Who owns the various cruise lines?

  

 Micky Arison is the Chairman of Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company.

Richard Fain is the Chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Arnold Donald, President and CEO of Carnival Croporation

Kevin Sheehan, former CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.  The current CEO is Frank Del Rio.

Although there are quite a few cruise lines, as a result of a period of industry consolidation at the end of the 20th Century, most cruise lines today are owned by four corporations.

        The largest of these companies is Carnival Corporation.  It is a holding company that owns the following cruise lines - -

Carnival Cruise Lines
Princess Cruises 
Holland America Line 
Costa
P&O Cruises 
Cunard 
Seabourn 
AIDA 
P&O Cruises Australia 

         The total passenger capacity for these lines is over 190,000. 

         Note that Carnival Corporation is not the same company as Carnival Cruise Lines.  Yes, Carnival Corporation came about as a result of the success of Carnival Cruise Lines but it is a different corporation.  (See article in which CEO Arnold Donald explains the strategy behind the Carnival corporate structure)

        The second largest cruise corporation is Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (“RCCL”).  It is the holding company for the following cruise lines - -  

Royal Caribbean International
Celebrity Cruises
Silversea Cruises

            Royal also has a 50 percent ownership interest in TUI Cruises, which also owns Marella Cruises.

            Although RCCL has fewer ships than Carnival, its ships tend to be larger giving it a passenger capacity of approximately 92,000.  

            Again, as with Carnival, note that despite the similarity in the name, the company that owns these cruise lines is not the cruise line Royal Caribbean International (“RCI”).  RCI is a subsidiary of the holding company RCCL.

            Both Carnival Corporation and RCCL are public corporation with shares traded on the stock exchanges.

             The third largest cruise line is Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. ("NCLH").  It is also a public corporation traded on the stock exchanges.  However, it is controlled by Apollo Management Ltd. and Genting Hong Kong Limited, who owned Norwegian in its entirely prior to the initial public offering in January 2013.

         Like Carnival Corp. and RCCL, NCLH has become a conglomerate.  Within its Prestige Holdings subsidiary, NCHL owns the luxury brands Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.  

        Coming in as the fourth largest cruise line but growing rapidly is MSC Cruises  with a passenger capacity of over 28,000.   It is a subsidiary of the giant cargo shipping company Mediterranean Shipping Company.

        Apart from the big four, there are a number of smaller cruise lines. For example, there is FredOlsen Cruises Ltd., which serves the British market predominantlys.  It is owned by the Norwegian-based Fred Olsen Group.

        Crystal Cruises is owned by the Japanese shipping company NYK, which also owns NYK Cruises, operator of the Asuka II.

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Beyondships cruise ship FAQs - - Who owns the various cruise lines?