Carnival to decrease its capacity in Australia

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 26 February 2026 26 February 2026

Carnival Cruise Line announced today that Carnival Adventure will sail seasonally in Australia from April 2028 when it relocates to North America for the northern hemisphere summer.

While Carnival remains the only cruise line with a year-round commitment to this region, it has had to make this deployment decision given more favorable market conditions elsewhere and the uncertain regulatory environment in Australia and New Zealand.

“We’re proud of our long-standing commitment to this market. It is business as usual with Carnival Cruise Line operating from more homeports across Australia and New Zealand in 2027/28 than ever before, so there are plenty of attractive itineraries for our guests,” Country Manager Peter Little said.

“Over the next two years, we look forward to welcoming onboard about 1.2 million fun-loving guests across about 400 voyages as we continue to sail year-round to amazing destinations.”

Carnival Adventure will relocate to North America in April 2028, after completing its published voyages.

Little said Carnival was seeing stronger momentum and local governmental support in other major travel and tourism markets globally.

“In this context, Carnival is adjusting its deployment to better capture greater opportunities elsewhere, while continuing to champion a more competitive and certain operating environment – matters we’ve long emphasized,” Little said.

“We look forward to continuing our strong commitment to a cruise sector that provides 22,000 jobs and more than $7 billion in economic benefit to thousands of travel agents, shore tour operators, fresh food producers and transport providers right across Australia.”

Peep Jalakas named new CEO and Chairman of the Board of Tallink Grupp

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

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Published: 26 February 2026 26 February 2026

AS Tallink Grupp has elected Peep Jalakas as the new Chairman of the Management Board. The term of office of Jalakas will commence on 6 April 2026 and will last for three years.

In addition, the Supervisory Board has resolved to recall Margus Schults from the Management Board with effect from 27 February 2026. He will continue in his role as Managing Director of Tallink Silja Oy.

Peep Jalakas joined SEB Bank in 2006 and has held several senior management positions since 2010, including serving as Head of Corporate Banking and Head of Credit. Since 2023, he has been a Member of the Management Board of SEB Bank and Head of Corporate Banking.

Peep Jalakas and persons closely associated with him do not hold any shares in the Group.

“Tallink Grupp is a strong and sustainable international company with a solid market position and long-standing experience that provide a firm foundation for further development. Today’s decision of the Supervisory Board to appoint Peep Jalakas as the new Chairman of the Management Board confirms our clear ambition to continue the company’s strategic growth, strengthen our competitiveness in a changing economic environment, and create long-term value for our shareholders,” commented Enn Pant, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AS Tallink Grupp.

The current Chairman of the Management Board, Paavo Nõgene, will continue as a member of the Management Board of the Group until the expiry of his term of office on 23 May 2026.

As of 6 April 2026, the Management Board of the Group will comprise: Peep Jalakas (Chairman of the Management Board), Harri Hanschmidt, Elise Nassar, Piret Mürk-Dubout and Paavo Nõgene (until 23 May 2026).

Silversea unveils new features of Silver Spirit

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 17 February 2026 17 February 2026

Silversea, the leading experiential luxury and expedition travel brand, is marking a significant step in elevating the onboard experience for guests, introducing major enhancements onboard Silver Spirit. Since its launch in 2009 and its lengthening and renovation in 2018, Silver Spirit has set a new standard in experiential luxury cruising. Following the successful transformation of Silver Muse late last year, this upcoming project will elevate guest comfort and establish consistency across Silversea's Muse‑Class ships, introducing the brand’s award‑winning S.A.L.T. (Sea And Land Taste) culinary program – allowing travelers to delve deeper into each destination through regionally inspired culinary experiences.

“With each ship’s revitalization, we are thoughtfully reshaping the future of our onboard experience to introduce new concepts, expand our guest favorites, and continue elevating the way our guests experience the world,” said Bert Hernandez, president, Silversea. “Silver Spirit’s transformation reflects our dedication to creating richer journeys for our guests – giving them more space, more comfort, and a deeper sense of immersion onboard and across every destination.”

Beginning in May 2026, guests sailing aboard Silver Spirit will experience a refreshed onboard offering that includes the following enhancements:

– Culinary immersion through S.A.L.T. program: The introduction of Silversea's S.A.L.T. culinary program will further elevate Silver Spirit’s culinary landscape, pairing local culture and flavor with the onboard experience. New venues include S.A.L.T. Kitchen, offering destination-inspired menus, and S.A.L.T. Bar featuring regional spirits and custom cocktails. At S.A.L.T. Lab guests can deepen their appreciation of the destination through intimate, hands‑on cooking classes focused on regional tastes and traditions.

