In its TV commercials, Norwegian Cruise Line conveys the experience of exploring the world on one its ships as stress-free. Perhaps that's true, but in recent years running the business itself has been anything but.

That reality prompted the Miami-based company's board in 2022 to offer up $2 million cash retention bonuses to each senior executive, a carrot that Norwegian's compensation committee asserted was appropriate to reward their "continued efforts to support our company through its post-pandemic recovery."