Crystal Cruises

Template:Short description {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for clobbered parameters|check|nested=1|template=Infobox company|cat=Template:Main other|name; company_name|logo; company_logo|logo_alt; alt|trade_name; trading_name|former_names; former_name|type; company_type|predecessors; predecessor|successors; successor|foundation; founded|founders; founder|defunct; dissolved|hq_location; location|hq_location_city; location_city|hq_location_country; location_country|num_locations; locations|areas_served; area_served|net_income; profit|net_income_year; profit_year|owners; owner |homepage; website }}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox company with unknown parameter "_VALUE_" | ignoreblank=y | alt | area_served | areas_served | assets | assets_year | aum | brands | company_logo | company_name | company_type | defunct | dissolved | divisions | embed | equity | equity_year | fate | footnotes | former_name | former_names | foundation | founded | founder | founders | genre | homepage | hq_location | hq_location_city | hq_location_country | incorporated | image | image_alt | image_caption | image_size | image_upright | income_year | industry | ISIN | key_people | location | location_city | location_country | locations | logo | logo_alt | logo_caption | logo_class | logo_size | logo_upright | members | members_year | module | name | native_name | native_name_lang | net_income | net_income_year | num_employees | num_employees_year | num_locations | num_locations_year | operating_income | owner | owners | parent | predecessor | predecessors | production | production_year | products | profit | profit_year | rating | ratio | revenue | revenue_year | romanized_name | services | subsid | successor | successors | traded_as | trade_name | trading_name | type | website| qid | fetchwikidata | suppressfields | noicon | nocat | demo | categories }} Crystal Cruises is an American cruise line owned by A&K Travel Group.

It was founded in 1988 by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and sold to Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate Genting Hong Kong in 2015. Following insolvency in 2022, the Crystal Cruises brand and two cruise ships were bought by A&K Travel Group, to recommence operations in 2023, with headquarters in Hallandale Beach, Florida.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The new company has announced major refurbishments and enhancements for the two ships in a Fincantieri shipyard in Trieste, Italy, including increasing the number of butler suites and reducing guest capacity, and resumed service in July 2023 with shore excursions organized by Abercrombie & Kent.

History

The company was founded in 1988 by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Its first ship was Crystal Harmony.<ref>Miramar Ship Index: Crystal Harmony, ID#8806204.</ref>

On March 3, 2015, NYK announced that it was selling Crystal Cruises to Genting Hong Kong.<ref name="usa today 2015-03-032">Template:Cite news</ref> The sale price was US$550 million in cash, subject to certain adjustment items.<ref name="mm 2015-03-032">Template:Cite news</ref> On May 15, 2015, GHK announced that it had closed on the acquisition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On July 20, 2015, Crystal announced that it would expand to provide expedition cruises, river cruises, and private jet travel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On February 4, 2016, Crystal Cruises signed a purchase option for the Template:SS, also providing funding for docking costs for the ship in Philadelphia for nine months while it conducted a feasibility study into returning the ship to service.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, the plan was dropped on August 5, 2016, citing technical challenges. It also announced a donation of US$350,000 to cover docking costs through to the end of the year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In September 2019, Crystal Cruises announced that it would have Broadway-themed cruises available starting in 2020.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In August 2020, Crystal cancelled all cruises for the remainder of the year. Its parent company Genting Hong Kong had suspended payments to creditors citing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The new 200-passenger Crystal Endeavor was under construction at the time, with delivery scheduled for November 2020; that was delayed for a year because of the suspension of operations at the MV Werften shipyard in Germany.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Travel Weekly">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In March 2021, Crystal announced all-Bahamas cruises aboard Crystal Serenity would start on July 3, 2021, with departures from Nassau and Bimini to work around CDC cruise bans due to COVID-19 in the US.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ports of call within the Bahamas included Harbour Island, Great Exuma, Long Island, and San Salvador. All passengers were required to be vaccinated for COVID-19.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The opening booking day set a record for the most bookings on a single day in the company's history.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some destinations expressed concerns with the company's announcement, lack of consultation with local stakeholders, and negative impact to their existing tourism economy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following the insolvency of Genting Hong Kong, Crystal suspended operations of all its cruise ships in January 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity were subsequently arrested in Freeport, Bahamas over unpaid bills in February, and the company's headquarters in the United States closed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Meanwhile, V.Ships Leisure was appointed by the liquidators to manage Crystal's ships.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On June 22, 2022, it was announced that A&K Travel Group, owned by Manfredi Lefebvre d'Ovidio and Geoffrey Kent had bought the bankrupt line's brand and two ocean vessels, Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony, intending to return the ships to service in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Two new ships were ordered at Fincantieri in June 2024 for delivery from 2028 onwards.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In Autumn, a third ship was ordered.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Former Sub-brands

