By Katie Orlinsky (Bloomberg) On Aug. 16, the Crystal Serenity set out from Seward, Alaska, carrying 1,700 passengers and crew, and escorted by a comparatively minuscule, 1,800-ton icebreaker. She circled west and north around the Alaska Peninsula and through the Bering Strait before heading east into the maze of straits and sounds that constitute the Northwest … [Read more...]
VIDEO: US Coast Guard Pivots Arctic Operations
As the cruise ship Crystal Serenity and her 1,700 passengers and crew began her maiden northerly voyage from Alaska to New York this past week, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft and Arctic Caucus co-chairman Sen. Angus King held engagements in Greenland to personally observe and better understand the changes occurring in the Arctic. … [Read more...]
World’s most dangerous cruise? 1,070-Passenger Ship To Enter Northwest Passage
by Ethan Lou (Reuters) The first commercial cruise ship to sail through Canada's Northwest Passage was set to depart on Tuesday, part of a growing Arctic tourism industry spurred by rising temperatures and receding ice. The ship Crystal Serenity was to depart from Anchorage, Alaska, and cut through frigid northern waters before reaching New York in one month, according to a … [Read more...]
S.S. United States Restoration One of Many Grand Projects for Crystal Cruises
(Bloomberg) -- “You either grow or die.” To Edie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Crystal Cruises, those words weren’t just lip service for the journalists and VIPs gathered in the Seychelles recently, they’re a rallying call for a brand that’s won a raft of travel magazine reader polls since its founding in 1988, but never grown beyond two mid-size cruise ships—until … [Read more...]
SS United States: Crystal Cruises Planning Return of Historic Transatlantic Liner
A major development today in the ongoing saga to save the SS United States from a trip the scrapyard. Los Angeles-based Crystal Cruises says it has signed a purchase option for the historic - yet weathered - transatlantic steam ship with the plan to refurbish the vessel and return it to oceangoing service as a modern luxury cruise ship. The announcement was … [Read more...]
Crystal Cruises Sold to Asia’s Biggest Cruise Line Operator
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement for the sale of its U.S.-based luxury cruise line Crystal Cruises to Genting Hong Kong (GHK), the leading cruise operator in Asia and a major shareholder of Norwegian Cruise Line. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015. Under the terms of the agreement, GHK … [Read more...]
Luxury Cruise Line Plans First-Ever Voyage Through Famed Northwest Passage
High-end cruise operator Crystal Cruises has announced plans to become the world's first luxury cruise line to sail the Arctic Ocean via the world famous and elusive Northwest Passage. Crystal says that starting in August 2016, their award-winning Crystal Serenity cruise ship will depart on 32-day expedition-style voyage through the once un-passable Arctic route, maneuvering … [Read more...]