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Norwegian Cruise Line
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Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. is a Bermudian company operating cruise ships, headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. It began operations in 1966 under the name Norwegian Caribbean Line, the company is best known for its Freestyle Cruising concept, which means that there are no set times or seating arrangements for meals, nor is formal attire required. Norwegian is a traded company with 44% publicly listed on NASDAQ, with major shareholders including Genting Group, Apollo Global Management. Norwegian Cruise Line controls approximately 8% of the total share of the cruise market. Arison soon left to form Carnival Cruise Lines, while Kloster acquired additional ships for Caribbean service, like the original Sunward of 1966, Norwegianss second ship, the Starward had the capability to carry automobiles through a well concealed stern door. Later, this area was turned into cabins and a two movie theater, which is now a casino. Norwegian was responsible for many of the innovations that have now become standard throughout the industry. Norwegian made headlines with the acquisition of the France in 1979, rebuilding the liner as a cruise ship, the conversion cost more than $100 million USD. The Norway was at the significantly larger than any existing cruise ship. Her success paved the way for a new era of giant cruise ships, instead, she was sold for scrap and renamed the SS Blue Lady and later beached at Alang, Gujarat, India in August 2006 with claims that she had not been cleaned of toxic materials. On September 11,2007, the India Supreme Court issued an order permitting her to be broken-up at Alang, Norwegian has expanded to other parts of the world, including Alaska, Europe, Bermuda, and Hawaii. Between 1997 and 2001 the company also operated out of Australia under the name Norwegian Capricorn Line. Its subsidiary Orient Lines, founded in 1991 to run the Marco Polo, was acquired in 1998, Norwegian itself was acquired by the Star Cruises, subsidiary of Malaysia-based Genting Group, in 2000. In 2007 Star Cruises sold the Marco Polo to Transocean Tours, Orient Lines will cease trading when the ship is delivered to its new owners. In 2003 the company announced the purchase of the famed American-flagged liners SS United States, although it has promised to restore the United States to service, the future of the ship remains uncertain to this day. In their July 2007 fiscal report, Norwegian noted the sale of the Independence, on July 1,2010, the SS United States Conservancy struck a deal to buy the SS United States for $3 million. On February 1,2011, the ownership was transferred to the SS United States Conservancy. In August 2007, Star Cruises sold 50% of Norwegian for $1 billion to US-based Apollo Management in order to strengthen Norwegians financial position
2.
Transport
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Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, the field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations. Transport is important because it enables trade between people, which is essential for the development of civilizations, terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance. Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, trucks, people, helicopters, operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated, and the procedures set for this purpose including financing, legalities and policies. In the transport industry, operations and ownership of infrastructure can be public or private, depending on the country. Passenger transport may be public, where operators provide scheduled services, freight transport has become focused on containerization, although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items. Transport plays an important part in growth and globalization, but most types cause air pollution. While it is subsidized by governments, good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow. A mode of transport is a solution that makes use of a type of vehicle, infrastructure. The transport of a person or of cargo may involve one mode or several of the modes, each mode has its own advantages and disadvantages, and will be chosen for a trip on the basis of cost, capability, and route. Human powered transport, a form of transportation, is the transport of people and/or goods using human muscle-power. Modern technology has allowed machines to enhance human power, human-powered vehicles have also been developed for difficult environments, such as snow and water, by watercraft rowing and skiing, even the air can be entered with human-powered aircraft. Animal-powered transport is the use of working animals for the movement of people, humans may ride some of the animals directly, use them as pack animals for carrying goods, or harness them, alone or in teams, to pull sleds or wheeled vehicles. A fixed-wing aircraft, commonly called airplane, is a craft where movement of the air in relation to the wings is used to generate lift. The term is used to distinguish this from rotary-wing aircraft, where the movement of the lift surfaces relative to the air generates lift, a gyroplane is both fixed-wing and rotary-wing. Fixed-wing aircraft range from small trainers and recreational aircraft to large airliners, two things necessary for aircraft are air flow over the wings for lift and an area for landing. The majority of aircraft also need an airport with the infrastructure to receive maintenance, restocking, refueling and for the loading and unloading of crew, cargo and passengers. While the vast majority of land and take off on land, some are capable of take off and landing on ice, snow
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Miami
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Miami is a seaport city at the southeastern corner of the U. S. state of Florida and its Atlantic coast. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, Miamis metro area is the eighth-most populous, Miami is a major center, and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2012, Miami was classified as an Alpha−World City in the World Cities Study Groups inventory, in 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked 33rd among global cities, in 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Miami Americas Cleanest City, for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets, and citywide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, Miami is nicknamed the Capital of Latin America and is the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality. Miami has the third tallest skyline in the U. S. with over 300 high-rises, Downtown Miami is home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, and many large national and international companies. The Civic Center is a center for hospitals, research institutes, medical centers. For more than two decades, the Port of Miami, known as the Cruise Capital of the World, has been the number one cruise port in the world. It accommodates some of the worlds largest cruise ships and operations, Metropolitan Miami is the major tourism hub in the American South, number two in the U. S. after New York City and number 13 in the world, including the popular destination of Miami Beach. The Miami area was inhabited for thousands of years by indigenous Native American tribes, the Tequestas occupied the area for a thousand years before encountering Europeans. An Indian village of hundreds of people dating to 500–600 B. C. was located at the mouth of the Miami River, in 1566 the explorer, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, claimed it for Spain. A Spanish mission was constructed one year later in 1567, Spain and Great Britain successively controlled Florida, and Spain ceded it to the United States in 1821. In 1836, the US built Fort Dallas as part of its development of the Florida Territory and attempt to suppress, the Miami area subsequently became a site of fighting during the Second Seminole War. Miami is noted as the major city in the United States conceived by a woman, Julia Tuttle, a local citrus grower. The Miami area was known as Biscayne Bay Country in the early years of its growth. In the late 19th century, reports described the area as a promising wilderness, the area was also characterized as one of the finest building sites in Florida. The Great Freeze of 1894–95 hastened Miamis growth, as the crops of the Miami area were the ones in Florida that survived. Julia Tuttle subsequently convinced Henry Flagler, a tycoon, to expand his Florida East Coast Railway to the region
