Royal Caribbean International (RCI), also formerly known as Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line brand founded in 1968 in Norway and organised as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group 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.
Majesty of the Seas is a Sovereign-class cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyards in Saint-Nazaire, France, and placed in service on 26 April 1992. Her Godmother is Queen Sonja of Norway. As of 2020, she is the only Sovereign-class ship still in service.
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, through the first vessel, Disney Magic and is domiciled in London, England, with their operational headquarters located in Celebration, Florida.
Disney Magic is the first cruise ship owned and operated by Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. She has 11 public decks, can accommodate 2,700 passengers in 875 staterooms, and has a crew of approximately 950. The interior of Disney Magic is decorated in the Art Deco style.
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.
MS SuperStar Gemini is a cruise ship owned and operated by Star Cruises. She was built in 1992 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France as MS Dreamward for traffic with Norwegian Cruise Line. In 1998 she was lengthened at Lloyd Werft in Bremerhaven, Germany and renamed as the Norwegian Dream. In late 2012, she was transferred to the fleet of Star Cruise and renamed SuperStar Gemini.
MS Song of Norway was one of the first ships purpose-built as a cruise ship. She was the first ship of Royal Caribbean International when she entered operation in 1970. She was sold for scrap in 2013 and broken up in 2014, after serving her last years as a gambling ship.
MS Bahamas Celebration was a midsize cruise ship formerly operated by Celebration Cruise Line. Between March 2009 and October 2014, she operated two- and three-day cruises from Port Everglades to the Bahamas. In March 2010 she started operating two-day cruises from the Port of Palm Beach.
MS Regal Empress was a cruise ship that recently operated for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line. She was built in 1953 by Alexander Stephen & Sons at Glasgow, Scotland as the ocean liner SS Olympia for the Greek Line. Greek Line withdrew the Olympia from service in 1974. Following an extended lay-up period and reconstruction into a diesel-engined Caribbean cruise ship, the ship re-emerged in 1983 as MS Caribe I for Commodore Cruise Line. In 1993 she was sold to Regal Cruise Line and received her final name. She operated for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line from 2003 until 2009. The Regal Empress was also the last vintage passenger ship to regularly sail from the United States.
MS Volendam is a Rotterdam-class (R-class) cruise ship belonging to Holland America Line. The Volendam is like half of the size of some Holland America Line ships. It was built in 1999 as the third of four Rotterdam-class vessels which she has ten decks, with passenger cabins spread across six of them. The Volendam's theming prominently features flowers, and the decor throughout the ship emphasizes floral patterns. She sails out of Australia, Asia, and conducts cruises of the Inside Passage, traversing British Columbia and Alaska.
Grand Classica is a cruise ship for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. She was built by Italian company Fincantieri Shipyards in 1991. On board are two restaurants, 9 bars, 2 swimming pools, and 4 whirlpools. The ship left the Costa fleet in March 2018 after being sold to Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and began sailing on April 13, 2018 as the Grand Classica.
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 U.S.-based Royal Caribbean Group, but Royal Caribbean later sold a 51% stake in the cruise line to Spain-based investment firm Springwater Capital, retaining a 49% stake.
Hamburg Atlantic Line was an ocean liner and cruise ship operating company established in Hamburg, West Germany in 1958 by Axel Bitsch Christensen and Vernicos Eugenides, the latter being the adopted son of Home Lines' founder Eugen Eugenides. In 1966 the company changed its name to German Atlantic Line. Liner services were abandoned in 1969, after which the company's ships concentrated solely on cruising. Due to the 1973 oil crisis, German Atlantic Line closed down in December 1973.
The Holiday class was the first class of newbuilds for Carnival Cruise Line after their first newbuild, Tropicale, which was completed in 1982. The first ship in the class, the 46,052 gross-ton vessel Holiday, was completed in 1985. A second and slightly larger sister ship, Jubilee, was built in 1986 at 47,262 gross tons. The third and final ship, Celebration, was identical to Jubilee and completed in 1987. All were the biggest ships for Carnival until the Fantasy class was built.
MS Kungsholm was a passenger liner owned and operated by the Swedish American Line from 1928 to 1941 on transatlantic services from Gothenburg to New York City as well as cruising out of New York. It was built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany.
MS Marella Spirit was a cruise ship owned by Holland America Line and operated under charter by the United Kingdom-based Marella Cruises. She was built in 1983 at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in France for Holland America Line as MS Nieuw Amsterdam. Between 2000 and 2001 she sailed for United States Lines, a subsidiary of American Classic Voyages, as MS Patriot. In 2002 she returned under Holland America Line ownership and reverted to the name Nieuw Amsterdam, but was not used in active service. During the same year she was chartered to Louis Cruise Lines, who in turn sub-chartered the ship to Thomson Cruises, with whom she entered service under MS Thomson Spirit in 2003.
Celebration Cruise Line was a small cruise line that operated two-day voyages out of Port of Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island. The company was founded in late 2008, and began operations on March 9, 2009. The company moved the ship's operations from Port Everglades to the Port of Palm Beach in March 2010.
Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line is a cruise line that operates two-day voyages out of West Palm Beach, FL. As of September 2019, they offer cruises to Grand Bahama Island and Nassau. The company was founded in late 2014, and began operating its first cruises in February 2015 with the Grand Celebration.
MSGrand Celebration is a Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line cruise ship, originally built for Carnival Cruise Line. She was the last out of three ships to be built for Carnival's Holiday Class of cruise ships, and she has sailed for Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line 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" and the 1989 comedy "Going Overboard".
