Crystal Cruises issued a statement Thursday following reports earlier this week in a U.S. trade publication that the cruise line had “apparently” put its entire fleet of river ships on the market.
“According to an email that a Florida ship broker sent to other European river lines,” the report in Travel Weekly read, “the five all-suite river ships built by Crystal between 2016 and 2018 are currently “trading on the Rhine” and can ‘be developed for sale.” It says the email also adds that "the owners are very serious sellers."
The report of the sale of the river fleet came just days after the company inaugurated its new, luxury expedition ship Crystal Endeavor, and announced a strategy for future new builds to be hotel branded and managed by Crystal to achieve economies of scale.
After the startling report, Crystal issued a statement by Senior Vice President & Managing Director, Walter Littlejohn, Crystal River Cruises, that reads in part:
“We emphatically deny the accuracy of an email sent to our competitors by a Florida ship broker, with whom we have no contractual relationship and to whom our legal team has issued an immediate cease and desist letter. We are deeply disappointed Travel Weekly failed to employ the highest ethical standards in researching and writing this story in its rush to print, and since then has published another article that also contains significant falsehoods about Crystal."
“...Our forward year, globally-sourced bookings are up well in excess of 50 percent, selling at our absolute highest pricing ever, with a 28 percent capacity increase as for 2022 we have opened Crystal Mozart to all source markets rather than just Asia as planned pre-pandemic."
“This week, Crystal’s parent company, Genting Hong Kong (GHK), successfully completed a financial restructuring agreement with its global creditors and following on from that, the company, like all other responsible enterprises, will continue to engage in fundraising exercises to address liquidity needs as it navigates through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We would like to assure our valued guests, travel advisors and team members that Crystal is steadfastly focused on pivoting away from the travails of the pandemic as we prepare to gradually resume service this year on August 29 with Crystal Ravel on the Danube and August 30 with Crystal Debussy on the Rhine, both of which are very heavily booked...
“All of us are excited about focusing on what matters, doing business with the highest integrity and delivering unrivalled and exceptional vacations to delighted luxury travelers from across the globe in partnership with guests and travel advisors whose loyalty has remained steadfast with Crystal through these unprecedented times.”
