Plans for Spanish Cruise Line Delayed by Uncertain Market
Plans to launch a niche cruise line dedicated to the Spanish-speaking market have been delayed, with the new firm, called Corazul, reporting it has canceled its summer season in the Mediterranean due to launch in July. The new company says that it is continuing to move forward, but it will focus on a launch in the Brazilian market during the 2026-2027 season.
Corazul announced in early 2026 its plans to relaunch a dedicated Spanish cruise operation. The market had been served by another tour operator, Pullmantur, which was, for a time, owned by Royal Caribbean Group, but ceased operations during the 2020 pandemic. Its ships were sold for scrapping. Carnival Corporation had also been a partner in another Spanish brand, Iberocruceros, which operated until 2014.
The concept was to adapt the cruise operation to Spanish preferences, including later dining options and a greater focus on families and large social gatherings. Corazul told The Maritime Executive that its review of the market showed that only 10 percent of the customers of the former operations had stayed with cruising versus other forms of vacations after the two cruise lines ended operations. Its goal was to recapture those customers.
Plans called for launching the operation in early July with a ship they were calling Buneavista, but the company says after an in-depth review of the market situation, it has decided not to go ahead with the cruise program that was to have operated from Barcelona until October. It then planned to do a trans-Atlantic crossing from Portugal to Recife, Brazil, for cruises in 2026-2027 before returning to Spain in March 2027.
Corazul's rendering of the Buneavista (Corazul)
The company reports it was not an easy decision and not something that it considered lightly. It says it will focus on the launch from Brazil, where it reports it has received stronger initial demand. Corazul’s website had been showing 30 percent discounts for cruises from Spain in July and August and 50 percent discounts in September and October.
The details of the company’s first ship were never officially confirmed, but it was using an image of the 1995-built cruise ship Oriana (69,840 gross tons), which sailed for the UK’s P&O Cruises as its first modern cruise ship in the British market. Carnival Corporation sold the ship in 2018 to a Chinese group, which renamed it Piano Land. It started service in 2019 and was given a major refit in 2020 to make the ship reflect Chinese styles, but it was unable to return to operations until July 2024 due to Chinese restrictions on cruising after the pandemic.
Built as one of the first modern cruise ships from Meyer Werft in Germany, the Oriana measured 260 meters (853 feet). It has 939 cabins with a maximum passenger capacity of 2,140. Although it has been operating in China, its registry has been maintained in Bermuda.
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The ship’s future is uncertain. It completed its last cruise in Hong Kong on May 31, and the crew reported they were packing up the ship. It has been moved to an anchorage. The ship’s operations earlier this year had been merged under China’s Adora Cruises in an effort to streamline the Chinese industry. Adora still lists the ship, which it calls Gulangyu, although now that it has reached 30 years of age, Chinese regulations bar the cruise ship from sailing from the mainland. The ship had operated for a time under charter, sailing from Malaysia, and was recently cruising from Hong Kong.
Unconfirmed reports from China said the operators, Astro Cruises, have begun advertising for a replacement crew. The ship is reported to be on a brief break, with cruising expected to resume shortly. After rumors that Corazul had not completed financing for the cruise ship, it has not commented on its future ship plans.