Cruises International history

After achieving its position as "The World’s Most Popular Cruise Line", in 1987 Carnival made an initial public offering of 20 percent of its common stock which provided the initial influx of capital that allowed the company to begin expanding through acquisition.

Founded in 1989, Renaissance Cruises is, perhaps, most famous for its R-class ships, which can still be found in cruise fleets throughout the world, including Princess, Oceania and Azamara.

The line's first ship was Royal Majesty, which ran aground near Nantucket Island in 1995.

Then, in 1996, Swan Hellenic chartered an unfinished Ukrainian spy ship and turned it into the 12,500-ton, full-time cruise ship Minerva.

In April 2003, agreements were finalized to combine Carnival Corporation with P&O Princess Cruises plc, creating the world’s first global cruise operator encompassing 12 highly recognizable brands and making the new company one of the largest leisure travel companies in the world.

Voyages of Discovery was acquired by U.K.-based All Leisure Group, which was also the holding company for Swan Hellenic, in 2005.

Carnival Corp. announced the creation of Madrid-based Iberocruceros in 2007.

Cruise West had been in business for 64 years when it folded in September 2010.

The line was acquired by -- and merged with -- Adventure Canada in 2011.

In November 2012, CDF replaced Bleu de France with Horizon, which was transferred from Pullmantur Cruises.

A year later, in 2013, Lindblad Expeditions purchased the company, renaming the ship National Geographic Orion.

Another ship, Zenith, joined the fleet in 2014.

Due to low booking rates, Carnival Corp ceased operation of Fathom in June 2017.

The cruise line went out of business in 2019 after Aegean Odyssey suffered engine failure and forced the line to cancel many of its 2019 cruises.