Top Headlines

Expanding Crystal Cruises plans to open UK, Hong Kong offices

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 21 August 2015 21 August 2015

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.

MSC Cruises to offer 60-night 'Grand Voyage' from Brazil to Shanghai

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 August 2015 20 August 2015

MSC Cruises, the world’s largest privately-owned cruise line, today revealed plans to make its first sailing to China, with the newly-renovated MSC Lirica calling in Shanghai on May 1, 2016 after having traveled across continents. The 65,000 gross ton ship will make the company’s maiden call in China’s biggest megalopolis after a 60-day round-the-world Grand Voyage which departs on March 3, 2016 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“We are delighted to once more be able to offer our guests a brand new itinerary – from Brazil to China via Europe – which offers the chance to visit some of the most appealing places on earth, certainly across a huge array of people and cultures,” said MSC Cruises CEO, Gianni Onorato.

Onorato added: “This new Grand Voyage offering is proof of our steadfast commitment to offer our guests innovative and sought-after destinations. As MSC Cruises continues to expand the destinations it calls – such as Cuba which we recently announced – we are further enhancing our global offering while providing travelers best-in-class experiences and service.”

MSC Cruises is offering travelers the opportunity to choose from three different versions of the Grand Voyage, with the ability to embark in either Rio de Janeiro in Brazil (60 nights), Genoa in Italy (41 nights) or Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (26 nights), before arriving in Shanghai.

Before setting sail, MSC Lirica will be fully renovated and enlarged under MSC Cruises’ Renaissance Program, which entails a comprehensive overhaul of the ship due to be completed in November 2015.

Prices for the full 60-day Grand Voyage on MSC Lirica will start at $4,799 per person. Included in the price are beverage and laundry packages as well as 8 shore excursions.

Brazil to Shanghai Grand Voyage itinerary details

During the first leg of MSC Lirica’s 60-day journey, the ship will depart on March 3, 2016 from Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro and sail north along the coast of Brazil – with calls in Buzios, Salvador, Maceio and Fortaleza. The ship will then cross the Atlantic on a northeast course towards the Canary Islands – with a stop in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife – before reaching mainland Europe and visiting Cadiz, Spain.

From there, MSC Lirica will call the three largest ports in the Mediterranean – Barcelona, Spain; Marseille, France; and Genoa, Italy – providing travelers an opportunity to embark in any of these ports in Europe and providing maximum flexibility as guests journey towards Asia.

After leaving Genoa, MSC Lirica will call Naples, Italy and the island of Crete with Heraklion in Greece. The ship then heads south to Aqaba in Jordan; Muscat, Oman; and Khor Al Fakhan and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The ship is scheduled to stay in Dubai overnight and travelers interested in sailing from Dubai to Shanghai will have the ability to embark.

During the last leg of the journey, MSC Lirica sets sail towards the East and the Indian cities of Goa and Cochin, prior to calling Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. She then heads to Phuket, Thailand, and Penang and Port Kelang/Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, before reaching Singapore.

After an overnight stay in Singapore, the ship will bring its guests to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and then to visit Hong Kong. Shanghai is the next call and includes an overnight stay before sailing across the China sea to Fukuoka in Japan. From the Land of the Rising Sun, MSC Lirica heads back to the high seas one more time, returning to Shanghai on May 1, 2016.

New ships to retain Crystal hallmarks, broaden offerings

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 20 August 2015 20 August 2015

The three newbuilding Crystal Cruises, the Los Angeles based luxury market cruise operator in the Genting Hong Kong group, will retain hallmarks of the brand, but broaden the offerings compared to the lines existing ships, said Nitsa Lewis, Vice President of Marketing at the company.

"We will certainly have Galaxy Lounge and Palm Court, but also new things that we don't have an the existing ships," she said yesterday on board Crystal Symphony. The range of dining options would be widened compared to the ones on the existing vessels, she said, but declined to elaborate on details as these were still being discussed within in the company.

The new ships, which will be built at Lloyd Werft in Germany, will be about 100,000 gross tons each, i.e. they will be twice the size of the 1995 built Crystal Symphony, currently the oldest vessel of the company. However, the new vessels too would only take about 1,000 passengers each.

The new ships will have all suite accommodation and the cabins will be larger than those on the existing ships. They will also have greater height to add to the feeling of spaciousness. Asked if this could bring the risk that passengers would increasingly spend time in their cabins, including dining in them, which again could hurt the social life on board, Lewis said she did not believe this to be a danger. There would be a large number of public rooms, with an attractive design, and they would not be overly large to help in creating an intimate feeling, she noted.

