Had the pleasure of travelling in the Arabian Gulf on MV Horizon, it was outstanding even though the ship is 30 years old it is still a good ship and the service is exceptional, food very good , service great and the advantage of free drinks was a nice touch. The shows were great, everything is done in Spanish and English, majority of crew are Pilipino so no problem, compared to the opposition MSC who I have travelled with out of Durban several times, always a disaster and terrible food, there is no comparison, Pullmantur really goes the extra mile. I thought the food quality was only because of the ship going out of Durban but after hearing the horrendous stories from passengers from two MSC ships in the Arabian Gulf they all complained about the bad food on their MSC ships and this stunned me. Seeing a certain South African travel agency loves to run Pullmantur down and I have now had first class experience to it not being true. I now throw out a challenge to the CEO of MSC if the comments made by several of your passengers is not being true show me that this is not the case. You want a great cruise try Pullmantur you won’t be sorry we met several UK passengers who were on their 3 trip on Pullmantur so that’s good enough to hear the positives, Read Less

We wanted a local cruise since we live in the Middle East and saw that a lot of cruises start in Dubai. After some research, we saw that Pullmantur was by far the cheapest option and, after further digging, couldn't really find out a lot about the ship, her cabins, onboard food, etc. What we did find sounded discouraging but, being the unfussy folks that we are, we thought, "Let's give them a try". I'm glad we did. It was an excellent cruise. We arrived at DXB and took a taxi straight to the Port Rashid cruise terminal. We hopped out and found virtually no one there. It transpires that Pullmantur keep the Horizon in port between cruises for two whole days, meaning, statistically, half of the cruisers embark/disembark on one day and half on the other. You can rock up virtually any time. For us, it took about 10 minutes from taxi to being on board. It may be longer if you arrive with a plane load of Spaniards from Madrid, but we were locals so it was very pleasant. We wandered around the ship for about half an hour and then went to our cabin. Our bags were already there. Best embarkation we have ever experienced. We were very pleased by the quality of food. Both the main dining room and buffet offerings were tasty and varied with only a few, small misses. The free drinks package definitely makes you feel like you're getting good value and we found the wait staff invariably friendly and helpful. The only staff that we didn't feel the joy from were the cabin staff, which is quite unusual from our experience. We can only think that they were overworked since we rarely saw them, they couldn't/wouldn't tidy the room at the same time each day and sometimes said they would come at a particular time and simply didn't. We didn't make use of the excursions as we knew the area well. We found the gym adequate but small. Fortunately, our fellow cruisers didn't seem to like exercise all that much so we had the run of the place. Can't comment on the entertainment as we found the timings good for Spaniards (i.e. late 2300!!) but not good for our sleeping patterns. All in all, a great but short outing for us. As I indicated, it's not a luxury ship but you certainly get your value and it is by no means a third rate line/ship. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Read Less

The staff made it awesome! Special Thanks to Alberto, Marco (Restaurant) & Carlos (bicycle) who Made our holiday GREAT! The All inclusive drinks were more than enough, with Good coffee & Nice cocktails :) Rooms are okay, big enough but a little old fashioned. Food is better than expected, extensive and Good quality at the buffet. The choices at the a la carte restaurant are Good! Even for a vegetarian! But again, the staff Made the experience awesome!! We embarked at Kashab, fujara and muskat. Cute villages, were you have to do an excursion, otherwise you”ll wonder around with not much to do. So! Go cycling!!! Carlos and Joel do great tours, with a lot of fun and sightseeing :)) In Abu Dhabi and Dubai is So much to do! Just take a cab and drive around these imposant cities! In forehand we did not expect much (went cruising before on Costas and H-A-line) but this cruise with pullman, was Really Nice! But again: you’ve Gotta love the staff!! :) Read Less

