Excluding the $128 million penalty for canceling one F3 ship order, Norwegian Cruise Line lost $83 million in 2008, compared with a $224 million loss in 2007.

NCL released details of its 2008 earnings shortly after Star Cruises, a 50% shareholder in NCL, revealed its F3-related hit and losses, but little else regarding NCL’s financial state. (NCL is building one F3 ship, the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Epic.)

NCL said its 2008 net revenue increased 2.9%, factoring in the line’s 3.7% decrease in capacity. Total 2008 revenue was $2.1 billion compared with $2.2 billion in 2007, a 3.2% decrease.

With net yields up 6.9% in 2008, NCL said its operating income increased 46.3%, to $65.5 million.

NCL said it had implemented a number of initiatives leading to its "record results" and "improved financial performance," despite the economy.

NCL specifically cited its 2008 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), which increased 18.2%, to $228.1 million.

"[NCL] achieved record improvements in both EBITDA and net yields in 2008 despite an extremely challenging economy," said NCL CEO Kevin Sheehan in a statement. "We worked diligently in 2008 to transform the company with the successful implementation of a variety of measures and initiatives. The result is a new company, one that is extremely focused on customer service and financial performance, and is well poised to come through this difficult period."

NCL also said that it experienced a 15% increase in year-over-year bookings from January through March 15, the cruise industry's Wave season. 

NCL is not obligated to publicly report financial results. Star Cruises is a public company but NCL's other 50% stakeholder, Apollo Management, is a private equity investment firm.