The massive expansion of CRYSTAL CRUISES was a massive surprise for the international cruise market after NYK sold its luxury cruise brand to GENTING. GENTING chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay and
CRYSTAL’s president and chief executive officer Edie Rodriquez said GENTING’s investment was to maintain CRYSTAL’s award winning reputation.
"Our intention is to make CRYSTAL CRUISES the core of what will become the world’s premier luxury hospitality and lifestyle brand portfolio for years to come," said Mr. Lim back then.
"Our intention is to make CRYSTAL CRUISES the core of what will become the world’s premier luxury hospitality and lifestyle brand portfolio for years to come," said Mr. Lim back then.
But the market is still waiting for the ships that had been announced.
by Earl of Cruise
CRYSTAL ESPRIT, ex MEGASTAR TAURUS, one of the FLENDER WERFT built 1991 sisters LADY SARAH and LADY DIANA, when the owner went bancrupt, the sisters had been sold to STAR CRUISES and sailed in their MEGA STAR brand for High Rolers of the GENTING casinos - courtsey CRYSTAL CRUISES
The jaw dropping announcement by CRYSTAL CRUISES
that in one fell swoop it is expanding into river cruising, offering a
yacht product, operating its own private jet tours and selling 144
multi-million dollar residences aboard three new build cruise ships was
part of a vision President and CEO Edie Rodriguez had in mind when she
joined the line in October 2013. However, it wasn’t until May 2015, when
the company was acquired by GENTING, Hong Kong, the major stockholder of NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINES HOLDING and owner of STAR CRUISES, DREAM CRUISES, and Resorts World Manila, the dream began to take hold. Edie Rodriguez told Forbes.com, "More significant initiatives will be unveiled in the next six months."GENTING surprized the whole cruise industry with the purchase of German shipbuilders - first LLOYD WERFT in Bremerhaven, then the Russian owned, trubbeld NORDIC YARDS in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany (located in Wismar, Stralsund and Warnemünde). Later it was announced these yards would construct the new ships for CRYSTAL as well others constructions. And according to the latest news, the yards are in a good line with filled order books.
CRYSTAL´s Edie Rodriguez joined later the SS UNITED STATES CONSERVANCY, paid a lot of Dollars and made a survey for an intended use of UNITED STATES as CRYSTAL CRUISES luxury cruise vessel. Within the rescue team and supporters hopes grew, but also concerns about the "new look" of UNITED STATES ... and Alt-Right´s suggested in fake news and announced to fight against UNITED STATES being reflagged to China ... a move that never was intended.
It was announced on February 4, 2016 that CRYSTAL CRUISES has signed a purchase option for the UNITED STATES, CRYSTAL covered docking costs in Philadelphia for nine months while it conducted a feasibility study. The plan was formally dropped on August 5, 2016, citing too many technical challenges. But Crystal Cruises did announce a donation of US $ 350,000.00 to cover docking costs through the end of 2016.
The potential white knight for UNITED STATES recognized with its feasability study, UNITED STATES can´t be transformed into a modern day cruise vessel ... Was it in the end a marketing coup, as many suppose?
Rendering of the design study for CRYSTAL CRUISES´s UNITED STATES - courtsey CRYSTAL CRUISES
For industry observers, joining CRYSTAL may have seemed a surprising
move for Mrs. Rodriguez, even if it was for the top job. Edie Rodriguez a 34-year industry
veteran, born August 29, 1961, who started as a travel agent, she served in senior leadership
positions at CARNIVAL CORPORATION’s CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES, CUNARD and
SEABOURN, as well as most recently senior vice president of sales and
marketing at RCCL’s AZAMARA CLUB CRUISES. Edie Rodriguez also spent over a decade with travel technology provider AMADEUS IT Group SA.
The commonality of all her stops was innovation and transformation,
and each of her former employers was heavily focused on growth. During
her time with AMADEUS from 1987 to 2000, the division Mrs. Rodriguez ran enabled
cruise lines to leap into the electronic future by automating cruise
bookings with air bookings, saving countless hours of manual labor and
telephone time. She gained 90 percent market share for her group, while
at the same time delivering the highest profits in the company.
Later at AZAMARA, Mrs. Rodriguez was teamed with CEO Larry Pimentel, taking two struggling ships that didn’t fit into an existing segment, creating a niche for customers who wanted destination intensive itineraries with overnight shore stays so they could dive into the local culture.