We normally sail Norwegian, and have also sailed Royal Caribbean a few times. Our reason for choosing Pullmantur for this trip was solely cost - the cruises with this line are often very competitively priced. We are a couple in our mid 30's from Scotland. Our travel agent warned us that this is an old ship, that we're not paying much to travel with, and to set our expectations accordingly. We read through details of the ship and noted the key differences - that there is one main dining room, no choice of restaurants, and only a small selection of bars. We also noted that entertainment is in Spanish. We both absolutely loved this cruise. It is one of the most relaxing cruises we've ever had - and we will definitely be booking Pullmantur again. However, this cruise will not be for everyone, and it's important to appreciate that this Pullmantur is different - not necessarily better or worse. I will make some comments that seem judgemental - they are. These are my honest observations, and your feelings on the subject are likely to be different: The line is not American - which is strange, since Royal Caribbean own 49% of it, apparently. The passengers on Pullmantur are far less entitled than on American lines such as Norwegian and Royal Caribbean - they are happier, more care-free, and I have not seen the entitlement and rudeness shown to staff that I have witnessed on other lines. The staff seem more relaxed, too. There is no tipping - gratuities are paid with your cruise fare, and are not mentioned at any point during the entire cruise. On the rare occasion you have to pay for something, there isn't even a tipping line on the receipt! Inclusive means inclusive - you simply ask for a cava, and are given a cava. Nobody takes your card - there is no receipt presented in a folder, there is no opportunity for tipping. You just get your drink, a smile, and you're on your way. This is far more relaxed. Coffee - any variety - is free. I always resented 'speciality coffee' being charged for even with a premium drinks package on Norwegian. On there Horizon, there is a large (and overstaffed!) coffee shop called Cafe Cafe, which offers a variety of teas and coffees (as well as cocktails, and other alcohol) for free. It's a really relaxed environment. Photos - they barely bother. It's great! With other lines, you're harassed every damn night at dinner, every time you get off the ship, every time you get on the ship. We had one photo for getting on board, and one at dinner, and that was it - we never saw a photographer again. Ideal. Food - it's not American. There are no comforting piles of crap. It's largely Mediterranean, sensible portions, and decent quality. I have a food intolerance, and felt really looked after - I can recommend this line for coeliacs. Even at breakfast there is a gluten free area with cakes, bread, a dedicated gluten free only toaster, cereals, etc. They can make the usual adaptations to standard meals, but it's nice not to need to ask. See where I'm going here? It's not an Amercian line, and they don't nickel and dime you as though you're on one. So, that's all the things I love about Pullmantur. On to some drawbacks: Entertainment - this isn't an issue for me, but I know this is important to many cruisers. If you don't speak Spanish, then you will be disappointed. There are no broadway shows. There are things on in the theatre - no idea what, they're all in Spanish. Gym - this one did irritate me, but, it is what it is - it's crap, and despite limited space, it could be better. There are a few cardio machines - treadmills, static bikes. The bikes are showing their age, and I could feel one of them slipping, this needs proper maintenance. There is a good selection of free weights, but the benches are cramped, so it's just as well the gym wasn't busy on my visits. The choice of machines is bizarre - there are two entirely pointless goodgirl-badgirl machines (leg adducter machines!), which really aren't a good use of space. Replacing them with cables would give far more resource in the small space. Rooms - a mixed bag! First, I loved the space in my room, although I don't think it can be much larger than a standard ocean-view, it felt bigger, and there was loads more storage, not to mention a proper desk. It feels dated, but solid. The bathroom.... it's functional, it's clean - but looks dated. I can live with clean but dated, however, some people cruise for luxury, and the bathroom... well, it's a bit budget motel. But then, that's the price bracket you're paying. Casino - I hate the things; they're vulgar. The casino on this ship is tiny, and for once, is non-smoking! I have nothing nice to say about casinos anyway, but if I was into them, this casino would be underwhelming. Given that few people seemed to use it, clearly other passengers feel the same. That's it for drawbacks. Some random observations: I love the staff. They are kind, honest, and genuine. They do not have the false happy-smiley thing going on with American lines. No disinterested "How are you" type questions. They provide efficient, friendly, polite service, without the faux-customer service you'll see elsewhere. They will go out of their way to help you - even when you don't ask for help. For example, bar staff will often recommend a free house spirit rather than a premium drink. Overall, I don't feel sold to - I feel I have been on a relaxing holiday. We will be sailing with Pullmantur again, but not exclusively. They are not a premium line nor a luxury line - they're an honest company that'll provide a relaxing holiday. Read Less

for the Itinerary - I never did the Greek Islands before, so this time I tried to "link-up" NINE Cruise Segments, starting on 1st October in ATHENS and finishing on 8th December in DUBAI. There were several "double" Segments through some of the Greek Islands, which gave me the opportunity to visit Ports twice or more = so that was a good experience. Unfortunately, this Ship caters mainly for the Spanish Package Deal Market, so everything is in Spanish - some Shows are (Only) in Spanish, and some of the English Announcements are hard to understand..... Whenever I book, I always opt for the cheapest INSIDE Cabin, so even though I had booked the 9 Cruise Segments on the same day - there were NO Upgrades - in fact I had to change Cabins after every Segment. What "riled" me, was one night when I wanted to eat in the Main Restaurant and ordered my Meal with the Waiter, I requested some GREEN Vegetables to go with the Meal, to which the Waiter flatly refused - NOT AVAILABLE!!! So after such a negative attitude, I took my meals at the Buffet Restaurant, where I could "help myself" to whatever Vegetables were available, even though many times only COLD Green Vegetables were there on offer. Another Negative point was, that the Dinner Plates were COLD, sand the food presented was also only "warm" or Cold - so I asked the Chef's there to re-heat the plate???? Which is not saying much for the quality of the Food or the Service. AND, the "COMPULSORY" Gratuity charge came to about 1000 EUROS!!!! With such a mediocre Service - this was a total RIP-OFF!!! Read Less

From Sep 17 to 24, 2018, we took a 7-night, all-inclusive Greek Island cruise on Pullmantur Cruise Line's ship Horizon. We chose it for stellar itinerary, smaller ship, and price--and loved it. Pullmantur is based in Madrid; 90% of clients are Spanish. Horizon's an older ship; sun loungers, cabins, furniture could use an upgrade. But for the price we found it fine. We've been on Regent and other ultra-luxe venues and while they're glorious, trips like this cost 3 or 4 times as much--some for a lesser itinerary. [Photo 1: Pullmantur Horizon from dock] [Photo 2: Horizon Pool & Sunset We used the money saved to book a whole second week in Greece on land--in Naxos and Athens--plus two great private excursions from Athens, before and after sailing. Before sailing on Sep 17 we visited the Temple of Poseidon & Cape Sounio Beach, 45 minutes south of Athens, and on Sep 24 we saw the Corinth Canal. We boarded Horizon at 4 pm in Athens' port of Piraeus after a wonderful morning at Cape Sounio Sep 17. Check-in was a breeze. We walked out of our cabin 1058 and steps away found an ocean view aft lounge on Deck 10. Then, right upstairs on Deck 11, delicious snacks and drinks awaited in the ship's buffet and aft Ocean-view Grill. In fact, there were ocean-view rear decks on all four top decks 9 thru 12, with quiet sitting space, sunsets or moon rises--often empty except for us. [Photo 3: Deck 10 Aft Lounge] [Photo 4: Deck 11 Aft Ocean-view Grill] At 8 pm we sailed for Mykonos, Volos, Chania (on Crete), Santorini, Nafplio (aka Nauplion), and back to Piraeus. Kudos to Pullmantur for a great schedule: each port was more stunning than the last. We'd go ashore, say “We want to stay