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2019-06-30T12:15:00Z
- Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are the three dominant players in the cruise industry right now.
- Together, they accounted for nearly $6 billion in profits and over 70% of the cruise market in 2018.
- With demand for cruises expected to grow this year, the three companies will continue to battle for new customers.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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Carnival Corp, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are the three dominant players in the cruise industry. Together, they accounted for nearly $6 billion in profits and over 70% of the cruise market in 2018.
With demand for cruises expected to grow this year, the three companies will continue to battle for new customers.
Read more: The 10 nastiest cruise ships of all time
But Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian are not identical. Each operates at a different scale that is reflected in their financial performances and market capitalizations.
This is how the cruise industry's three biggest companies stack up.
Profits
The companies reported the following full-year profits in 2018:
- Carnival: $3.2 billion
- Royal Caribbean: $1.8 billion
- Norwegian: $954.8 million
Number of passengers
The companies had the following number of passengers in 2018:
- Carnival: 12.4 million
- Royal Caribbean: 6.1 million
- Norwegian: 2.8 million
Market capitalization (as of June 2019)
- Carnival: $33.36 billion
- Royal Caribbean: $25.36 billion
- Norwegian: $11.46 billion
Median annual pay for employees
Each company's median employee earned the following in 2018:
- Norwegian: $20,101
- Royal Caribbean: $19,396
- Carnival: $16,622
Number of employees
- Carnival: Around 154,161 (as of October 31, 2018)
- Royal Caribbean: Around 77,000 (as of December 31, 2018)
- Norwegian: Around 33,200 (as of December 31, 2018)
Number of ships
- Carnival: 104 (as of November 30, 2018)
- Royal Caribbean: 60 (as of December 31, 2018)
- Norwegian: 26 (as of December 31, 2018)
Number of cruise lines
- Carnival: 9
- Royal Caribbean: 6
- Norwegian: 3
How much their CEOs make
The three companies reported the following annual compensation for their CEOs in 2018:
- Norwegian: Frank Del Rio — $22,593,061*
- Carnival: Arnold Donald — $13,515,884
- Royal Caribbean: Richard Fain — $12,422,715
*For accounting reasons, Del Rio's 2018 compensation includes a 2017 stock award. Without the 2017 stock award, Del Rio would have earned $14,873,324 in 2018.
How old the companies are
- Norwegian: 53 years
- Royal Caribbean: 51 years
- Carnival: 47 years
Read next
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