Cruises International CEO, Marco Cristofoli, has issued a statement concerning the fate of Crystal Cruises and the refunds it owes to clients.
Crystal hit the skids in January this year, when its parent company, Genting Hong Kong collapsed with a hefty debt of US$2,8billion (R43,4bn).
The statement reads:
“A week ago, Cruises International received a call from Carmen Roig, former Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales at Crystal, unofficially confirming that the cruise line will be closing its doors.
We were advised that a board of trustees would be appointed to facilitate the outstanding tasks, refunds being the main priority and that official communication from the cruise line would still be released. Earlier this week, we received a link to an interview with Jack Anderson, former President of Crystal.
In the interview Jack detailed how and why Crystal reached its unfortunate fate.
https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/finance/crystal-cruises-done-assignee-appointed-handle-liquidation
Going forward, Cruises International will, on behalf of our valued trade partner, facilitate the next steps with the appointed trustees to refund monies owed to us and our mutual clients. Timelines on how long the process will take are unclear. However, we will keep trade partners impacted by the situation abreast of developments at all times. I sincerely thank our trade partners for their support and understanding as we navigate the course ahead.
Crystal joined the Cruises International portfolio in 1997. Over the years Crystal became the flagship luxury brand for Cruises International. It was known to be ‘THE’ brand for the ultimate luxury cruise experience.
The Crystal brand was part of the Cruises International identity for 25 years. The demise of the brand is a loss to us as well as the global cruise industry.
I have no doubt that travel partners and clients who were lucky enough to experience Crystal will forever hold those memories dear to their hearts. We wish our Crystal colleagues from around the world the very best for the future!”
Genting HK owned not only Crystal Cruises, but Dream Cruises and Star Cruises, both major players in Asian cruising. The company was owned by Lim Kok Thay and his family, and it also included in its portfolio Resorts World Manila, and the MV Werften and Lloyd Werft shipyards in Germany.
