Carnival Corp has pulled the plug on its much vaunted Fathom cruise operation less than one year since its ship first set sail.

At the same time, Spanish cruise operator Pullmantur has closed its French-oriented brand Croisieres de France.

Carnival’s decision to cull Fathom, which offered volunteer and cultural exchange cruises to the Dominican Republic and Cuba, has come as no surprise to industry observers who have been following its development since it was first announced to great fanfare in late 2015.

Fathom, headed by social entrepreneur Tara Russell, founder of Create Common Good, promised to provide passengers with opportunities to work on various social projects in the Dominican Republic while at the same time paying some of the highest per diem rates in the Caribbean for the pleasure of doing so.

The cruises kicked off in April this year using the 30,300-gt, 710-berth Adonia (built 2001), which was redeployed from the cruise giant’s P&O Cruises UK subsidiary.

Few were willing to fork out for the trips, and the tickets plummeted from several thousand dollars to less than $300. Even then the ship rarely sailed full.

‘First direct route’

Fathom began alternating these weekly trips with cultural exchange cruises to Cuba after securing permission from the US and Cuban authorities to operate the first direct route between the two countries in decades.

While these Cuban voyages achieved higher ticket prices and passenger numbers, they are still being sold at substantial discounts.

Fathom, despite its noble intentions, has been a financial disaster for Carnival. It is scheduled to cease sailings next May, when the Adonia will return to P&O for continued operations out of the UK.

Pullmantur’s decision to discontinue Croisieres de France is also believed to have been made on financial grounds and it will also cease operations early next year when its two ships, the 47,400-gt, 1,810-berth Horizon (built 1990) and Zenith (built 1992) will transfer across to Pullmantur.

The move is part of an ongoing restructuring process at Pullmantur since Royal Caribbean sold a 51% majority stake in the company to private-equity group Springwater Capital early this year.

Pullmantur has been struggling in the face of Spain’s poor economic climate, so the long-term future of the two ships remains in doubt. Both, like the other two ships operated by Pullmantur, remain under Royal Caribbean ownership and are leased to Pullmantur.

Some industry sources suggest they are quietly being marketed for sale.