Oceania Cruises

Oceania Cruises is a cruise line based in Miami, Florida, that operates six cruise ships on worldwide itineraries. It typically offers cruises that last between 10 and 14 days, but is also known for its long cruises lasting up to 195 days. The line's President and CEO is Bob Binder; he is vice-chairman and also a co-founder of the brand.

Since September 2014, Oceania Cruises has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, which also owns Norwegian Cruise Line and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.

History

Oceania Cruises was founded in 2002. The company chartered the former Renaissance Cruises ship ''R Two'' from Cruiseinvest and renamed her ''Insignia'' in October 2002. at ''Fakta om Fartyg'' , retrieved 25. 6. 2007 In April 2003 the ''Insignia'' was chartered to the French travel agency TRM for three months, during which Oceania Cruises operated no vessels. On 15 June 2003 Oceania Cruises re-commenced service with two ships: ''Insignia'' was renamed ''Regatta'' and a new ship (''R One'', a sister ship of ''Insignia/Regatta'', also chartered from Cruiseinvest) entered service as the new ''Insignia''.

In November 2005, a third R-class ship entered service for Oceania Cruises when the company chartered the ''R Five'' from Cruiseinvest and renamed her ''Nautica''. At the naming ceremony of the ''Nautica'', Frank del Rio announced the plan of adding a fourth ship, ''Marina'', to the Oceania Cruises fleet in July 2007, but this never came to pass.

In February 2007, the majority of Oceania Cruises' stock was sold to the New York-based Apollo Management. The following month, Oceania made a memorandum agreement with the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy to construct two new 1,250-passenger ships. The contract was finalized in June 2007, with delivery dates for the new Oceania-class ships set for January 2011 and July 2011. The contract also included an option for a third vessel of the same type that could be delivered in May 2012, but Oceania declined the option.

After being leased out for two years to Hapag-Lloyd as the ''Columbus 2'', the ''Insignia'' returned to the fleet in 2014.

In May 2014, it was announced that Oceania and Fincantieri were close to making a deal on two additional ships for the Oceania class. The order for these additional ships never came to fruition.

On September 2, 2014, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings purchased Prestige Cruise Holdings, the parent company of Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, for $3.025 billion.

On November 25, 2014, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd announced a definitive agreement with Princess Cruises to purchase the ''Ocean Princess'' for Oceania Cruises. Upon delivery in March 2016, the ship underwent a 35-day, $40 million refurbishment in Marseille, France, to become the ''Sirena''.

In August 2018, Oceania Cruises announced its intention to renovate each of its four ships as a part of the $100 million "OceaniaNEXT" program.

On January 8, 2019, Oceania Cruises announced it ordered a new class of ships, the Allura class. The order will consist of two new ships to be built by Fincantieri at a cost of more than $650 million per ship. The ships will be 67,000 gross tons and have a 1,200-passenger capacity. They are scheduled to be delivered in 2022 and 2025.

Fleet

''Regatta'' class

The ''Regatta''-class ships were built in 1998–2000 for Renaissance Cruises as a part of their . They have a gross tonnage of 30,277 and can accommodate a maximum of 824 passengers in 343 cabins.

Oceania class

The Oceania class consists of two 1,250-passenger, 66,084-gross ton ships built by Fincantieri in Italy, with the first, , delivered in January 2011, and the second, , delivered in May 2012. These were the first ships built for Oceania. On these vessels 580 of the 625 cabins and suites have private balconies.

Allura class

In January 2019, two 1,200-passenger, 67,000-gross ton ships were ordered from Fincantieri, with the first to be delivered in 2023 and the second to be delivered in 2025.

See also

* Regent Seven Seas Cruises
* Seabourn Cruise Line
* Silversea Cruises

References

External links

Official website

{{Oceania Cruises ships

Apollo Global Management companies
Cruise lines
Transport companies established in 2002
Private equity portfolio companies
Norwegian Cruise Line