Cruise Families

Carnival Cruise Line does NOT own Princess. Carnival, Princess, Holland America, Cunard, and Seabourn are sister brands under the parent company Carnival Corporation & plc, and status with one doesn't carry to the others.

Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Silversea are sister brands, and a guest's tier can be matched across all three. Azamara used to be part of this group but was sold in 2021.

NCL, Oceania, and Regent are sister brands. A guest's tier can be honored on a sister brand, but they have to request it at least 10 days before they sail.

Guest has status with another line (Royal, Carnival, NCL, anyone)? MSC will match it through its Status Match, which is a strong selling point for trying MSC. Apply online or through MSC Book; MSC's call center can't submit it.

Viking River, Ocean, and Expeditions are one company, and all three name the same Viking Explorer Society Travel Credits in their fare terms. Confirm with Viking how a past guest's credits apply to the voyage they're booking.

Scenic (luxury) and Emerald (premium) are sister brands and share one loyalty program. Emerald Cruises has nothing to do with the ship Emerald Princess.

Paul Gauguin Cruises is owned by PONANT (PONANT EXPLORATIONS GROUP), and both lines share the PONANT Yacht Club. What's included differs: PONANT includes an activity at every port but not gratuities; Paul Gauguin includes gratuities but only its two private-beach days ashore. Aqua Expeditions joined the group in January 2025 (majority stake) but is still run by its founder, Francesco Galli Zugaro, as a stand-alone brand with its own Circolo Aqua program, status-matched to the PONANT Yacht Club; Aqua bookings don't count toward Yacht Club status.

Tauck River Cruising and Tauck Small Ship Cruising are the same family-owned guided-travel company. The riverboats sail only for Tauck but partner Scylla operates them; the small-ship cruises use chartered Ponant, Silversea and Windstar ships. Nothing on Tauck's pages says a Tauck sailing earns status in those partners' loyalty programs, so don't promise it.

Avalon is the river brand of the Globus family, so a past Globus or Cosmos tour guest may have a Welcome Back Credit to use on Avalon.

Uniworld is a sister brand of Trafalgar and Contiki under The Travel Corporation. There's no other cruise line in the family.

Azamara was part of Royal Caribbean Group until 2021. It's independent now, so Crown & Anchor or Captain's Club status doesn't count there.

Windstar's parent company runs national park lodges, not other cruise lines. Windstar's "Yacht Club" loyalty program is not MSC Yacht Club.

Today's Crystal is owned by A&K Travel Group, which bought the brand in 2022 after the old Crystal closed. If a past Crystal guest asks whether it's the same line: same name and the same Crystal Society program name, but a new owner and a smaller fleet.

Celestyal is an independent Greek cruise line with no big-cruise-company parent.

Virgin Voyages is Richard Branson's Virgin Group with Bain Capital. It is NOT connected to Royal Caribbean.

Disney Cruise Line isn't part of any cruise group. Castaway Club status is for Disney sailings only.

The ships are run by Classica Cruise Operator, which licenses the Margaritaville name. Its rewards program is casino-based.

Four Seasons Yachts is a joint venture: Four Seasons runs the hospitality and service, while Marc-Henry Cruise Holdings runs the yachts, sales and reservations. There's no other cruise line in the family.

The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection licenses the Ritz-Carlton name: it isn't owned by Marriott, but it is part of Marriott Bonvoy, so guests earn and redeem points and Elite Night Credits on the cruise fare. There's no sister cruise line.

HX used to be Hurtigruten Expeditions, but since 2025 it is a separate company from Hurtigruten's Norwegian coastal ships. Book Antarctica/Arctic expeditions with HX and the Norway coastal voyage with Hurtigruten; status doesn't carry between them.

National Geographic doesn't own Lindblad: Lindblad Expeditions Holdings (NASDAQ: LIND) runs and sells the ships under a National Geographic license, which is why the ships are named 'National Geographic ...'. Lindblad also owns land-tour brands such as Natural Habitat Adventures and Off the Beaten Path.

American Cruise Lines is an independent, family-owned U.S. company, not part of any big cruise group, so Eagle Society status doesn't carry to any other cruise line.

Atlas is the U.S. arm of Portugal's Mystic Invest Holding, which also owns river lines DouroAzul and Nicko Cruises; the yachts fly the Portuguese flag and were built in Viana do Castelo. Atlas Yacht Club status doesn't carry to the sister brands.

Orient Express Sailing Yachts is Accor's cruise brand (with LVMH as an investor), so guests can use ALL Accor; the yachts have no sister cruise line. Don't confuse it with Belmond's Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train, which is LVMH's, not Accor's Orient Express.

SeaDream is a standalone, family-owned line: founder Atle Brynestad also founded Seabourn in 1987, but the two lines are not related today. Brynestad's own company owns the yachts.

Aurora Expeditions is independent and Australian-owned, founded in Sydney in 1991 by Greg and Margaret Mortimer. Its own pages name only a co-owner, Michael Alscher; who else owns it is not published. US and Australian booking terms are identical (New South Wales law).

AmaWaterways has no sister cruise brands on this site.