by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:45 AM ET, Thu February 22, 2018
Norwegian Cruise Line announced strong 2017 financial results for the company Thursday, and officials are already looking forward to what should be an even more successful 2018.
In 2017, Norwegian beat full-year earnings expectations by generating a net income of $759.9 million. Total revenue for the cruise line also increased 10.7 percent to $5.4 billion, and the company joined the S&P 500 Index.
There were also several milestones reached by Norwegian last year, including becoming the first cruise line to have all brands approved to sail to Cuba and entering the Chinese market with the launch of the Norwegian Joy.
After such a strong performance in 2017, Norwegian has big plans moving forward. In addition to the first custom-designed Alaska cruise market ship joining the fleet in the second quarter, the company announced its seventeenth and largest ship, the Norwegian Encore, is scheduled for delivery in fall 2019.
"It has been a remarkable journey for our company with more major milestones to come and an amazing trajectory of profit growth for 2018 and beyond," Norwegian CEO Frank Del Rio said in a statement. "Our solid revenue and earnings performance will continue in 2018, having entered the year in the best-booked position in our company's history with pricing above prior year across all three of our brands."
The Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand also has big plans for the future, as the company announced the name of its fifth ship, the Seven Seas Splendor, which is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2020.
Travel agents and passengers will also be excited for the introduction of the next generation of its booked guest mobile application, the Cruise Norwegian app. The app is designed to be the ideal travel companion from the time of booking to day of disembarkation.
Finally, Norwegian officials announced several updates and enhancements to its itineraries for the fall and winter 2019/2020 deployment. Itinerary highlights include Norwegian Bliss sailing to the Bahamas from New York, Norwegian Getaway cruising to the Western Caribbean from New Orleans, Norwegian Breakaway sailing to the Caribbean from Port Canaveral and Norwegian Epic sailing to the Southern Caribbean.
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