Crystal Cruises, the luxury market cruise operator in the Genting Hong Kong group, plans to open offices in the UK and Hong Kong to meet the requirements resulting from the expansion of its business.
Crystal, which has its headquarters in Los Angeles, recently opened an office in Miami. The company mainly sources its passengers from the US, Canada, the UK and Japan. "As we start to grow, we need to get closer to our customers," said Paul Garcia, director of public relations at Crystal Cruises.
He told Cruise Business that the introduction of three 100,000 gross ton ocean going cruise ships, two river yachts and a Boeing Dreamliner passenger jet, which would be fitted out to first class specifications, mean that the company will also have to look at its operations bases. At least the river yachts would be operated from the planned office in the UK, he said.
The ocean going vessels, which will be built at the Lloyd Werft shipyard in Germany and which are due for delivery from 2017 onwards, will feature all suite accommodation. The minimum size of the suites will be about 400 sq.ft., which is close to twice the figure on the line's existing two ships.
Asked if the large size of the accommodations involves the risk that passengers will spend more time in their private quarters than what they do on the existing ships, with the unwanted consequence that public rooms would be under utilised, Garcia said they would have to work hard to make the bars and restaurants etc. appealing, so that they will have the desired utilisation levels and atmosphere.
