This Week in Cruise: Prestige Cruise Holdings Files IPO; Seabourn to Build New Ship for 2016

Prestige Cruise Holdings (PCH), parent company of Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises, filed a form S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 22, a preliminary step for companies looking to publicly share stocks. The S-1 provides basic information with respect to the company and its plans to sell securities, and information on the S-1 can be found here.

PCH is planning to use the proceeds from the IPO to repay debt and to provide for future working capital, but the company did not state how much it estimates to charge for shares, how many shares will be available or what securities exchange will be used to list available shares. Details will be made available during future filings.

Seabourn announced the construction of a new ultra-luxury cruise ship with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, slated for delivery in the second half of 2016. The new ship will be modeled after the line's three newest vessels, Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest.

The new vessel is planned to replace the capacity leaving the Seabourn brand after the sale of Seabourn Pride, Seabourn Spirit and Seabourn Legend. The three ships will be delivered to their new owners in April 2014, April 2015 and May 2015.

“This agreement is particularly important: it strengthens our leadership in the luxury cruise niche and confirms our primacy in the cruise industry,” Gabriele Cocco, Fincantieri's executive SVP Merchant Vessels, said.

Crystal Cruises will be offering free Wi-Fi to all Crystal Society members beginning Fall 2014. Effective with Crystal Serenity’s Sept. 19 New England/Canada sailing and Crystal Symphony’s Oct. 15 Panama Canal cruise, each Crystal Society guest will receive 60 minutes of complimentary internet access for every day of the cruise.

Society members can use the new complimentary access time wirelessly via iPad, iPhone, laptop or other wireless device or on Crystal’s own Computer University@Sea 27 inch dual-compatible iMac computers. A multi-million dollar Wi-Fi upgrade rolled out in recent months helps guests enjoy maximum onboard connectivity.