What Cruise Lines Are Non-USA Owned? You’ll Be Surprised. Guaranteed!

I was amazed to see the wrong answer on blog posts and articles that several cruise writers, bloggers and vloggers give to this question that we get asked frequently which is “I want to go on an ocean cruise a non-USA owned line, what are my options?”.

I was surprised how some supposedly cruise experts get the answer wrong by mostly confusing where a cruise line is based or is actively catering for a local market or region, for being non-US owned.

For example, one of my followers’ using a list of non-USA owned lines she had seen online, told me she had booked a well-know “Norwegian” cruise line but I had to tell her it was in fact listed on the New York Stock Exchange with large percentage of USA and international shareholders now – so not a fully Norwegian-owned line any longer.

I spent time diving deep into this topic, and I even though I thought I knew who owned what, there were a few surprises I uncovered due to recent ownership changes that have gone under the radar.

But first some amazing revelations!

The Remarkable Stats!

My analysis showed USA companies dominate cruising even way more than I had appreciated.

First, US owned lines carry almost 9 put of 10 passengers (87%), including on lines that passengers think are locally owned and operated.

Second, based on passengers carried, only one of the top 15 cruise lines is not wholly or partly owned by a US listed corporation, US private equity firm, or US family or privately-owned company.

Third, there is only one large mass market resort-style and value line that’s not owned by a US company. And cruising non-USA owned lines means mostly having to have to stump up for luxury and ultra luxury small ships.

Let’s dive into the detail

Big USA Cruise Corporations

First, the ones that that most people think they know, but as many do not know about their joint ventures, it means that there are cruise Iines that are mistakenly thought of as local owned cruise lines – but are not.

Carnival Corporation

Carnival Corporation carries 42% of all cruise passengers and own eight lines. Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America, Seabourn, and more local focused lines like Germany-focused AIDA, Italian- focused Costa, and British-focused P&O Cruises and Cunard Cruise Line. They also own 40% of a Chinese joint venture, Adora Cruises.

Norwegian Cruise Group

Norwegian Cruise Group carries around 10% of passengers today, and own three cruise lines: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

Norwegian Encore Things You Can Do For Free

Royal Caribbean Group

Royal Caribbean Group is where most people, including those writers, bloggers, and vloggers I mentioned earlier, miss out some of their lines.

They wholly own Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity, and Silversea.

However, they have a 50:50 joint venture with TUI Cruises in Germany, and so part own the German-focused Mein Schiff and Hapag-Lloyd, and UK-focused Marella cruises.

So, if you’re looking for a German experience or a UK experience those lines will do the job, but they do have USA parents!

Also owned by and listed on the USA Stock exchanges are Disney Cruise line, as it is part of the Walt Disney Corporation, and Lindblad National Geographic.

European Faces, US Owners

I found that many passengers think the next two cruise lines are European owned, based on their high-profile leaders and origin story. But they are not.

Viking Cruises

The first is the one that I referred to earlier, Viking Cruises. It was created in Norway by Torstein Hagen, he sold part of it in 2016 to USA Private Equity and it was listed on the US Stock Exchange in May 2024.

Virgin Voyages

Many also think of Virgin Voyages as being British because of the association with Richard Branson. However, it’s a joint venture with US Bain Capital Private Equity putting up most of the money and the Virgin Group bringing the brand name.

USA Private Equity Owned

Other US Private Equity lines firms own several cruise lines, one which I am sure will surprise you as much as it did me.

They own Azamara, Margaritaville at Sea, Ritz Carlton Yachts, which is not part of Ritz Carlton Hotels but just licenses the name, Quark Expedition line, and the Greek line Celestyal Cruises, which I had always thought was Greek owned and operated.

USA Privately Owned

US private companies own Windstar, American Cruise Line, and the New Four Seasons Yachts, which is owned by a real estate mogul who owns several Four Seasons properties working in partnership with the hotel chain.

With the USA side clarified, time to dive into the lines owned and operated 100% out of the USA.

European Owned Lines

There are four privately owned cruise groups in Europe.

MSC Group

The largest and most significant are the two lines owned by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, a family-owned company.

MSC Cruises is their main cruise line, which is the third largest cruise line in the world based on passengers carried, after Carnival and Royal Caribbean, and bigger than Norwegian Cruise Line. They have a new luxury line called Explora Journeys.

Ponant Group

The second European and family-owned group is the Ponant group owned by the French Pinault family. They have three lines: Ponant Cruises, an ultra-luxury cruising and expedition line, Paul Gauguin, a luxury line in French Polynesia, and Aqua Expeditions.

Mystic Invest Group

The third is the Mystic Invest Group based in Portugal. They have the recently launched Atlas Ocean Voyages, an expedition focused line, Mystic Cruises focused on small ship expedition and cruising, and Nicko Cruises, which targets more German travellers.

Heritage Group

The fourth is the Heritage Group based in Monaco, which is owned by Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, whose family created and owned Silversea before selling to Royal Caribbean. They own the ultra-luxury Crystal Cruises through their Abercrombie & Kent subsidiary.

Other European Lines

There are several lines thought of as Norwegian based on their history and routes. Though I discovered only three remain under Norwegian ownership.

One of the most famous is Hurtigruten and HX Expeditions, which was spun off out of the Hurtigruten Group. Both, after facing some financial challenges, are now owned by separate UK private equity companies.

The only Norwegian owned cruise lines these days are Havila Voyages, which does similar routes to Hurtigruten, SeaDream, the luxury small yacht company, and Fred Olsen, which focuses on the UK, but is part of the Norwegian listed company called Bonheur.

In the UK, there’s several locally owned cruise lines.

There’s Saga Cruises, which is part of the Saga Group, which is for 50+ year old travellers only.

There’s the Ambassador Group which has Ambassador Cruise Line, a small ship value line and the small French line, Compagnie Française de Croisières.

And then in Scotland, there is Hebridean Island Cruises.

There’s a smattering of small privately owned lines in Europe, like Swan Hellenic and Star Clippers.

Rest Of World

In the rest of the world, there is the Australian Scenic and Emerald luxury yachts which are part of one group.

In Asia, there is Singapore-based Resorts World, who have brought back Star Cruises and Dream Cruises, which went bankrupt just after the pandemic shutdown.

And in Japan, is Mitsui Ocean Voyages which has been buying and revamping some of the older Seabourn ships.

If you want to cruise a non-USA line, you are limited especially if cruising on a budget or with family.

In the mass and value market, you’ve only got MSC Cruises.

Then all the rest are mostly in the small ship luxury side, like Explora Journeys, SeaDream, Atlas World Voyages, or on the ultra-luxury side like Crystal, Ponant, Paul Gauguin, Scenic, and Emerald Yachts.

There are several local and regional lines catering specifically for either immersive destination cruising like Norwegian Hurtigruten and Havila, and Scottish Hebridean Island Cruises, or those reflecting local language and on-board experiences like UK focused Saga, Fred. Olsen, and Ambassador, French Ponant, and German Nicko and Portuguese Mystic.

As I know this is all a bit complex, I have created a download listing all the cruise lines and who owns them that you can download at TipsForTravellers.com/owners