Investments to transform Crystal from cruise to lifestyle company

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 18 August 2015 18 August 2015

Crystal Cruises, the luxury cruise brand in the Genting Hong Kong group, will retain its existing two ships as it embarks on a growth programme that will transform it to a lifestyle company, company officials said.

Crystal has invested so much money in upgrades of the 1995 built Crystal Symphony and the 2003 built Crystal Serenade that selling them is not an option, said Claudius Dockekal, vp deployment. The introduction of a series of newbuildings of about 100,000 gross tons that will accommodate 1,000 passengers will create a new upper echelon for the Crystal's ocean cruise operation, he said on board Crystal Symphony on Monday.

The planned new vessels that will be built at Lloyd Werft in Germany will have significantly larger cabins than those on the existing two ships and they will have one crew member for each passenger, said Paul M. Garcia, director of public relations at Los Angeles based Crystal Cruises.

He said that the all suite stateroom accommodation will also have higher ceilings, about 8.2 feet, to add to the feeling of luxury and spaciousness.

Expansion of Crystal in river cruising - it is building two river yachts - follows an explosion-like increase in the demand for cruising in Western European inland waterways, Dockekal said. However, the ability of the waterways and port facilities to accommodate a growing number of river cruise vessels is a major concern. Many operators rush their ships from one city to another, but this will not be the approach of Crystal: its river yachts will spend extended periods in ports of call to allow passengers to immerse themselves with each destination.

Expansion into river cruises was the most popular suggestion that Crystal's customers made to the company, he added.

Celebrity Esprit, the former MegaStar Taurus, which will be converted into 62 passenger yacht to launch Crystal Yacht Cruises, will also be used on the charter market as groups of wealthy individuals could charter it for their private use rather than to sail on an advertised itinerary, Garcia stated.

The company will also introduce a Boeing Dreamliner passenger jet, which will be operated on e.g. 28 night trips around the world. The itineraries will be design so that visit to destinations should coincide with a major event there. The plane will be operated and managed by a third party but marketed under the Crystal brand by the company itself.

Finally, the new ocean going ships will also have up to 48 private residences, although the actual number will depend of the demand, which again decides the size of the various apartments that will be built. Together with their own restaurant and other facilities, this section will occupy an entire deck on each ship. The residence customers will have access to use the other facilities on board.

"We are changing from a cruise company to a lifestyle company," Garcia described the outcome of the planned investment.

TUI AG remains upbeat of performance of its cruise brands

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 13 August 2015 13 August 2015

TUI AG, the Hannover bawd travel group whose shares are main listed in London, retains an upbeat outlook of its cruise shipping activities.

The company owns 50% of the premium market TUI Cruises unit that caters for the German market, plus 100% of Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten.

"In Cruises, TUI Cruises underlying EBITA grew by €11m in the quarter, reflecting the full year benefit of Mein Schiff 3 (launched June 2014) and the launch of Mein Schiff 4 (launched June 2015),” the company said in its none month to 30 june interim result statement.

In addition, the continued turnaround of Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten and €4m benefit from the refinancing of Europa 2 meant that Cruises delivered a €21m increase in underlying EBITA.

“TUI Cruises operates in the high growth, underpenetrated premium German market. We have a strong competitive advantage, having secured additional capacity. In June 2015, TUI Cruises launched Mein Schiff 4 and announced that it will add two further ships (Mein Schiff 7 & 8) in 2018 and 2019, with Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 to be redeployed to Thomson Cruises as it modernises its fleet,” TUI said.

With Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten, we continue to focus on luxury and expedition cruises. The successful repositioning of the brand has been completed and the turnaround is on-track for this year.

The Supervisory Board of TUI AG and the Board of Royal Caribbean Cruises have decided in May to convert the purchase options for Mein Schiff 7 and Mein Schiff 8 into firm orders as the German cruise market is enjoying further growth. The ships are expected to be delivered in 2018 and 2019.

The new cruise liners will be slightly bigger than their predecessors, having 2,860 lower berth each. Both ships will be built by Meyer Turku (Finland) as all new TUI Cruises ships. The purchase will be financed within the TUI Cruises Joint Venture without further contribution from TUI AG and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, (RCCL), which owns the other 50% of TUI Cruises.

“In the framework of exercising our purchase option it was agreed that Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2 will be moved to Thomson Cruises in the next few years in order to continue the modernisation of the UK cruise operations. These two steps will complete our growth and modernisation roadmap in the cruise segment,” TUI said.