– Reimagined public spaces: The revitalized Silver Spirit will feature a modernized Venetian Lounge, which will undergo a full refresh, including new elegant drapery, a carpet upgrade, banquette reupholstery, and additional enhancements. The lounge will also feature a brand new, state-of-the-art LED wall that will significantly elevate Silversea's entertainment experience. A revitalized pool deck will elevate the overall experience, offering guests an even more welcoming outdoor environment. In addition, Silver Spirit’s Zagara Beauty Spa benefited from a light refreshment, including new spa chairs and beds. The ship’s fitness center was also recently updated to include amp, a precision-engineered, AI-powered strength device with five versatile attachments and intelligent app integration.

– Elevated accommodations: New Medallion Suites will give guests thoughtfully designed accommodations that include a private veranda, a luxurious bathroom with a standard vanity, bathtub, and walk-in shower, as well as a secluded bedroom area with a king-size bed.

Sailing in Northern Europe

Following its revitalization, Silver Spirit will embark on immersive journeys through Northern Europe, pairing the dramatic beauty of the Southern Norwegian Fjords with the rich history of the Channel Sea and Western Europe. With its intimate size and elevated comfort, Silver Spirit provides an elegant and effortlessly immersive way to explore the region’s most scenic and culturally vibrant shores.

Elliott sends letter and presentation to Board of Directors of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: More News More News

Published: 17 February 2026 17 February 2026

Elliott Investment Management L.P., which manages funds that together hold a greater than 10% economic interest in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., today sent a presentation and letter to the Company's Board of Directors. The materials described Norwegian's strategic and execution missteps during a time of strong demand in the cruise industry, which have led to profound undervaluation and substantial untapped potential.

Elliott's materials detailed the case for change, including a decade of strategic misjudgments and poor execution, meaningful financial and stock-price underperformance and a long-term erosion of investor confidence.

In the materials, Elliott argued that the Board of Directors has failed to fulfill its fundamental responsibilities, including its most important obligation – to select the right leadership. Elliott criticized the Board for appointing successive CEOs who have each destroyed significant shareholder value and said the recent abrupt appointment of a long-tenured Board member with no cruise-industry executive experience continues this troubling pattern of poor judgment and insufficient process.

Elliott's materials outlined a clear path for Norwegian to improve its financial performance, restore credibility with investors and materially boost its shareholder value. Elliott called for comprehensive Board change, including the addition of new, truly independent directors with relevant industry and operational expertise. Elliott further called on the new Board to ensure that the right executive leadership is in place to execute an ambitious turnaround. Finally, Elliott noted that the Company must develop and implement a new business plan that achieves the best-in-class performance that Norwegian shareholders deserve. Elliott believes these actions create a clear path for the stock to reach $56 per share, or 159% higher than current levels.

"Norwegian benefits from a rare combination of secular tailwinds, high-quality assets and untapped opportunity," Elliott wrote in its letter. "Realizing this potential, however, requires meaningful change."

Elliott expressed its desire to reach a constructive resolution with Norwegian, while noting that it is prepared to take its case directly to shareholders at the Company's upcoming annual meeting.

The full text of the letter follows:

February 17, 2026

The Board of Directors
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.
7665 Corporate Center Drive
Miami, Florida 33126

Dear Members of the Board:

We write on behalf of Elliott Investment Management L.P. (together with its affiliates, "Elliott" or "we"), which manages funds holding a greater than 10% economic interest in Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. ("Norwegian" or the "Company"), making Elliott one of the Company's largest investors. We have made such a large commitment to Norwegian because we believe the Company is significantly undervalued, despite possessing a fundamentally strong business with substantial untapped potential. We believe it is time for that to change.

The cruise industry continues to benefit from powerful secular tailwinds, including limited capacity growth amid surging demand. Against this backdrop, Norwegian should be particularly well positioned. The Company operates globally recognized brands, serves a large and loyal customer base, and owns a fleet of modern, well-maintained ships with first-class amenities. Norwegian also owns Great Stirrup Cay, one of the largest private island destinations in the industry. These attributes can and should deliver durable growth, meaningful margin expansion and top-tier return on invested capital.

Yet Norwegian has failed to translate these advantages into superior performance. Over the past decade, the Company has fallen from a best-in-class cruise operator at the time of its initial public offering to a clear industry laggard, suffering from inconsistent strategy, weak execution, inaccurate guidance and poor cost discipline. Norwegian has lost its former position as a profitability leader and now operates near the bottom of the peer set. Investor confidence has eroded accordingly, as reflected in the Company's deeply discounted valuation. Norwegian shares are among the worst-performing in the S&P 500 over the last five years.

