Frank Del Rio saw total compensation of $17.8 million in 2019 as President and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings for what the company reported as a record financial year.

The compensation package made Del Rio the highest paid cruise line executive across the major publicly-traded cruise companies in 2019.

The company called it a “pay for performance” philosophy, referring to its compensation program.

The information came on Tuesday morning via a routine SEC filing by the cruise company, which operates the Norwegian, Oceania and Regent brands.  

Strong years were enjoyed by all three brands, with Oceania President and CEO seeing total compensation just under $6 million while Regent President and CEO Jason Montague saw a total compensation of $4 million.

In March, Norwegian cut salaries and went to a four-day work week for its staff amid the COVID-19 crisis.

The company has cancelled all sailings across its three brands through the end of June.

Compensation Table: