Royal Caribbean Cruises Buys Spain’s Pullmantur

In a move to further expand its European and Latin American operations, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced its agreement to purchase Pullmantur S.A., the Madrid-based cruise and tour operator.

Royal Caribbean expects the acquisition to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2006, subject to regulatory approvals.

Pullmantur, formed in 1971, is the largest cruise operator in Spain. It has two primary business interests: cruises and tour operations.

Its cruise division consists of five ships operating in Europe and Latin America. Its tour operations sells travel packages to Spanish guests –including hotel and flights- primarily to Caribbean resorts, and sells travel packages to Europe aimed at Latin American customers.

Pullmantur also has a small air business that operates three aircraft in support of its cruise and tour. Pullmantur has offices in Spain and Portugal, with approximately 2,600 employees, and will be Royal Caribbean’s first wholly-owned European brand.

Royal Caribbean has signed an agreement with the shareholders of Pullmantur to buy all of the capital stock of the company for €430 million, plus Pullmantur’s net debt of approximately €270 million.

Royal Caribbean has obtained a committed bridge facility to support the purchase. As part of the transaction, Pullmantur will be withdrawing from all Cuba-related activities prior to closing.

“Pullmantur offers a terrific strategic opportunity for Royal Caribbean to further grow our presence in the European and Latin American markets in a major and tangible way,” said Richard D. Fain, chairman and chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

“Our partnership with Royal Caribbean is a bold strategic move that will enable us to further grow our highly successful brand,” said Alfonso Lopez Perez, general manager of Pullmantur.

Royal Caribbean expects this acquisition to be neutral to marginally accretive to 2007 earnings per share and accretive thereafter.