On Wednesday of this week we received a letter in the mail slot outside our stateroom door. I grabbed it on the way to our dinner at Prego, the premium dining option. More on Prego later. I was a bit shocked when I opened and read the letter from the cruise line.
No, it was not I that was out of cash, but the parent company of this cruise line, Genting Hong Kong. The huge surprise was that I read was that Crystal will be ceasing operations as soon as their ships return to port. For us that would be Miami after 14 days of our 21 day cruise as booked. Their current plan is to return to operating on April 29th, if a viable plan is worked out.
Genting Hong Kong, it appears, owns some other cruise lines and other companies. Crystal is just one of them. Genting went through a bankruptcy back in 2020 from the impact of the pandemic and being on extended shut down. And now, they are not generating enough cash flow to continue. And have exhausted all credit lines available.
The letter went on to say that all unused portions of our trip would be refunded. That’s good news. But, I also have the trip insurance that should provide relief if not directly from Crystal.
From a financial standpoint, I can understand. The cruise has mostly fixed costs. Labor, fuel, food, and supplies. To try to maximize the customer occupancy, they offered deep discounts from their astronomical list prices. And even with the reduced pricing, have only filled this ship at the 30% level. Impossible to be cash flow positive.
The company has not cut back on any services, entertainment, food or drink. It is all inclusive and very top shelf in quality. I may go through more impressions of our first time on the ship and with Crystal in another post.
So, that’s it in a nutshell. Our 21 day adventure ends at 14 days with the planned stopover in Miami, then we drive back to New Port Richey, Fl for the rest of the winter. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience.
Next post up is our last port we visited on Wednesday in Tortola, one of the British Virgin Islands and absolutely the best views so far. Take care and God Bless.
Wow. It’s surprising but not surprising at the same time. Good luck!
Sorry that your trip was cut short. Have to find a week long experience somewhere else to make up for it! Safe travels.