Crystal Yacht Cruises

Crystal Yacht Cruises launched in December 2015 with the Crystal Esprit. The 62-guest, 3,000-ton yacht was outfitted with features including a two-passenger submarine, four 10-passenger zodiacs for excursions, and a 12-passenger yacht tender for boating adventures. Additionally, water skis, wake boards, kayaks, jet skis, fishing, and scuba and snorkel equipment were available.<ref name="crystalcruises.com2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Crystal Expedition Cruises

On January 15, 2018, the company cut steel for Crystal Endeavor at MV Werften, part of a family of shipyards known for their passenger-ship, icebreaker, and private-yacht building expertise.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The new PC6-designated expedition yacht was to launch on July 17, 2021, in Reykjavik, Iceland. Crystal Endeavor has a displacement of 20,200 GT and would operate polar expeditions and voyages in remote tropical regions. The yacht was to offer accommodation for 200 guests.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Crystal River Cruises

In July 2016, Crystal launched Crystal River Cruises with the refurbished vessel Template:Interlanguage link multi. Crystal Bach and Crystal Mahler, the first two of four Rhine-class new-build river ships, were added in 2017 followed by Crystal Debussy and Crystal Ravel, in 2018.Template:Citation needed

Crystal Luxury Air/Crystal AirCruises

Crystal Luxury Air private jet service launched in 2015 with the company's Bombardier Global Express jet, available for charter and accommodating 12 guests. In August 2017, Crystal AirCruises took flight with the launch of Crystal Skye, a Boeing 777-200LR configured with 88 first-class, flat-bed seats, a lounge/dining room that seats 24, and a full bar. The National Hockey League was one of its first three charter customers. In addition, the company took delivery of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in May 2017. As of November 2017, this aircraft was in storage.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Fleet

Current fleet

Name	Built	Builder	Entered service for Crystal	Gross tonnage	Flag	Notes	Image
Crystal Symphony	1995	Knaerner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard	1995	51,044	Template:Flag		File:Crystal Symphony at Pier 24 in Tallinn 22 June 2017.jpg
Crystal Serenity	2003	Chantiers de l'Atlantique	2003	68,870	Template:Flag		File:MS Crystal Serenity Trieste 1.jpg

Former fleet

Name	Built	Builder	Entered service for Crystal	Gross tonnage	Flag	Notes	Image
Crystal Harmony	1989	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries	1990	50,142	Template:Flag	Transferred to Nippon Yusen Kaisha in 2006 and renamed Asuka II	File:Crystal Harmony arriving in Wellington Harbor, 27 February 2005 (cropped).jpg
Expedition ships
Crystal Esprit	1991	Flender Werke	2015	3,370	Template:Flag	Previously MegaStar Taurus Sold to Lindblad Expeditions in 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>||File:Crystal Esprit.jpg
Crystal Endeavor<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> || align="center" | 2021 || align="left" |MV Werften || align="center" | 2021 || align="Center" | 20,449 || align="Center" | Template:Flag ||Acquired by Silversea Cruises June 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	File:Stralsund, Crystal Endeavor vor der MV Werft (2021-03-26), by Klugschnacker in Wikipedia (4).jpg
River ships
Crystal Mozart	1987	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> MV Werften (redesign)	2016	532	Template:Flag	Operated by Crystal River Cruises Named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart	File:Mozart (ship, 1987) 006.jpg
Crystal Bach	2017	MV Werften	2017		Template:Flag	Operated by Crystal River Cruises Named after Johann Sebastian Bach	Crystal Bach in Kiel Canal I
Crystal Mahler	2017	MV Werften	2017		Template:Flag	Operated by Crystal River Cruises Named after Gustav Mahler	File:Crystal Mahler (ship, 2017), stern, 2018 Ferencváros.jpg
Crystal Debussy	2018	MV Werften	2018		Template:Flag	Operated by Crystal River Cruises Named after Claude Debussy	File:Crystal Debussy ENI 04812690 op de Rijn bij Boppard foto 1.JPG
Crystal Ravel	2018	MV Werften	2018		Template:Flag	Operated by Crystal River Cruises Named after Maurice Ravel
Aircraft
N989SF	2007	Bombardier Aerospace	2015	N/A	Template:USA	Bombardier Global Express. Operated by Corporate Flight Management.
Crystal Skye Template:Nobr<ref name="Planes">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>	2011	Boeing	2017	N/A	Template:ARU	Ex Air Austral Boeing 777-200LR reg F-OLRA. Operated by Comlux.
N947BA<ref name="Planes"/>	2016	Boeing	2017	N/A	Template:USA	Ex Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-8 reg CN-RGB. Never entered service.

References

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Official website