There were two news stories this past week which prove that the maxim “rich cruise tycoons get richer” remains true while the debt-strapped cruise industry continues to struggle. Business Insider reported that Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. CEO Jason Liberty collected $10,760,000 last year. Meanwhile, crew members on Royal Caribbean cruise ships made a median annual

Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald received over $15,000,000 in compensation in 2021, according to MarketWatch. Carnival stock (CCL) had a “two-year decline of 60.4%” while Mr. Donald’s “total compensation increased 35.1% over the past two years” to $15,060,000.

The Carnival CEO’s income increased from $13,306,097 in 2020 and $11,149,514 million in 2019, according

Frank Del Rio, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, received compensation in the staggering amount of $36,400,000 in 2020, consisting primarily of nearly $18,000,000 in stock awards, according to a recent Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing. The news was initially reported by the cruise trade publication Cruise Industry News.

CEO Del

Carnival Corporation CEO Arnold Donald and other top Carnival cruise executives collected millions of dollars more in compensation in 2020 than in 2019 via stock awards, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. Cruise Industry News summarized the compensation in an article titled Carnival Corporation Executives Made More Money

Norwegian Cruise Line Holding’s CEO Frank Del Rio (photo above, via CNBC, in happier times in 2019) collected $17,808,364 in compensation last year, including $12,201,324 in stock awards and $3,600,000 in incentive plan compensation according to SEC filings. His compensation was down from 2018 when he collected nearly $22,600,000. Del Rio has collected over $85,000,000

Royal Caribbean Cruises’ CEO Richard Fain (photo top in happier days) collected $14,358,919 in compensation in 2019, the cruise line announced two weeks ago in a SEC filing.

Two days earlier, Royal Caribbean announced that it was laying off 25% of its workforce in the United States, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, Royal

The Sun Sentinel recently published an article, the Top 10 Highest-Paid CEOs in South Florida. Included in the top ten  list, are three cruise executives: Norwegian Cruise Line Holding’s Frank Del Rio, Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Richard Fain, and Carnival Corporation’s Arnold Donald.

#1: Norwegian Cruise Line Holding’s Frank Del Rio:

The highest paid cruise