A while back, we wrote a piece about the perks you can potentially get if you stay in a hotel as someone who owns stock in said brand, or parent brand, of hotel. Not surprisingly, the same holds true if you go on a cruise and are a stockholder for that cruise line (or parenting cruise line; like hotels and car rental companies, some cruise companies own several brands under their corporate umbrella).
Not all cruise lines offer stockholder benefits. Some simply choose not to. Others are part of privately owned corporations and don’t even offer stock. But of the cruise lines that do offer stockholder benefits, here’s what you can expect if you own stock in these publicly owned cruise lines:
Carnival Corporation
Carnival Corporation is the parent company for:
- AIDA cruises
- Carnival Cruise Line
- Costa Cruises
- Cunard
- Holland America Line
- P&O Cruises
- Princess Cruises
- Seabourn
They offer onboard credit to their shareholders, which increases with the length of your cruise:
| NORTH AMERICA BRANDSCarnival Cruise Line*, Princess Cruises*, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard* |
CONTINENTAL EUROPE BRANDSCosta Cruises, AIDA Cruises |
UNITED KINGDOM BRANDSP&O Cruises (UK), Cunard*, Princess Cruises (UK)* |
AUSTRALIA BRANDSP&O Cruises (Australia), Princess Cruises*, Carnival Cruise Line* |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 14 days or longer | US $250 | €200 | £150 | A$250 |
| Onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 7 to 13 days | US $100 | €75 | £60 | A$100 |
| Onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 6 days or less | US $50 | €40 | £30 | A$50 |
* The onboard credit for Carnival Cruise Line, Cunard and Princess Cruises is determined based on the operational currency onboard the vessel.
This benefit is available to shareholders holding a minimum of 100 shares of Carnival Corporation or Carnival plc.
Shares of Carnival Corporation are currently selling for about $16.36 per share.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. is the parent company for:
- Norwegian Cruise Line
- Oceania Cruises and
- Regent Seven Seas Cruises
They offer onboard credit to their shareholders, which increase with the length of your cruise:
- $250 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 15 Days or More.
- $100 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 7 to 14 Days.
- $50 Onboard Credit per Stateroom on Sailings of 6 Days or Less.
This exclusive benefit is reserved solely for shareholders owning a minimum of 100 shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. at time of sailing. Offer valid for any vacation on Norwegian Cruise Line®, Oceania Cruises® or Regent Seven Seas Cruises®, excluding charter sailings. Additional terms and conditions may apply.
Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. are currently selling for about $15.52USD per share.
Royal Caribbean International
Royal Caribbean International is the parent company for:
- Celebrity Cruises
- Royal Caribbean International
- Silversea Cruises
They offer onboard credit to their shareholders, which increases with the length of your cruise (this is starting to feel like deja vu, isn’t it? LOL):
- $1,000 onboard credit per stateroom on a World Cruise.
- $250 onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 14 or more nights.
- $100 onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 6-13 nights.
- $50 onboard credit per stateroom on sailings of 5 nights or less.
This exclusive benefit offer is reserved solely for shareholders owning a minimum of 100 shares of Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) at the time of sailing. It excludes any charter or Galapagos sailings.
Royal Caribbean International’s shares are currently selling for about $ 177.58 USD per share (that’s quite a difference from the other companies; I’m guessing they’ve never split their stock).
What about Disney Cruise Line, Viking and Virgin Voyages?
Disney Cruise Line is under the umbrella of the Walt Disney Company. They are a publicly traded company, but Disney discontinued all investor benefits in 2000.
Viking Line Group & Cargo, which is what Viking Cruises is under, is also publicly traded but offers no stockholder benefits.
Virgin Voyages is part of the Virgin Group. They are privately owned and do not offer stock at this time.
Is it worth buying cruise stock?
Obviously, people buy stock in cruise companies because they think/hope the price will rise.
But should you buy stock in cruise companies for the benefits? That’s up to you. If you cruise a lot, and/or for longer periods of time, you could conceivably eventually make a profit on your investment, in onboard credit alone. I mean, let’s say you have 100 shares of Carnival stock – right now that would cost a little more than $1600. If you get $100 in onboard credit for every 7-day cruise, you’d need to take 16 cruises to pay for your 100 shares (not considering stock value [hopefully] increasing, dividends, etc.)
For some people, that’s a no brainer to buy stock. For others, they may not cruise enough for it to make sense for them to lay out $1600-$1700 (let’s not even get into Royal Caribbean’s price LOL). As the good blog says, Your Mileage May Vary.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary.
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