In November 2015 CRYSTAL announced the purchase of the once for Erste Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft built rivercruiser MOZART, and contrated a massive rebuilding at R&M Group in Ennshafen. In July 2016 CRYSTAL MOZART was christened in Wien. The allready luxurious twinhulled MOZART got 78 more spacious cabins, instead of originally 107, which reduced the passengercapacity down to 160.
In addition, two river cruise ships were ordered at LLOYD yards in Bremerhaven, which were put into service in 2017. Two further new buildings were added to this order in November 2015. The two larger, 110-meter-long ships for 110 passengers are to be used under the names of CRYSTAL BACH and CRYSTAL MAHLER for the Rhine / Main and Danube cruise areas, the two smaller ships (CRYSTAL RAVEL and CRYSTAL DEBUSSY) for up to 84 passengers used in France on the Seine, the Garonne and the Dordogne as well as in the mouth of the Garonne. The construction began on May 9, 2016 at LLOYD shipyard. On 19 August 2016, the CRYSTAL BACH and the CRYSTAL MAHLER were laid down at MV Werften Wismar, once part of NORDIC YARDS.
The river cruise vessels are named in the CRYSTAL marketing wording "River Yachts".
Later at AZAMARA, Mrs. Rodriguez was teamed with CEO Larry Pimentel, taking two struggling ships that didn’t fit into an existing segment, creating a niche for customers who wanted destination intensive itineraries with overnight shore stays so they could dive into the local culture.
In November 2015 CRYSTAL announced the purchase of the once for Erste Donau-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft built rivercruiser MOZART, and contrated a massive rebuilding at R&M Group in Ennshafen. In July 2016 CRYSTAL MOZART was christened in Wien. The allready luxurious twinhulled MOZART got 78 more spacious cabins, instead of originally 107, which reduced the passengercapacity down to 160.
In addition, two river cruise ships were ordered at LLOYD yards in Bremerhaven, which were put into service in 2017. Two further new buildings were added to this order in November 2015. The two larger, 110-meter-long ships for 110 passengers are to be used under the names of CRYSTAL BACH and CRYSTAL MAHLER for the Rhine / Main and Danube cruise areas, the two smaller ships (CRYSTAL RAVEL and CRYSTAL DEBUSSY) for up to 84 passengers used in France on the Seine, the Garonne and the Dordogne as well as in the mouth of the Garonne. The construction began on May 9, 2016 at LLOYD shipyard. On 19 August 2016, the CRYSTAL BACH and the CRYSTAL MAHLER were laid down at MV Werften Wismar, once part of NORDIC YARDS.
The river cruise vessels are named in the CRYSTAL marketing wording "River Yachts".
CRYSTAL BACH during her transit on NORD-OSTSEE KANAL - Source: Wikipedia
CRYSTAL LUXURY AIR, is bringing the CRYSTAL brand to luxury air tours. CRYSTAL LUXURY AIR will be after HAPAG-LLOYD Air Cruises the seconed in the luxury
travel industry to offer around-the-world trips on the twin-aisle Boeing 787 Dreamliner with 60 seats.
In June 2017, CRYSTAL announced that instead of using its Boeing 777-200LR on private jet tours it was going to dedicate the aircraft to
the charter market focused on private and corporate groups that will
charter the entire plane instead of selling seats on a set itinerary. In
August 2017, CRYSTAL took delivery of its Boeing 777-200LR configured
with 88 first class flat-bed seats, a lounge/dining room that seats 24
and a full bar. The charter price is estimated by the company to be
$55,000.00 per hour. The US National Hockey League is one of its first three
charter customers. 
Rendering of a BOEING 787 DREAMLINER, as the intended air cruiser - courtsey CRYSTAL LUXURY AIR
The first plane in CRYSTAL colours but was since April 2016 a Bombardier Global Express XRS for up to 12 passengers.
CRYSTAL, on the other hand, was founded in 1988 by NIPPON YUSEN KABUSHIKI KAISHA (NYK), a Japanese company that can trace its history back to 1870, and is one of the world’s largest operators of container ships. NYK as the other container shipping companies was hit severely by the Financial Crisis and is still suffering from dropped freight fares. CRYSTAL's headquarters was established in Los Angeles´ Century City, far from the epicenter of the industry in Miami, located in a pristine office tower, miles from the water, populated by law firms, where one can hear a cough or a sneeze at the opposite end of the wide hallways.
