United States-based Crystal Cruises, part of the troubled Genting Hong Kong Ltd casino cruise ship group, says it has suspended sea excursions up until April 29, and river cruises up to the end of May.
“This was an extremely difficult decision but a prudent one given the current business environment and recent developments with our parent company, Genting Hong Kong,” said Jack Anderson, Crystal Cruises’ president, as quoted in an announcement on the latter’s website, and carrying Wednesday’s date.
On Tuesday Genting Hong Kong – part of the Malaysia-based Genting group – asked a Bermuda court to wind up the company and appoint joint provisional liquidators, in an attempt to restructure its debts and allow it to “continue as a going concern”. But it said in a Wednesday filing it expected most of its operations would cease.
Earlier this month, Genting Hong Kong had said the insolvency of a German shipbuilding company it controlled would “in turn trigger cross default events under certain financing arrangements of the group,” comprising an aggregate principal amount of just over US$2.77 billion.
Crystal Cruises’ three ships currently in operation – Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony sailing in the Caribbean, and Crystal Endeavor in Antarctica – will complete their present voyages.
Those vessels each have casinos on board, branded as Resorts World at Sea, according to the cruise line’s website.
Crystal Symphony (pictured in a file photo) is due to dock in the company’s home port, Miami, Florida in the U.S., on Saturday (January 22). Crystal Serenity will dock in the Dutch territory of Aruba in the Caribbean on January 30, and Crystal Endeavor in Ushuaia, Argentina, on February 4.
For trips booked but not yet started, Crystal Cruises said it would provide a “full refund of cruise fare paid, which will be processed automatically”.
Suspending operations would “provide Crystal’s management team with an opportunity to evaluate the current state of business and examine various options moving forward,” the cruise brand said on its website.
“Crystal has been synonymous with luxury cruising for more than 30 years and we look forward to welcoming back our valued guests when we resume operations,” Mr Anderson was quoted as saying.
