Cruise lines · 10/36 against 13/36 checks · to 2026-09-08
NCLH vs RCL.
Norwegian Cruise LineRuns Norwegian, Oceania and Regent cruise lines.
Royal CaribbeanRuns Royal Caribbean and Celebrity cruise lines.→Royal Caribbean (RCL) is 10.0 times the size of Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) at $70.7B against $7.1B, and on the filings Royal Caribbean passes more, 13 checks of 36 against 10.
Which passes more checks?
widest gap first→No axis separates them by more than 2 of six checks, and the widest is Health. They score identically on 4 of the six, so the difference between them is narrower than a headline suggests.
| NCLH | RCL | |
|---|---|---|
| Health | 0/6 | 2/6 |
| Quality | 3/6 | 4/6 |
| Value | 2/6 | 2/6 |
| Growth | 3/6 | 3/6 |
| Shareholder returns | 2/6 | 2/6 |
| Trend analysis | 0/6 | 0/6 |
| All checks | 10/36 | 13/36 |
→Royal Caribbean turns over $18.7B to Norwegian Cruise Line's $10.2B, 1.8 times as much. Norwegian Cruise Line keeps 7.5% of revenue as profit against 23.5% at Royal Caribbean.
Which balance sheet is stronger?
→Royal Caribbean carries much the lighter balance sheet, 2.23x of debt to equity against 5.40x - which matters most in the year a downturn arrives, not this one.
| NCLH | RCL | |
|---|---|---|
| Debt / equity | 5.40x | 2.23x |
| Interest coverage | 2.1x | 5.0x |
| Cash and short-term investments | $458M | $875M |
Which keeps more of each sale?
→Royal Caribbean keeps more of each sale: gross margin of 49.1% against 42.5%, a gap of 7 points that flows into everything below it.
| NCLH | RCL | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 42.5% | 49.1% |
| Operating margin | 15.1% | 27.3% |
| Return on equity | 29.6% | 43.0% |
Which is cheaper?
→Norwegian Cruise Line is the cheaper of the two on earnings, 9.7x against 16.5x. Against their own histories, Norwegian Cruise Line is below its 16.0x median and Royal Caribbean is above its 14.1x.
| NCLH | RCL | |
|---|---|---|
| Share price | $15.39 | $264.50 |
| Market cap | $7.1B | $70.7B |
| P/E | 9.7x | 16.5x |
| P/E, own median own 8-year median / own 8-year median | 16.0x | 14.1x |
| P/S | 0.7x | 3.8x |
| Free cash flow yield | -16.8% | -0.6% |
Which is growing faster, NCLH or RCL?
→Royal Caribbean grew revenue faster last year, +8.7% against +6.2% at Norwegian Cruise Line - 3 points apart. Over three years the order is the same, Norwegian Cruise Line at +26.6% and Royal Caribbean at +26.6%.
| NCLH | RCL | |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue (TTM) | $10.2B | $18.7B |
| Revenue growth, 1 year | +6.2% | +8.7% |
| Revenue CAGR, 3 years | +26.6% | +26.6% |
| Net income (TTM) | $761M | $4.4B |
| Free cash flow (TTM) | $-1.2B | $-416M |
Which hands more back to owners?
→Royal Caribbean pays 1.2% at today's price and Norwegian Cruise Line effectively pays nothing, which is the clearest difference in what each hands back.
| NCLH | RCL | |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | - | 1.2% |
| Payout ratio | - | 18.7% |
| Years of unbroken dividend | - | - |
Where they differ most
the checks behind the gapHealth: Royal Caribbean 2 ahead
- Debt trending the right way debt/equity 2.23 now vs 4.15 five years ago
- Self-funding 2.10 years of cash at current burn
- Comfortable near-term liquidity 0.20 vs 1.50
- Debt isn't dominating 5.40 vs 1.00
- Debt trending the right way debt/equity 5.40 now vs 4.76 five years ago
Quality: Royal Caribbean 1 ahead
- Actually profitable TTM net income $4.4B
- Earns well on shareholders' money 43.0% vs 20.7% (sector 70th pct, n=23)
- Earns a real return on the capital it employs 15.5% vs 10.0%
- Better gross margins than peers 42.5% vs 52.5% (market 70th pct)
- Runs leaner than peers (operating margin) 15.1% vs 32.3% (sector 70th pct, n=21)
- Earns a real return on the capital it employs 8.7% vs 10.0%