Crystal Cruises suspends operations amid parent's financial woes
James ChappleCrystal Cruises has paused all ocean, expedition and river cruising operations for the foreseeable future amid parent Genting Hong Kong’s growing financial troubles.
All ocean and expedition sailings departing up to and on 29 April have been suspended, while the line’s river cruises have been suspended until the end of May.
Crystal’s three ships currently in operation, Crystal Serenity, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Endeavor, will complete their current voyages; Symphony will end its current sailing in Miami on 22 January, Serenity in Aruba on 30 January and Endeavour in Ushuaia on 4 February.
In a statement, the line said suspending its operations would give Crystal’s management team time to "evaluate the current state of business" and "examine various options moving forward".
Genting Hong Kong on Wednesday (19 January) warned it would likely run out of cash by the end of the month after its German shipbuilding subsidiary fell into insolvency last week; it has since filed for a winding up order at Bermuda’s supreme court.
"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 Crystal president Jack Anderson.
"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."
The line said it was in the process of notifying guests and their travel partners of the developments. It will refund in full any cruise fares paid to date, which will be automatically returned to guests’ original method of payment. For any voyages paid for fully or in part via future cruise payment or credit, the full value of this credit will be returned to guests’ Crystal Society profile accounts.
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Place of registration: England and Wales.
Company number 08723341.
Registered address: 6th Floor, 2 London Wall Place, London EC2Y 5AU