As Norwegian's financial position has atrophied, its Board of Directors has failed to fulfill any of its fundamental responsibilities, including its most important obligation – to select the right leadership. In 2015, the Board appointed a CEO whose tenure was defined by wasteful spending, misguided strategy and a share-price decline of more than 50%.1 The Board then saw fit to appoint this CEO's protégé, whose poorly executed strategic pivots and repeated guidance misses drove further underperformance of more than 140% relative to Norwegian's peers.2 And last week, shareholders abruptly received the troubling news that the same Board that oversaw all of this value destruction had selected one of its own long-tenured members, who lacks any executive experience in the cruise industry, to be the Company's next chief executive.

The case for change at Norwegian is as compelling as any we have ever seen. We believe the gap between Norwegian's current performance and what it should be achieving under capable leadership represents one of the clearest value-creation opportunities in the public markets. With the right strategy and strong execution, we see a clear path for the stock to reach $56 per share, or 159% higher than current levels.

Today we are publishing a presentation titled "Norwegian Now," which details the case for change at Norwegian and outlines the actions required to improve performance, rebuild credibility and unlock significant shareholder value. As one of Norwegian's largest investors, Elliott is fully committed to driving the changes necessary to unlock the Company's full potential.

A Company Adrift

Norwegian's underperformance reflects more than a decade of strategic misjudgments and poor execution, left unaddressed by a Board that has neglected its oversight responsibilities. The Company has repeatedly pursued initiatives misaligned with industry trends and customer preferences – while competitors have seized opportunities to drive superior growth and profitability.

Critical revenue opportunities were missed or poorly executed. For example, despite Norwegian being the first cruise line to acquire a private island, its leadership inexplicably neglected this transformative opportunity, even as private island destinations became a key driver of customer demand and returns across the industry. Belated attempts to course-correct have been rushed and mismanaged. Norwegian is now redeploying capacity to the Caribbean, but well ahead of the completion of key amenities required to fully monetize its private island. This stumble has created further near-term revenue headwinds and is yet another example of poor strategic execution on the same strategic objectives that have driven results for its peers.

At the same time, a lack of cost discipline became endemic across the organization. Unit costs have risen substantially over the past decade, outpacing peers and consistently exceeding management's own guidance. Growth in corporate overhead – largely disconnected from the customer experience – has been especially pronounced. Despite repeated promises of cost control initiatives, results have failed to materialize, with announced cost programs simply resulting in business-as-usual inflation rather than meaningful structural improvement.

Throughout this period, the Board has failed to hold management accountable for sustained underperformance. In the past five years, Norwegian's shares have underperformed those of Royal Caribbean by approximately 400% and Carnival by more than 60%.3 Yet the Board approved $111 million in CEO compensation during that period.4 More troubling, a series of governance lapses – including, among others, real estate deals between the Company's then-Chairman and management and financial dealings between the Company and the former Chairman shortly after his departure – raise further serious questions about the Board's independence and judgment.

Clearly, the time is now for Norwegian to embrace the changes necessary to improve financial performance and restore investor confidence.

Norwegian Now

With the right leadership, strategy and Board oversight, we believe Norwegian's challenges are readily addressable. In the accompanying presentation, we outline a clear path to a materially higher share price that reflects Norwegian's true potential. The plan calls for:

Comprehensive Board Change: Norwegian requires comprehensive Board change, including the addition of new, truly independent directors with relevant industry and operational expertise, empowered to drive change and hold management accountable.

Management Review: The new Board must ensure that Norwegian has the right executive leadership team in place to restore credibility and execute a bold strategic plan.

New Business Plan: Following Board and leadership changes, the Company should develop, communicate and implement a comprehensive new business plan that delivers on available revenue opportunities, restores cost discipline and achieves industry-leading profitability and return on invested capital.

Norwegian has successfully executed a turnaround before. Under former CEO Kevin Sheehan, the Company achieved best-in-class performance on revenue, costs and margins, including more than 20 points of margin outperformance relative to peers.5 These results were achieved alongside meaningful improvements in the guest experience, including the expansion of freestyle cruising, the launch of highly successful new ships and enhanced onboard entertainment and amenities. We believe the same combination of disciplined execution and customer-focused innovation can drive a comparable turnaround today – but it requires a new Board willing to demand it and with the ability to see it through.

Next Steps

Norwegian benefits from a rare combination of secular tailwinds, high-quality assets and untapped opportunity. Realizing this potential, however, requires meaningful change. We urge the Board to engage with Elliott to implement the changes necessary to strengthen this important Company. Norwegian's shareholders have waited long enough.

We are prepared to meet promptly to discuss these issues in greater detail and align on a path forward. While our preference is to reach a constructive resolution, we are prepared to take our case directly to shareholders at the Company's upcoming annual meeting. We believe investors would welcome the change, as would all those with a stake in Norwegian's future success.

Sincerely,

John Pike
Partner

Bobby Xu
Portfolio Manager