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Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
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Cruising (maritime)
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Cruising by boat is a lifestyle that involves living for extended time on a vessel while traveling from place to place for pleasure. Cruising generally refers to trips of a few days or more, boats were almost exclusively used for working purposes prior to the nineteenth century. The modern conception of cruising for pleasure was first popularised by the Scottish explorer and he was introduced to the canoes and kayaks of the Native Americans on a camping trip in 1858, and on his return to the United Kingdom constructed his own double-ended canoe in Lambeth. The boat, nicknamed Rob Roy after a relative of his, was built of lapstrake oak planking. He cruised around the waterways of Britain, Europe and the Middle East and wrote a book about his experiences. In 1866, Macgregor was a force behind the establishment of the Royal Canoe Club. The first recorded regatta was held at on 27 April 1867, the latter part of the century saw cruising for leisure being enthusiastically taken up by the middle class. The author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote An Inland Voyage in 1877 as a travelogue on his trip through France. Stevenson and his companion, Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson travelled in two Rob Roys along the Oise River and witnessed the Romantic beauty of rural Europe. The Canadian-American Joshua Slocum was one of the first people to carry out a long-distance sailing voyage for pleasure, despite opinion that such a voyage was impossible, Slocum rebuilt a derelict 37-foot sloop Spray and sailed her single-handed around the world. His book Sailing Alone Around the World was a classic adventure, other cruising authors have provided both inspiration and instruction to prospective cruisers. Key among these during the post World War II period are Electa and Irving Johnson, Miles and Beryl Smeeton, Bernard Moitessier, Peter Pye, the development of ocean crossing rallies, most notably the ARC, have encouraged less experienced sailors to undertake ocean crossings. These rallies provide a group of crossing the same ocean at the same time with safety inspections, weather information. Many cruisers are long term and travel for many years, the most adventurous among them circle the globe over a period of three to ten years, many others take a year or two off from work and school for shorter trips and the chance to experience the cruising lifestyle. Blue-water cruising is more involved and inherently more dangerous than coastal cruising, before embarking on an open-ocean voyage, planning and preparation will include studying charts, weather reports/warnings, almanacs and navigation books of the route to be followed. In addition, the needs to be well trained at working together. Finally, the sailor must be prepared for dealing with harsh situations. There have been many well-documented cases where sailors had to be rescued simply because they were not sufficiently prepared or lacked experience for their venture, Sailing near the coast gives a certain amount of safety
6.
Apollo Global Management
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Apollo Global Management, LLC is an American private equity firm, founded in 1990 by former Drexel Burnham Lambert banker Leon Black. The firm specializes in leveraged buyout transactions and purchases of distressed securities involving corporate restructuring, special situations, and industry consolidations. Apollo is headquartered in New York City, and also has offices in Purchase, New York, Los Angeles, Houston, London, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Singapore, Hong Kong and Mumbai. Among the most notable companies currently owned by Apollo are Claires, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Novitex Enterprise Solutions, Apollo, originally referred to as Apollo Advisors, was founded in 1990, on the heels of the collapse of Drexel Burnham Lambert in February 1990. It was founded by Leon Black, the head of Drexels mergers and acquisitions department. Less than six months after the collapse of Drexel, the founders of Apollo had already begun a series of ventures, Apollo Investment Fund L. P. the first of their private equity investment funds, was formed to make investments in distressed companies. Lion Advisors was set up to provide investment services to Credit Lyonnais, at the time of Apollos founding, financing for new leveraged buyouts was minimal and Apollo turned instead to a strategy of distressed-to-control takeovers. Apollo would purchase distressed securities which could be converted into a controlling interest in the equity of the company through a reorganization or other restructuring. Apollo used distressed debt as a point, enabling the firm to invest in such firms as Vail Resorts, Walter Industries, Culligan. Early on, Apollo made a name for itself by acquiring interests in companies that Drexel had helped finance by purchasing high-yield bonds from failed savings and loans, Apollo acquired several large portfolios of assets from the U. S. governments Resolution Trust Corporation. One of Apollos earliest and most successful involved the acquisition of Executive Life Insurance Companys bond portfolio. According to the State of California, Lion allegedly violated a California law that prohibited foreign government-owned banks from owning California insurance companies, in 1993, Apollo Real Estate Advisers was founded in collaboration with William Mack to seek opportunities in the U. S. property markets. Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund, L. P. the first in a family of real estate opportunity funds was closed in April 1993 with $500 million of investor commitments. In 2000, Apollo exited the partnership, which continued to operate as Apollo Real Estate Advisers until changing its name to AREA Property Partners, effective January 15,2009. That firm is owned and controlled by its principals, who include William Mack, Lee Neibart, William Benjamin, John Jacobsson, Stuart Koenig. Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund, L. P. the first in a family of real estate opportunity funds was closed in April 1993 with $500 million of investor commitments. As of 2008, the firm was investing out of three funds, Apollo Real Estate Investment Fund V, Apollo European Real Estate Fund II and Apollo Value Enhancement Fund VII. In 2004, Apollo Real Estate acquired the Value Enhancement Funds family of investment vehicles to broaden its offerings in the segment of the real estate investment spectrum
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