History
Seabourn was founded in 1986 by a consortium of Norwegian investors headed by industrialist Atle Brynestad under the name Signet Cruise Lines, but adopted the name Seabourn Cruise Line shortly afterward after objections from Signet Oil over trademark ownership. Its first ship, Seabourn Pride, entered service in 1988, followed by an identical sister, Seabourn Spirit, in 1989. A third vessel, originally planned for 1990, was delayed due to investors' financial constraints and was ultimately purchased by Royal Viking Line in 1992 as Royal Viking Queen. In 1994, Royal Viking Queen was transferred to a Kloster subsidiary, Royal Cruise Line, as Queen Odyssey In 1991, Carnival Corporation purchased a 25% stake in Seabourn. Carnival Corporation upped its stake to 50% in 1996, providing the company sufficient capital to purchase the Queen Odyssey, which was renamed Seabourn Legend.
In 1998, in partnership with a consortium of Norwegian businessmen, Carnival purchased the remaining 50% stake in Seabourn, as well as acquiring the venerable Cunard Line from Kvaerner ASA, and merged the two brands into an entity called Cunard Line. In 1999, three Cunard ships, Sea Goddess I, Sea Goddess II, and Royal Viking Sun were transferred into the Seabourn fleet as Seabourn Goddess I, Seabourn Goddess II, and Seabourn Sun.
In 2001, Carnival bought out the Norwegian shareholders, and Seabourn's parent company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival. That summer, Seabourn Goddess I and Seabourn Goddess II were sold to Seabourn's original founder, Atle Brynestad, for his SeaDream Yacht Club. In 2002, Seabourn Sun was transferred to the Carnival-owned Holland America Line, reducing the Seabourn fleet to its three original sister ships, and the company was demerged from Cunard Line and reorganized as a stand-alone operating brand of Carnival Corporation & plc.
On March 31, 2011 Seabourn ceased operations from Miami, Florida and the transferred operations to the Holland America Line quarters in Seattle, Washington.
Read more about this topic: Seabourn Cruise Line
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It’s an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth-century thought.”
—Peter B. Medawar (1915–1987)
“It is true that this man was nothing but an elemental force in motion, directed and rendered more effective by extreme cunning and by a relentless tactical clairvoyance .... Hitler was history in its purest form.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)
“The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man’s right to his body, or woman’s right to her soul.”
—Emma Goldman (1869–1940)