here a week, it's so gorgeous,” then at the next port, we'd say it again. By Day 4 we were in “beauty overwhelm.” On Horizon, with only 1,820 guests, we always found loungers. Maybe not at the pool Deck 11, but there was always both shade or sun on the large wrap-around Deck 12 (if starboard was in the sun, port was in the shade, etc.) With fewer cruisers, it was easy and relaxed to disembark and re-embark. Yes there's only one pool; I prefer that larger space. But yes, it's a European ship, so people smoke almost everywhere outdoors (never indoors). Yet with so much open deck, we always found loungers away from the smoke. Whatever seating you want, just keep walking around Deck 12 and you'll find it. European set dining room times are late: 7:30 and 9 pm. But from 5 to 7 pm, drinks at the pool bar and buffet bar flowed, and we always found food at the aft Ocean-view Grill, Deck 11. Did I mention “all-inclusive”? Our ocean-view cabin with large window (not a port hole), all-inclusive dining, unlimited beer, wine, cava (good dry Spanish champagne), well drinks, coffees and all gratuities, came to $3,000 grand total for two, as a special from Vacations to Go. So we sprang for the highest level of trip insurance, another $396, which also covered airfare. [Photo 5: Our cabin #1058, Deck 10, Superior Oceanview, Midship] No one ever asked for our drink cards or any payment, and no tips. We tipped anyway because the staff were so kind, helpful, and honestly friendly; 98% spoke good English. Most staff were from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Our cabin steward Dorian Gusman was terrific, and I loved our Mauritian waitress and Brazilian sommelier; I really regret losing my notes with their names Yes, Pullmantur announcements are in Spanish, and incomprehensible English. Yes, entertainment is in Spanish. No, excursions were not included, and no guarantee of English on any excursion–but we heard from English speakers that their guides happily translated for them. Anyway, we usually do our own excursions; more fun. And we just had no time for night life. We needed our sleep to rise early, visit the extensive breakfast buffet with all sorts of egg and cheese dishes—and love those chocolate croissants—and take it to the ocean-view Grill to eat (why stay inside?) Then get on with our day. Horizon had solid Spanish food in the formal restaurant and the identical fare at the buffet: lots of grilled meats and seafood. Plenty of veggie dishes, too. It's not haute cuisine; for that, one pays the luxe lines or specialty restaurants on larger ships. But we didn't care. We'd have a huge breakfast, never felt like lunch (busy running around port or sunning on deck), then enjoyed a large dinner with wine. Note: Horizon only had Greek food on the last night. So we bought "take out" dinners of moussaka in Mykonos and "lamb kleftiko ("stolen lamb”) in Chania, to take back to the ship. Destinations hopefully follow below. Tip: Before any Greek Island cruise, check each port's website and WhatsInPort to see how many ships will be in port, then do the advance homework to plan around any crowds or just stay on the ship at the pool. [Photo 6: Replica of Jason's Argo, Volos] [Photo 7: Fast Line to Oia, Santorini] Read Less

