Cruise ship operator Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) sought to take advantage of a rebound in its stock price with a public offering of 47.58 million shares. The cruise operator's ships are still stuck in port, but its stock has quadrupled from its year-ago low point on hopes of returning to the high seas soon. Shares have nearly doubled in the past six months and are up 50% over the past month. Yet because Norwegian priced its offering at $30 a share, an almost 10% discount to where shares had closed the day before, the cruise line stock was sinking 11% on the news. Image source: Getty Images. Capitalizing on an opportunity While the offering is not a bad move by Norwegian because it ensures the cruise ship operator can raise a lot of money quickly -- there's also an additional 5 million share over-allotment as well -- it does amount to a serious dilution of existing shareholders as the offering represents over 15% of Norwegian's outstanding stock. Norwegian says it plans to use the proceeds from the offering to repurchase debt issued by a subsidiary that's due in 2026. The notes were issued last May by L Catterton in a private placement in the amount of $400 million. L Catterton is the world's largest consumer-focused private equity firm. The notes were issued as Norwegian came to grips with the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis that caused it to subsequently take on billions of dollars of debt to stay afloat. Norwegian's debt load ballooned to over $11.6 billion, though it also has over $3.3 billion in cash. That should keep it operational until it finally gets the green light from health authorities to begin sailing again. 10 stocks we like better than Norwegian Cruise Line HoldingsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2021 Rich Duprey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source