Who Owns the Norwegian Cruise Line?

Norwegian Cruise Line is a global cruise brand based in Miami, Florida. The cruise line was founded in 1966 by Knut Kloster and Ted Arison. Norwegian operates 19 ships, which offer customized itineraries for different routes.

In Apr 2024, Norwegian Aqua celebrated its first float out at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Italy, moving closer to its debut. Norwegian Aqua will be the cruise line’s 20^th ship. [1]

Norwegian Cruise Line is expanding its fleet to cater to more consumers. Its Norwegian Aqua will arrive in Apr 2025, extending the brand’s Prima Class plus offering. In 2023, the company received the Norwegian Viva.

This ship debuted in Aug 2023 after arriving in San Juan for a winter program in the Southern Caribbean, becoming the company’s second Prima-class vessel. The cruise line returned to Baltimore with Norwegian Sky and Norwegian Sun, while Norwegian Jewel and Norwegian Dawn revisited Asia after three years. [2]

Each Norwegian ship offers unique experiences. Norwegian Aqua will arrive in Apr 2025, extending the cruise line’s fleet. This Prima Plus ship will weigh 156,300 tons and span 1,056 feet. In Apr 2024, the company offered a sneak peek into new culinary experiences for Norwegian Aqua.

The 3,571-passenger ship will have a Sukhothai Thai restaurant, Swirl Wine Bar, Metropolitan Sail & Sustain cocktail bar, and Nama Sushi and Sashimi. But who owns the Norwegian Cruise Line? [3]

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Who is Norwegian Cruise Line’s Parent Company?

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Limited. The parent organization is a public company listed on the NYSE under the symbol NCLH. In Mar 2023, NCLH appointed Harry Sommer as its new president and CEO after Frank Del Rio retired. Sommer was CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) since 2020. He was succeeded in his role at NCL by David Herrera. [4]

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is a leading global cruise company. It operates 32 ships and around 66,500 berths under Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

These wholly-owned subsidiaries offer itineraries to 700 destinations worldwide. In 2023, the parent company received three new ships: Oceania Cruises’ Vista, Norwegian’s Viva, and Regent’s Seven Seas Grandeur. Regent Seven Seas Cruises became Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team’s first official Global Cruise Line Partner. [5]

Norwegian Cruise Line is NCLH’s flagship brand. It offers unique itineraries for each season and targets high-potential tourist destinations. In Feb 2024, the cruise line announced plans to add one more Floridian city to its embarkation ports from JaxPort with the Norwegian Gem.

The 2,394-passenger ship will port in Jacksonville from Nov to Apr yearly from 2025 to 2028, offering three 12-day and two 11-day roundtrip sailings to the Eastern Caribbean. It will visit several top tourist destinations, including the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Antigua. [6]

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings refines its offerings to address emerging consumer needs and evolving market realities. The parent company launches programs to improve its three subsidiaries.

In Jan 2023, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings unveiled “Experiences at Sea.” This new brand combines NCL’s Sixthman Festivals at Sea and NCLH’s Charters, Meetings, and Incentives (CM&I) division. The “Experiences at Sea” unit will serve the company’s corporate, incentive, and affinity-focused clients across the subsidiaries of Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas. [7]

Image Credit: Koushalya Karthikeyan

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Ownership History

Knut Kloster and Ted Arison founded the Norwegian Cruise Line in Norway in 1966 as the Norwegian Caribbean Line. Before establishing NCL, Knut owned Klosters Rederi, one of Norway’s leading shipping firms.

In 1966, Knut partnered with Ted Arison to launch the Norwegian Caribbean Line and introduce their first ship, the Sunward. This ship sailed from Europe to the Port of Miami on its maiden NCL voyage. Co-founder Ted Arison left the company after its launch to establish Carnival Cruises. [8]

Norwegian Cruise helped shape the budding cruise industry in the 70s. The company was the first cruise line to introduce weekly itineraries to the Caribbean. NCL launched its third ship, the Skyward, in Jan 1970 and the Southward a year later.

In 1977, NCL purchased Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas to provide exclusive private island experiences to its customers.

The Norwegian Caribbean Line expanded to other regions after acquiring the Royal Viking Line in 1984. The company rebranded to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1987 to reflect its route structure expansion beyond the Caribbean.

In the 1990s, NCL introduced the Norwegian Dream and the Norwegian Wind. Norwegian Cruise Line ownership changed hands in Feb 2000 after Genting Hong Kong acquired the company for around $1.8 billion. The brand expanded under its new owner, introducing its famous Freestyle Cruising concept in 2000 and the first purpose-built Freestyle Cruising ship in 2001.

The company launched several new vessels in the 2000s, including Norwegian Sun, Norwegian Star, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Jewel, Pride of Hawaii, Norwegian Pearl, and Norwegian Gem. [9]

Apollo Management acquired a 50% stake in Norwegian in 2007, becoming a joint owner with Genting Hong Kong. Apollo paid $1 billion for half of the company. In 2008, TPG Capital bought a 12.5% stake in the cruise line.

Investments from Apollo and TPG helped NCL strengthen its business. NCL acquired Prestige Cruises International, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas from Apollo and created Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd as the brand’s parent company.

In 2013, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings went public on the NYSE and started trading as NCLH. The move transferred NCL ownership to institutional investors and the general public. [10]

Image Credit: Jenny Marvin

Norwegian Cruise Line’s Shareholder Structure

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is the owner of Norwegian Cruise Line, which is an NYSE-listed public company trading as NCLH. As of Dec 2023, NCLH had 429,040,624 Stock A shares with one vote.

This figure includes 425,973,798 free-float shares held by the general public and institutional investors. The company owns about 0.68% of outstanding Stock A shares. [11]

Norwegian Cruise Line’s shareholder structure includes institutional owners, insiders, and individual investors. Around 726 institutions own NCLH shares. As of Mar 2024, Capital Research Global was the largest institutional shareholder, with 13.3%.

This stake represents 57.05 million shares. Vanguard Group is NCLH’s second-largest shareholder with 11.55%, followed by Blackrock Inc. at 5.80%, Capital International at 4.71%, State Street Corp at 3.40%, Price T.Rowe Associates at 5.24%, Geode Capital at 2.29%, Invesco at 2.01%, and Morgan Stanley at 1.37%. [12]

Norwegian insiders own 0.68% of the company. As of Mar 2024, Chairman Russell Galbut was NCLH’s top insider shareholder, with 583,678 shares. NCLH CEO Harry Sommer is second with 574,129 shares, followed by General Counsel Daniel Farkas at 289,777, CFO Mark Kempa at 268,386, NCL President David Herrera at 219,518, Auditor Faye Ashby at 183,161, and Sales & Marketing chief Andrea DeMarco at 126,304.

Other top players include Officer Patrik Dahlgren at 94,868, former CEO Frank Del Rio at 80,170, and Director David Abrams at 72,387. [13]

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