Luxury cruise operator, Crystal, is suspending voyages for its Ocean and Expedition ships through 29 April 2022, while its River cruise operations for 2022 will be suspended until the end of May. The action comes after Crystal’s parent company, Genting Hong Kong Ltd, filed to wind up the company, seeking to appoint provisional liquidators in a court in Bermuda this week.
In a statement to LATTE, Crystal said that suspending its operations will provide the cruise line’s management team with “an opportunity to evaluate the current state of business and examine various options moving forward”.
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Crystal’s three ships currently in operation – Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony sailing in the Caribbean, and the near-new Crystal Endeavor in Antarctica – will complete their current voyages. Crystal Symphony’s current voyage ends in Miami on 22 January, Crystal Serenity in Aruba on 30 January and Crystal Endeavor in Ushuaia, Argentina, on 4 February.
“This was an extremely difficult decision but a prudent one given the current business environment and recent developments with our parent company, Genting Hong Kong,” said Jack Anderson, President of Crystal.
“Crystal has been synonymous with luxury cruising for more than 30 years and we look forward to welcoming back our valued guests when we resume operations. We wish to thank our guests and travel advisors for their incredible support during these ongoing challenging times.”
Guests and their travel partners impacted by the surprise cruise halt are currently being notified.
Crystal said it will provide a full refund of the cruise fare paid, “which will be processed automatically to the original form of payment so there is no further action on the guest’s part”.
If the cruise was paid via a Future Cruise Payment or Credit, the full value will be returned to their Crystal Society profile account.
Crystal Endeavor is the newest ship and the ninth vessel in the Crystal fleet, delivered in late June 2021. It was constructed by Germany’s MV Werften shipyard which this month also filed for bankruptcy.
Last September, Crystal also offloaded its yacht Crystal Esprit to Lindblad Expeditions, which intends to operate the vessel in the Galapagos.