April 3rd, 2016, presentation of the first CRYSTAL LUXURY AIR plane, the Bombardier Global Express XRS
both pictures above, courtsey CRYTAL CRUISES
About Mrs. Rodriguez, people who know her say, she is a hard charging New Yorker who
doesn't mind direct conversations, is constantly on the move, spends
time talking to customers, both consumer and trade and exudes energy.CRYSTAL, on the other hand, was founded in 1988 by NIPPON YUSEN KABUSHIKI KAISHA (NYK), a Japanese company that can trace its history back to 1870, and is one of the world’s largest operators of container ships. NYK as the other container shipping companies was hit severely by the Financial Crisis and is still suffering from dropped freight fares. CRYSTAL's headquarters was established in Los Angeles´ Century City, far from the epicenter of the industry in Miami, located in a pristine office tower, miles from the water, populated by law firms, where one can hear a cough or a sneeze at the opposite end of the wide hallways.
CRYSTAL SYMPHONY anchoring in Québec in front of Château Frontenac - courtsey CRYSTAL CRUISES
With overflowing shelves of awards, CRYSTAL is a revered brand in the
travel industry. Its level of service is considered to be gold standard. "Anyone can build a hard product with lots of money. Nobody has matched
CRYSTAL’s service," says Mary Jean Tully,
a top seller of luxury cruises. Yet, in over two decades under NYK, as a
business, the line remained stuck in neutral as a two-ship entity, the
last one delivered a dozen years ago. Matthew Upchurch, CEO of VIRTUOSO,
a network of luxury travel advisors, explains why perhaps there wasn't
more growth: "I have all the respect in the world for NYK. We've been
involved with them since before the launch, and we were on the
pre-inaugural. But they are so large, CRYSTAL wasn't even a rounding
error." And while Mr. Upchurch points to innovations such as bringing
Nobu onboard long before celebrity chef driven restaurants were an
industry trend, competition in the luxury sector increased from all
angles, with more lines, different concepts and increasingly lavish
staterooms with suite service from the big ship companies.
And the next surprise was the announcement of building three expedition yachts, but further words about the luxury giants.
I don´t want to implement, GENTING is runniing out of money - they don´t! I have another idea, than trouble ... eventually the requirement of the German Genting shipyards is something perfect to build, that can not be shopped just in the water. MV WERFTEN, and with them GENTING, need reputation.
CRYSTAL SERENITY cruising in the Arctic - courtsey CRYSTAL CRUISES
For the industry and its observers, it is a bit astonishing, if not questioning, why the ultra luxurious 1,000 passenger, 1,000 crew, 117,000 GT luxury giants are still not contracted with any, or the own yards ... Despite the design of the CRYSTAL ENDEANVOR changed after the first publishing from extraordinary to more common design.And the next surprise was the announcement of building three expedition yachts, but further words about the luxury giants.
I don´t want to implement, GENTING is runniing out of money - they don´t! I have another idea, than trouble ... eventually the requirement of the German Genting shipyards is something perfect to build, that can not be shopped just in the water. MV WERFTEN, and with them GENTING, need reputation.
The first appearance of CRYSTAL ENDEAVOR - rendering courtsey CRYSTAL CRUISES
During the designing of a vessel, the exterior design allways is changing, here the new CRYSTAL ENDEAVOR design publishing - rendering courtsey CRYSTAL CRUISES
This rendering is the result of the GENTING owned MV WERFTEN
Rendering of the luxury 117,000 GT, 1,000 passengers, 1,000 crew, giant triplet for CRYSTAL CRUISES Exclusive Class - courtsey CRYSTAL CRUISES
"Our guests were telling us they wanted to give all their vacation
spending to CRYSTAL, so they would come on a cruise and the next year
they would have loved to do something with CRYSTAL, but they wanted to
go on a river cruise, or they wanted to try a flight trip or rent a
yacht in the Med," Mrs. Rodriguez said during an interview at The Lamb’s Club
in New York, before picking up an award from Travel + Leisure.
"So many of our customers were saying the same thing, we said,
‘There’s a market here for it.’ We host 50,000 guests a year. To fill 60
seats on plane 12 times a year will not be hard."What CRYSTAL CRUISES definitely is doing, is building a luxury colossus. But they have to be cautious ... too big will bring flaws and is leveling the luxury into a me-too product.
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