The pullmantur cruise was very awesome .There was a very good service An amazing experience, We had A lot of fun together ,it was a pleasure being a part of the pullmantur cruise. we enjoyed our selves very much .there were fantastic activities .Everyone was very friendly (including :the room service, the receptionist,the waiters in the restaurant , the photographer. ) We also enjoyed our selves in the swimming pool, the jacuzzi. There were very different kind of food which were very tasty if it was breakfast,lunch or dinner .it was beautiful looking at all the different dress codes from every day ,the parties were very fun .also it was very relaxing when you sat on the deck and just watching the beautiful blue sea water. sometimes you could see airplane passing from there .the entertainment group of the ship was very spontaneous so were the passengers too and the organization was top Read Less

The cruise was not a very good experience for our group. I think if you have any other non spanish speaking cruisers who want to go on this cruise you need to discourage them. If you didn't speak spanish you didn't know what was going on, and the crew members where rude and actually ignored us because we didn't speak spanish. The entertainment was all in spanish. When you said it was own by a spanish group, I didn't think the entertainment, the annoucements and basically everything was in spanish. We were literally a minority on this ship. It got to be comical when we found somebody who actually spoke english. One of the people in the group purchased the internet package, which she had trouble with all the time. She went to the IT desk and they supposedly fixed it but it was only fixed for a few hours. She then went to the Customer Service desk who told her she would have to go to the IT desk. When she said she already did that and just kind of shrugged their shoulders. She replied by saying aren't you customer service, you need to fix this or refund my money. I don't think they ever fixed it. The ship was a diseaster, the rooms where falling apart. In our cabin, the drawers on the desk were screwed shut (2 of them) the rug was splitting at the seams and the TV was positioned where you couldn't watch it from the bed. My daughter had to wear shoes to get up to the bunk because the ladder was not made for bare feet. As far as the cabin steward, I have no idea who it was. We never saw him, the only thing he did was make our bed. I am use to the bed being turned down with some kind of towel animal with maybe a chocolate or note. Not this cruise. We usually cruise with Carnival and thought they were low class, but this ship took the cake. They say the drinks are included, which means there is no bar service around the pool. You have to go to the bar and get a drink and if you didn't speak spanish, forget it you were last on the service list. Also, the variety of drinks themselves was minimal. If you paid the extra $14 euro per day you could get what you wanted. But, if you didn't, you were stuck with liquor brands that I have never heard of. The food was also terrible. I am not a picky eater but the food was less quality than fast food. The breakfast buffet was watery eggs, uncooked bacon and I had to actually ask for butter. Who doesn't put butter out for breakfast. Also, If you wanted milk, you had to ask for it or get it out of the Urn that people where using to get for their cereal. Luckily, we were not on the ship for lunch and ate good while we were on the islands. The dinner selection was basically the same every night except they had 1 different dish daily. If you didn't like that, then you ate the same thing all week. The service in the dining room was terrible. I don't think you should have to ask for more water/drinks and again butter for the rolls. For all the cruises that I have been on (probably 10 to 12), all served soft serve ice cream 24 hours a day, not this cruise. There was no ice cream anywhere other than the dining room at dinner. I could go on and on about how bad this cruise experience was. I don't normally complain, but this time I think I will post on Cruise critic so future cruisers will be aware. Read Less

We were originally sailing with friends on Royal Carribean last year but had to cancel for chemotherapy. So this year the prices had risen way more than expected so after searching we find Pullmantur at a very reasonable price and a better itinerary. We enjoyed the Horizon, it was comfortable , clean the staff were great and it exceeded all our expectations. The food was good,we had nice people on our table which was very international, though we found the Spanish people very happy and nice. Our verandah cabin was great. The excursions we chose were really enjoyable and reasonable. The Spa was good. We went to a couple of shows which were quite good. We very much appreciated that beverages were included, we dont drink a lot but did enjoy not having to worry about cost. We are converted to Pullmantur and hopefully in 2020 we can enjoy another cruise for our Golden wedding. As seniors living in Australia its expensive to get to Europe or Carribean so we cant do every year(but if we win Lotto we certainly would be on Pullmantur regularly) We didnt realise there were so many young adults on board till our second sailaway when the party on our top deck began round the pool and it was madness-there must have been many sore heads BUT it really wasnt a niuisance to us, we just carried our drinks to our verandah cabin on the same deck and enjoyed the view Read Less

We were told we could embark at 10.00 am as we had already booked in online. We had to wait until 10.35 to get upstairs into another queue where we were told that we would have to wait for 5 minutes. We got onboard the ship at 11.00 am which was the earliest we have every been able to embark on a ship. On our first day we were asked at least 6 times did we want to purchase a drink's upgrade and then every day after that. This is simply harassing the passenger. People are on holidays and can not be bothered listening to sales pitches. It is very off putting. We have sailed previously with NCL, Holland America and Celebrity X and found all of these cruise lines superior to Pullmantur. In our opinion the Horizon should be scrapped. The exterior is grubby, black soot billowing from the chimneys, I got stains on my clothes on a few occasions. The ladies public toilets are a no go zone. One was constantly flooded and out of order. There are not enough ladies toilets. I ended up going to my cabin as the public toilets were so bad. The bar stools at the bar in the Casino are impossible to sit on without sliding off, they are too small and uncomfortable. There is no "washy, washy" people on this ship to cleanse hands and the tables are not wiped down, which means they can get sticky. I was worried about bugs being passed on but fortunately we were not struck down by illness. The food was good. There were lots of vegetarian options at the buffet. We did not eat in the Dining Room as Delisiaz suited me better. It would be better if dishes were labelled if vegetarian/vegan friendly as I had to constantly ask the chef if dishes contained dairy products. The wine was poured in glasses and sitting ready to go which was a good idea. The coeliac, vegetarian corner was a good idea and soya milk was available which was great. On other cruises this usually had to be asked for. My husband loved the coffee in the cafe which was free, this is always charged for on other cruises. The bar waiters were pleasant, some of the barstaff were solemn. Read Less