Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Crystal ​😪​

Coral

By Coral,
in River Cruising

 Share

Recommended Posts

Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

Posted
Posted

Temporary Suspension of Ocean, Expedition and River Voyages 
Cancellation of January 20th Insider Insights 

January 19, 2022

Dear Valued Travel Partners,

Many of you may be aware of the recent news from Genting Hong Kong, Crystal’s parent company. As we work through the situation and what it means for Crystal, I wanted to let you know that we have made the difficult decision to suspend all future Ocean and Expedition sailings through April 29, 2022, with River cruises suspended through the end of May 2022.

We are deeply disappointed that we had to take this action, however, it is the most prudent decision in this current business environment. The suspension of ship operations will provide Crystal’s management team with an opportunity to evaluate the current state of business and examine various options moving forward.

Crystal’s three ships currently in operation – Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony sailing in the Caribbean and Crystal Endeavor in Antarctica – will complete their current voyages before the suspension of sailings. Crystal Symphony’s current voyage ends in Miami on January 22, Crystal Serenity’s cruise concludes in Aruba on January 30, and Crystal Endeavor’s voyage ends in Ushuaia on February 4. 

All travel partners and their clients impacted by this suspension are now being notified. Crystal will provide a full refund of cruise fare paid, which will be processed automatically to the original form of payment so there is no further action required by you and/or your client. If the cruise was paid via a Future Cruise Payment or Credit (FCP or FCC), the full value will be returned to your client’s Crystal Society profile account.

In light of these developments, tomorrow’s Insider Insights webinar, Thursday, January 20, has been cancelled. 

On behalf of the entire Crystal Family, I’d like to offer our sincerest apologies for this disruption to your business and to your clients’ vacations. We are extremely grateful to you – all of our valued travel partners – for your incredible support and understanding during these challenging times, and we look forward to welcoming guests back on board once operations are resumed. 

Warm Regards,

Carmen Roig
Senior Vice President
Marketing & Sales

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
TER777

TER777

Posted
Posted (edited)

Today, (1/19) Crystal is announcing that it has suspended operations for its Ocean and Expedition ships through April 29, 2022, with River cruises suspended through the end of May 2022. 

Edited by TER777
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

Posted
  • Author
Posted
11 minutes ago, TER777 said:

Today, (1/19) Crystal is announcing that it has suspended operations for its Ocean and Expedition ships through April 29, 2022, with River cruises suspended through the end of May 2022. 

Thanks - sorry, I posted the wrong information.... Thanks for the follow up. I had several emails in my inbox.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
capriccio

capriccio

Posted
Posted

Wow!  I have a good friend on a two week Crystal Caribbean cruise right now ending this weekend.  I'll text him tomorrow morning to see how he and his fellow passengers are reacting.  I think he has at least one more Crystal cruise scheduled in the next 4 months or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Canal archive

Canal archive

Posted
Posted

Whoops so sorry that I asked towards the ens of last year and somewhat toung in cheek if Crystal was safe, it appears not. Although it does look as there maybe a few companies prepared to invest in the river cruise section, fingers crossed. Mind you Genting Hong Kong is a huge conglomerate will China let it fail?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
capriccio

capriccio

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, capriccio said:

Wow!  I have a good friend on a two week Crystal Caribbean cruise right now ending this weekend.  I'll text him tomorrow morning to see how he and his fellow passengers are reacting.  I think he has at least one more Crystal cruise scheduled in the next 4 months or so.

Just heard from my friend on board the Crystal Symphony disembarking on Saturday.  They were informed yesterday but he wasn't totally surprised because on a September 2021 cruise he heard that they were having problems.  He hasn't yet made final payment for his next cruise so financially he's fine but he feels for some passengers that are on B2Bs (some as many as B2B2B2B2B) who have to get home unexpectedly and then wait for who knows how long (regardless of what Crystal says in the letter posted above) for refunds.

 

On the plus side he says its been a spectacular cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
5waldos

5waldos

Posted
Posted

Our late April cruise was cancelled and I am terribly sad. It was put off for 2 years because of CoVid, and now this. Don't know what to do- especially since the CoVid situation makes it even more difficult. They have had our full payment since April of 2021, so apparently it will be a while before we get our money refunded. And we also have an Alaska booking for August- no idea what we are going to do with that. I really really was looking forward to this. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
capriccio

capriccio

Posted
Posted

Just received this text from my friend on the Symphony:

 

We are on the Crystal Symphony—- arrest warrant has been issued!!!   We now rare going to Bimini instead of Miami!!!
We get another night on board!!!  Whee!!!!

 

When I asked who was being arrested he responded “the ship!”

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Stickman1990 "Live from...." Rare

Stickman1990

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Punkys dilemma said:

Hypothetically, suppose that someone paid for someone else's cruise, and that cruise is technically still scheduled to sail - May 13 perhaps - and the hypothetical cruise line goes bankrupt before then. Is this person more likely to get a refund because he or she was just trying to do a nice thing for somebody else?


Too soon…

Link to comment
Share on other sites
slidergirl

slidergirl

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, capriccio said:

Just received this text from my friend on the Symphony:

 

We are on the Crystal Symphony—- arrest warrant has been issued!!!   We now rare going to Bimini instead of Miami!!!
We get another night on board!!!  Whee!!!!

 

When I asked who was being arrested he responded “the ship!”

sounds like a seizure order in Miami, so running to Bimini to escape the order...   Crystal Symphony - the Renegade Cruise!!

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
gnome12 Excellent Advice! Rare

gnome12

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, slidergirl said:

I just thought something about that Crystal Caribbean cruise: is it a closed-loop cruise?   That could make it interesting for passengers onboard who do not sail with a passport..

I believe it was San Juan to Miami.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Coral "Live from...." Rare

Coral

Posted
  • Author
Posted
2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

An interesting conundrum as we as a nation have to have a passport if we leave our shores I think at one time the USA as a nation had the lowest number of passport holders per capita of most nations. 

Considering the US and Europe are roughly the same size (with Europe being slightly larger). A lot of individuals in the US don't have as much vacation time/holidays as Europeans do. Many seem content to just travel around the US. I am sure there are plenty of individuals in Europe who have not left Europe.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
AttilaTheFun

AttilaTheFun

Posted
Posted

Does anyone know if there's any chance of refund for future river cruises scheduled post-Apr/May? I'm reaching out to both Crystal directly and the agency we booked through but have not heard back yet. Very concerned that we've just lost a huge chunk of change on this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
capriccio

capriccio

Posted
Posted
41 minutes ago, AttilaTheFun said:

Does anyone know if there's any chance of refund for future river cruises scheduled post-Apr/May? I'm reaching out to both Crystal directly and the agency we booked through but have not heard back yet. Very concerned that we've just lost a huge chunk of change on this.

You might want to check the Crystal Cruises forum too (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/17-crystal-cruises/).  I know it has been posted there that Crystal has closed their customer support call center.  Good luck to you!

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mrs. Claypool

Mrs. Claypool

Posted
Posted (edited)

Our TA called us and and advised that we immediately cancel all our Crystal bookings, both before and after the April/May date, and apply for refunds.
 

Which we did.  Good luck to us as well. Sigh!
 

The Crystal website has an email address where they can now be reached, since their call center has been closed. 
 

Such a sad end to such a wonderful cruise line!

Edited by Mrs. Claypool
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: Set Sail Beyond the Ordinary with Oceania Cruises
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: The Widest View in the Whole Wide World
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...