Crystal Parent Genting Orders 10 Ships For 3.5 Billion Euros
by James ShillinglawA mock-up of Crystal Debussy, the new river ship set to debut in June 2017.
Genting Hong Kong, parent of Crystal Cruises, Star Cruises and Lloyd Werft Shipyard, has signed a 3.5 billion euro contract with Lloyd Werft in Wismar, Germany.
The order includes six new luxury river ships (Crystal had previously announced only four), one 100-guest polar class yacht (Endeavor), and one 1,000-passenger Exclusive Class ocean cruise ship for Crystal, and two 5,000-guest Global Class cruise ships for Star Cruises.
With the order, Crystal is on track to turn itself into one of the largest luxury hospitality and lifestyle brands in the world.
Edie Rodriquez, Crystal’s president and CEO, presided over a shipyard steel-cutting ceremony on May 9 for the Crystal Debussy, the first of what will now be six newbuild river ships, in Bremen, Germany.
The 84-passenger Crystal Debussy will be launched in June 2017, along with the 110-passenger Crystal Bach. Crystal Debussy will cruise the Seine, while Crystal Bach will sail the Rhine. Those two ships will be followed in August 2017 by the 84-passenger Crystal Ravel, which will cruise the Rhone and Dordogne rivers, and the 110-passenger Crystal Mahler, which will cruise the Rhine, Maine and Danube rivers.
Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Crystal parent Genting Hong Kong, and Palletin Ruediger, managing director of shipyard Lloyd Werft Group, now owned by Genting, also attended the ceremony as Rodriguez pressed the button that started the steel cutting machine to begin the river ship’s construction.
Crystal President & CEO Edie Rodiguez cuts steel for the company’s new river ship.
Crystal’s all-suite river ships are being designed to deliver what the company calls the “most luxurious experience on the rivers of Europe” with Crystal-style service throughout. They will feature 250-square-foot guest suites with walk-in wardrobes, king-size beds and bathrooms with double vanities. They also will each have two 500-square-foot Penthouse Suites. Major public areas will include the Palm Court with a dance floor and glass-domed roof, a large fitness center and spa, and four restaurants.
The six new luxury river yachts will join the 158-passenger Crystal Mozart, the reimagined river vessel, which will begin cruising on the Danube in July 2016 after undergoing a major refurbishment in Austria.
The six new river ships are part of Crystal’s massive expansion in the luxury space, which will include three new 1,000-passenger ocean-going cruise ships, the first to be delivered in 2019. There will also be two yachts, the 64-passenger Crystal Esprit, which was relaunched after a major renovation in December 2015, and is currently sailing in the Adriatic, and the 200-passenger Crystal Endeavor, a new yacht being constructed at Lloyd Werft shipyard, to be delivered in August 2018.
Crystal also is launching a new air-cruise product using a modified Boeing 777, to be delivered in fall 2017, and a Boeing 787, set to be delivered in late 2018 or early 2019. It also currently offers a new Crystal Luxury Air private jet charter using a 12-passenger Bombardier Global Express XRS.