Tag Archives: Crystal serenity

Crystal Cruises cancels all 2020 sailings

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Celebrate 25 Years With Crystal Cruises | The Cruise Line Blog

Crystal Cruises has cancelled all its cruises up to the end of the year.

The suspension affects sailings onboard ocean ships Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity, as well as on its yacht Crystal Esprit.

Sailings onboard river ships Crystal Bach, Crystal Debussy, Crystal Mahler and Crystal Ravel are also cancelled through to the end of 2020.

In June, Crystal set out plans to return to sailing in the autumn.

The cruise line said: “Like all travel enthusiasts, we are eagerly anticipating the day we can return to sailing the world again and welcome our guests back aboard. Unfortunately, the constantly changing variables related to Covid-19, coupled with differing restrictions for international travel, continue to determine when and where this can happen.

“The uncertainty surrounding this global health crisis hinders the ability for all cruise lines to operate.

“We extend our deepest apologies for this situation that is beyond our control and is a great frustration to all of us. Everyone at Crystal, along with the officers and crew of our ships fleetwide, are extremely disappointed that we were compelled to take this action as we were looking forward to exploring together.

“What is certain is Crystal’s commitment to the safety and well-being of our guests and crew above all else. While we are looking forward to welcoming our valued guests back aboard again as soon as possible, we will not do so until it is deemed safe by governing health authorities.”

Crystal encouraged its affected passengers to contact their travel agents to rebook.

Affected ocean and yacht passengers are entitled to a future cruise credit equal to 125% of the fare paid on fully-paid reservations and a refund of port charges, taxes and fees paid and any air and hotel packages booked through Crystal.

Guests who have not fully paid will get a credit based on the deposited amount. Credits are valid on any Crystal experience (ocean, river, yacht or expedition) up to December 31, 2023.

Crystal is offering a River Rollover to river cruise customers – who can move 2020 reservations, including all payments made, to an equivalent sailing in the same time period in 2021 with price protection on the cruise fare and port charges which the line said to represent “significant value for them”.

They can also choose to transfer reservations to any Crystal experience embarking up to December 31, 2023.

If guests do not choose an option by August 14, 2020, Crytal will automatically issue a Future Credit, equal to 100% of the cruise fare paid.

The line added: “While our fleet is paused, the Crystal team has been developing new procedures and policies that will support all public health and regulatory requirements and to ensure our guests’ vacations continue to be not only relaxing and pleasurable but safe and healthy. Each protocol will be continually evaluated as new information becomes available.”

Crystal Cruises to renovate Serenity and Symphony again

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The Crystal Symphony in Hong Kong.

Crystal Cruises said it will make major improvements to its two oceangoing vessels, Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony.

In 2017 and 2018, the Serenity and Symphony will receive “massive enhancements” similar to the $52 million makeover Serenity got in 2013 and the $20 million redesign of Symphony in 2014, Crystal said.

One feature will be to reconfigure dining so that full open seating is available. A criticism of Crystal is that it doesn’t have dining capacity to accommodate all of its guests in one seating. Crystal also said there will be more suites.

The luxury line has announced plans to build three new-generation “Exclusive” class ships with high space ratios and residences on the top deck. The first of those was initially to be delivered in 2018, but that had been pushed back first to 2019, then to 2021 and now is scheduled for the first quarter of 2022.

Crystal also pushed back the delivery date of the 200-passenger Crystal Endeavor expedition ship from 2018 to 2019, but said that it plans to build two additional such ships for 2020 and 2021. In addition, it has rebranded Crystal Yacht Cruises as Crystal Yacht Expedition Cruises.

In the air, Crystal said it plans to add a second Global Express Jet to its Crystal Luxury Air fleet in 2017 due to the “popularity of the existing charter options, and travel partners and guests’ wishing to customize their vacation experiences with all things Crystal.”

On land, Crystal plans a marketing branch office in Sydney to open in 2017. An office in Amsterdam to support the operations of its river cruise fleet will officially open Nov.21, and a display center in Miami’s Boulevard Shops near downtown will open in spring 2017.

World’s most dangerous cruise? 1,070-Passenger Ship To Enter Northwest Passage

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Crystal-Cruise-Ship

The 1,070 passenger (plus 655 crew) ship Crystal Serenity.

by Ethan Lou (Reuters) The first commercial cruise ship to sail through Canada’s Northwest Passage was set to depart on Tuesday, part of a growing Arctic tourism industry spurred by rising temperatures and receding ice.

The ship Crystal Serenity was to depart from Anchorage, Alaska, and cut through frigid northern waters before reaching New York in one month, according to a schedule from its American operator, Crystal Cruises.

The route was first navigated more than a century ago by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, but has been ice-free only in recent years. The journey raises questions about further human degradation of a region disproportionably affected by climate change, where temperatures are rising twice as quickly as the world average.

The World Wildlife Foundation recognizes that Crystal Cruises has been planning this voyage for years and tried to minimize its environmental impact, but the area lacks the infrastructure to deal with potential accidents, said Andrew Dumbrille, a foundation specialist in sustainable shipping.

Crystal Serenity likely will not cause problems, but more cruises will follow, said Michael Byers, a professor at the University of British Columbia who studies Arctic sovereignty and the environment.

Byers said ships, which can traverse the waters only because of melting ice, have large carbon footprints, and an accident would be devastating for the fragile Arctic.

“They take advantage of climate change, and they cause even more climate change,” Byers said. “That is an enormous problem and also a terrible irony.”

Crystal Cruises did not respond to requests for comment.

The cruise was priced at a minimum of $19,755 per passenger, which is more than $600 per day higher than last year’s average daily cruise price of $168.43, according to the industry analytics firm Cruise Market Watch.

Crystal Cruises has said the trip is sold out and that it is planning another cruise in 2017.

The Arctic has been warming quickly because a thaw of white ice and snow exposes darker ground and water below that absorb more of the sun’s heat.

Tourism has grown in some polar areas. The number of nights spent by visitors to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard north of Norway rose to 107,000 in 2013 from 24,000 in 1993.

While Canada claims sovereignty over the Northwest Passage that flows through parts of the country, the United States and the European Union have disputed that, calling the waters an international strait.