The chairman and owner of Silversea Cruises has said the company would only have considered selling out to Royal Caribbean (RCCL).
The US lines announced last week that RCCL was taking a 67% stake in the Florida company for $1bn.
Silversea founder Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio told Travel Weekly: "Silversea was never for sale. It was looking for ways to strengthen its balance sheet in order to further expand beyond what it was doing independently.
