What's in a Name? Confusing Foreign Names for American Cruise Lines

When you travel by plane, there’s usually no confusion as to what country the airline is based in. Companies like American Airlines, Air France, Alitalia and Aeromexico are all pretty self-explanatory, but some cruise line names are decidedly less clear.

By comparison, abstractly-named brands like Azamara Club Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line or those touting a lifestyle like Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises have it easier because they are not immediately identified first with a nation.

For those that are, American Cruise Lines is easily the most clearly domestic brand that exists, and even Holland America Line is at least understood to be in part affiliated with the United States. In fact, it is wholly owned by Carnival Corporation (an American company) but it does have historical roots in both the U.S. and the Netherlands. 

READ MORE: Holland America Line Steps Up Its Marketing Game with New Commercials

But if you don't know that, you may question why Holland leads America in the title and why an American citizen would want to consider sailing on a seemingly part-foreign brand, even though it’s not any longer, and therein lies the rub. Of course, there is nothing wrong with foreign travel brands at all, but those who might prefer to be loyal to domestic ones could easily question certain ones.

I applaud Holland America Line for touching on its transatlantic origins and explaining a bit of its history briefly in a great new television commercial, embedded below to view. As a result, modern audiences can more easily discern the brand’s nomenclature and understand its heritage.

Nonetheless, I’m not so sure Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International are as immediately understood as American-based brands. Loyal cruisers and industry insiders definitely know, but when Norwegian touted its former “Cruise like a Norwegian” tagline, there might very well have been some who questioned why they wouldn't instead prefer to cruise like an American.

Similarly, someone might mistake Royal Caribbean International to be a Caribbean company. The international add-on helps clear it up a bit but not entirely and not generally in the direction of America, but perhaps Europe instead.

READ MORE: Sneak Peek: Norwegian Cruise Line’s Refurbished Pride of America Emerges

The bottom line is the general public is not going to instinctually know that Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean International are actually American brands.

Like Holland America Line, Norwegian and Royal are each named what they are because of their origins. In short, the former was co-founded by Knut Kloster, a Norwegian, and the latter began by primarily frequenting the Caribbean despite its own Norwegian ties and first ship name, Song of Norway.

It does indeed pose a marketing challenge, and they too would do well to explain a bit more of their backstory to those not in the know. More radically, they may even be better off considering a name change, which may be historically blasphemous but wiser from a business standpoint.

Making things even more confusing for Norwegian is the fact that it operates the only American-registered mega cruise ship, the Pride of America, exclusively in Hawaii. Would it not make more sense for such a patriotic ship to sail under a brand titled something like United Cruise Line (since American Cruise Lines is already taken)? It’s definitely a thought.

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