Tag Archives: Carnival Corporation

Norwegian in talks to buy Oceania and Regent parent

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Norwegian in talks to buy Oceania and Regent parentNorwegian Cruise Line was last night reported to be in “advanced talks” to take over the parent company of luxury lines Oceania and Regent Seven Seas Cruises for around $3 billion.

Reuters cited “people familiar with the matter” and said a deal could be announced as early as this week.

A deal would give Norwegian, a company with a market value of $6.8 billion, access to Prestige Cruise Holdings’ luxury ships and affluent clientele as it competes with larger rivals Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

But sources cautioned that the talks could still fall apart. The owner of Prestige Cruises, private equity firm Apollo Global Management, also owns a 20% stake in Norwegian.

Miami-based Norwegian Cruise operates 13 cruise ships in North America, the Mediterranean, the Baltic, Central America and the Caribbean. It had revenues of $2.57 billion in 2013, up 13% from 2012.

Oceania and Regent together have eight cruise ships operating worldwide. Prestige posted revenues of $1.2 billion in 2013, up 6% from the year earlier.

Prestige registered with US regulators for an initial public offering in January. Apollo has been the company’s majority shareholder following an $850 million deal in 2007.

Apollo made a $1 billion investment in Norwegian in 2008 and the company went public in January 2013.

Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises and Norwegian together account for 82% of the North American cruise passenger berth capacity, according to Prestige Cruises’ initial public offering registration document.

Norwegian and Prestige representatives did not respond to requests for comment, while an Apollo spokesman declined to comment, according to Reuters.

Hamas rocket shrapnel lands on cruise ship

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Debris and shrapnel from rockets that were fired by the extremist Palestinian group Hamas have reportedly landed on the deck of the German cruise liner AIDAdiva.

Hamas is believed not to have targeted the ship itself, but instead at various Israeli targets. Whilst in the air, the rockets were destroyed by Israeli Defence Forces.

Just as the 2000+ passenger ship was leaving the port, sirens begun to sounds warning Israeli cities of the imminent attack.

Despite shrapnel landing on the deck of the ship, there was no damage sustained and none of the crew or passengers were harmed. AIDAdiva is currently on a seven day cruise across the Mediterranean from Antalya to Turkey

Hamas responded by saying they fired the rockets to respond to “Zionist aggression”. This came shortly after accusing Israel of killing five of its fighters.

The Israel Military reported that its offensive was part of a campaign targeting Hamas militants.

Operating under the Carnival Coporation, AIDA Cruises caters primarily for German-speaking passengers.

“You are advised to exercise caution if travelling in the vicinity of Gaza, and to check and follow local security advice,” the FCO said.

Carnival promotion rewards Galveston cruise bookings

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By Tom Stieghorst
Carnival Cruise Lines said travel agents can earn triple the normal amount of points in its rewards program by booking cruises from Galveston during July.

The line said the promotion, running through July 31, will give agents 450 points for new online bookings from Texas ports, up from the standard 150 points.

Beginning at the 2,500-point level, the points can be redeemed for Carnival logo items, $50 and $100 gift cards, iPads and other items.

Carnival will transfer a third ship, Carnival Freedom, to Galveston beginning in February.

Joni Rein, executive vice president of worldwide sales at Carnival, said the points boost was a thank you to agents that have helped Carnival build business from Galveston.