Crystal pauses cruises

THE lodgement of a petition to appoint provisional liquidators to Genting Hong Kong ( CW yesterday) has forced the management of Crystal Cruises to announce the temporary suspension of sailings.

The cruise line’s ocean and expedition voyages will be paused until 29 Apr, while Crystal’s river cruises are suspended until the end of May, according to Crystal’s Interim President & CEO, Jack Anderson ( CW breaking news).

“This was an extremely difficult decision but a prudent one given the current business environment and recent developments with our parent company,” he said.

The three ships currently in operation - Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony and sailing in the Caribbean, and Crystal Endeavor in Antarctica - will complete their current voyages.

Symphony will disembark its passengers in Miami this Sat 22 Jan, while Serenity will wrap things up in Aruba on 30 Jan.

Endeavor’s current cruise will end on 04 Feb in Ushuaia, Argentina, the company said, while Crystal’s European river ships are currently not sailing due to it being the off-season.

For guests currently sailing on back-to-back voyages, Crystal said it would provide a refund for unused days of the cruise fare paid, while a full refund will also be paid on future affected bookings, the company promised.

Yesterday’s announcement from Genting Hong Kong confirmed that “certain business activities of the group, including but not limited to the operations of cruise lines by Dream Cruises Holding Limited, shall continue...however it is anticipated that the majority of the Group’s existing operations will cease to operate”.