 

Good Morning, We inform you that Pullmantur's intention with this reorganization is to be able to operate in the future in the same way that we have been doing up to now. With the same itineraries. To do any management regarding your reservation, you have to contact your travel agency and it can inform you of the different options you have. Thank you very much,

Pagos Venta Directa Grupo Pullmantur Calle Mahonia, 2. Planta 5ª. Campo de las Naciones. 28043 Madrid Phone: 900 835 055  ventadirectapagos@pullmantur.es

 

That's reassuring news Tim and thanks for posting.

 

This piece from the Travel Trade Gazette published at midday does not affect Pullmantur directly but must help.

 

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/royal-caribbean-group-secures-new-700-million-loan-facility-24420?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Midday Bulletin

 

[Biker19]

20 hours ago, Smurf2017 said:

Do you think they maybe be making a gap large enough to squeeze Horizon into?

Likely waiting for the next monthly high tide and some other ships be scrapped enough to make more room.

[Plato123]

Is the Horizon going to Elefsina?  If so, would it be used as a refugee camp as there is one at Elefsina.

[Biker19]

15 hours ago, Plato123 said:

Is the Horizon going to Elefsina?  If so, would it be used as a refugee camp as there is one at Elefsina.

Likely just another place to resupply/hang out while waiting for high tide and space at Aliaga.

Edited August 18, 2020 by Biker19

[roeco9084]

On 8/17/2020 at 9:26 PM, Biker19 said:

Likely just another place to resupply/hang out while waiting for high tide and space at Aliaga.

I would think if the Horizon was gonna be scrapped they would send it to Turkey and just have it wait their off shore at Izmir..why bob all over the Med.  

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, roeco9084 said:

I would think if the Horizon was gonna be scrapped they would send it to Turkey and just have it wait their off shore at Izmir..why bob all over the Med.  

I assume there's no place to resupply near Aliaga and it might a lengthy wait till the yard is ready to scrap her, so it's better to wait elsewhere.

[Smurf2017]

She's back at anchor today in the Gulf of Elefsina.

 

@Skipper Tim I missed a call earlier from Pullmantur in Spain and now on tenterhooks to see what they wanted. My currently furloughed contact says they might be checking up to see if we had come to a decision yet on our vouchers. That's odd as we have already used them to book for next year. We'll see, but while I'm waiting for my call back, are there any questions that you have that I can put to them? 

[Skipper Tim]

@Smurf2017, Very interesting! Well the obvious one for me is will the current itineraries from 15th November be operating as advertised? And if so, on what ships? Or when will we know such information? That would be great, many thanks for asking me. 

Edited August 20, 2020 by Skipper Tim

[Smurf2017]

24 minutes ago, Skipper Tim said:

@Smurf2017, Very interesting! Well the obvious one for me is will the current itineraries from 15th November be operating as advertised? And if so, on what ships? Or when will we know such information? That would be great, many thanks for asking me. 

 

You're welcome. I'll get back to you later, hopefully!

[Smurf2017]

11 hours ago, Smurf2017 said:

 

You're welcome. I'll get back to you later, hopefully!

 

@Skipper Tim Pullmantur called back to ask if we had made any decision regarding our situation. She was referring to the offer to move across to RCL with a decision date of 20 September. We had a chat during which she confirmed that at the moment we had three options :

 

1. Move over to RCL with an FCC of the amount paid +20%.

 

2. Take a cash refund now. 

 

3. Hang onto our future booking with Pullmantur moving the deposit over + the OBC which in our case would be €100.

 

Her advice was to take the refund now, but we have until 20 Sept to think about it. 

 

There has been no movement as far as the reorganisation concerned and she didn't anticipate anything in the near future. She did say that she doubted highly that they would be in a position to recommence operations on 15 November due to the lengthy reorganisation procedure and she had no idea when they could possibly be back on the water. 

 

I didn't think to ask what would happen if we stuck with our booking for May 2021 and they finally failed totally. I think we both know the answer to that one already, but I have emailed her anyway. 

 

Watch this space... 

 

[Stockjock]

My advice is to take a cash refund.  I did this with MSC and certainly Pullmantur is in far, far worse shape.  True, not a lot of money involved, but take it and run.  Should Pullmantur rise like a Phoenix from the ashes, then certain there is nothing to prevent you from booking with them again.  At that point, the situation should be clearer.

[Skipper Tim]

@Smurf2017many thanks for sharing that.

 

If the insider's advice is to take the refund, it looks like that is what we should do. I will consult with our party. As @Stockjock says, if Pullmantur come back resembling anything like the old Pullmantur, we can book again.

 

Our cruise is in March and if there is little prospect of re-starting operations in November, then there is little chance until next summer :-( 

[Biker19]

Space is tight on the beach for any new arrivals:

 

 

Photo credit: Eren Topcu

[aussie cruzer]

I took the refund option from Rcl and was told up to 80 business days for refund.

[Skipper Tim]

1 hour ago, aussie cruzer said:

I took the refund option from Rcl and was told up to 80 business days for refund.

 

 

Ditto. We haven't cancelled the flights yet - we are hoping BA will do that and save us the £35 fee each.