Pullmantur will start sailing from Acapulco in June 2009 with a larger ship than previously planned, Cruise Industry News has learned.

“Pullmantur was here two weeks ago to meet with port officials, local authorities, customs, tour operators and ship agents,” said Acapulco Port Operations Manager Roberto Maciel Cuevas, “and we expect to know which ship they will be bringing here by February.”

Cuevas said that Pullmantur is currently “looking for a ship the size of the Monarch (of the Seas),” adding that the line is still working out the logistics of bringing a bigger ship to Acapulco. (The only ship in Pullmantur’s fleet the size of the Monarch is the 2,276-passenger Sovereign.)

The seven-day Acapulco cruises will begin in late June, and call at Ixtapa (Zihuatanejo), Manzanillo (where she will also embark passengers), Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. There will be 52 cruises through June 2010.

The 1,400-passenger Ocean Dream was originally expected to homeport in Acapulco year-round, beginning in December 2008, but she will instead sail seven-day Caribbean cruises out of Aruba year-round.

In 2009, Acapulco will have 144 cruise-ship calls and more than 290,000 passengers in 2009, with the addition of Pullmantur – compared to 108 ships and 200,000 passengers in 2008. The port is also investing $10 million in an expansion program, allowing it to accommodate the largest cruise ships, Cuevas said. Construction for the 10-month program will begin in January 2009.