Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator, currently the world's largest travel leisure company, with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies, US-based Carnival Corporation and UK-based Carnival plc, which function as one entity. Carnival Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Carnival plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange. As such, Carnival is the only company in the world to be included in both the S&P 500 and FTSE 100 indices.
Royal Caribbean International is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) since 1997. Based in Miami, Florida, United States, it is the largest cruise line by revenue and second largest by passengers counts. In 2018, Royal Caribbean International controlled 19.2% of the worldwide cruise market by passengers and 14.0% by revenue. It also operates the four largest passenger ships in the world. As of July 2019, the line operates twenty-six ships and has six additional ships on order.
Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida, US and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line in 1997. Celebrity's signature logo is an "Χ" displayed on the funnel of Celebrity ships, and is the Greek letter chi, for "Chandris".
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) is a global cruise holding company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida, US. It is the world's second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corporation & plc. As of March 2009, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. fully owns three cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Azamara Cruises. They also hold a 67% stake in Silversea Cruises, a 50% stake in TUI Cruises and 49% stakes in Pullmantur Cruises and the now-defunct CDF Croisières de France. Previously Royal Caribbean Cruises also owned 50% of Island Cruises, but this was sold to TUI Travel PLC in October 2008.
Disney Cruise Line is a cruise line operation that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The company was incorporated in 1996 as Magical Cruise Company Limited and is domiciled in London, England, with their operational headquarters located in Celebration, Florida.
Princess Cruises is a cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California. As of 2018, it is the second largest cruise line by net revenue. It was previously a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises, and is currently under Holland America Group within Carnival Corporation & plc, which holds executive control over the Princess Cruises brand. The line has 18 ships cruising global itineraries that are marketed to both American and international passengers.
SS Southern Cross was an ocean liner built in 1955 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom-based Shaw, Savill & Albion Line for Europe—Australia service. In 1975 she was rebuilt as a cruise ship and subsequently sailed under the names Calypso, Azure Seas and OceanBreeze until 2003 when she was sold for scrap to Ahmed Muztaba Steel Industries, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Empress of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was formerly operated by Pullmantur Cruises as Empress.
Seabourn Cruise Line is an ultra-luxury cruise line headquartered in Seattle, Washington. The line operates all around the world, from short seven-day Caribbean cruises to exotic 100+ day around the world cruises. It is owned by Carnival Corporation, part of the "World's Leading Cruise Lines" marketing group, which also includes Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard Line, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, and AIDA Cruises.
Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by US-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., but Royal Caribbean later sold a 51% stake in the cruise line to Spain-based investment firm Springwater Capital, retaining a 49% stake.
Marella Cruises is a British cruise line operated by TUI UK, offering cruise holidays around Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia.
The Royal Viking Line was an upmarket cruise line that operated from 1972 until 1998. The company was the brain child of Warren Titus and had its headquarters at One Embarcadero Center in San Francisco.
MS Island Escape was launched as the cruiseferry MS Scandinavia in 1981. In 1985 she was renamed MS Stardancer and in 1990 MS Viking Serenade before being converted to a cruise ship in 1991. She became MS Island Escape in 2002 being renamed once more as MV Ocean Gala in 2015. Her final name was MV Ocean Gala 1 before being scrapped in 2018.
MS Black Watch is a cruise ship, currently owned and operated by Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. She was built by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Finland for Royal Viking Line as Royal Viking Star, entering service in 1972. She has also sailed for Norwegian Cruise Lines as Westward and Royal Cruise Line as Star Odyssey.
Epirotiki was a shipping company that began in 1850. Epirotiki Line operated cruise vessels, cargo and tanker vessels.
The Quantum class is a class of cruise ships from Royal Caribbean International, previously known by the code name Project Sunshine. As of October 2019, the Quantum class is the third largest class of cruise ships in the world, behind MSC Cruises's Meraviglia class and Royal Caribbean International's Oasis class by gross tonnage.
The Grand Celebration is a Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line cruise ship, originally built for Carnival Cruise Line. The ship was the last out of three ships to be built for their Holiday Class of cruise ships. It currently operates for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. It has been operating for them since 3 February 2015.
MS Sunward was a cruise ship built in 1966 for Knut Kloster. Originally designed and built for ferrying passengers and vehicles around the Bay of Biscay and Gibraltar, the promise and success of the Sunward would be short-lived. The restriction on English currency and the closing between the borders of Spain and Gibraltar placed a fate on the newly built ship. Ted Arison, an Israeli businessman, contacted Kloster about the possibility of converting the Sunward into a cruise ship in Miami. The Sunward operated as a cruise ship under the newly-established Norwegian Caribbean Line. The ship proved to be a success that Norwegian Caribbean Line commissioned newer, larger ships into the fleet, replacing the Sunward. She was sold to Compangnie Generale Transméditerranéenne in 1973, and later on with several companies. In 2004, the former Sunward was sold to Bangladeshi breakers for scrap. The vessel appeared in the 1970 dramatic film, "Darker than Amber".
Symphony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the largest passenger ship in the world by gross tonnage, at 228,021 GT, surpassing her sister Harmony of the Seas.
