New ships to retain Crystal hallmarks, broaden offerings

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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

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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.