Crystal River Cruises has announced today that the brand will be building two new river ships, bringing the total amount of river ships to seven by 2019. Previously, Crystal was set to launch five river ships, including the Crystal Mozart, which is set to sail on July 13 roundtrip from Vienna. The Crystal Mozart is a reimagined ship, while the other six ships will be new builds.
Luxury Travel Advisor attended the steel cutting for four of the new river ships, including Crystal Debussy, Crystal Bach, Crystal Ravel and Crystal Mahler. Edie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Crystal Cruises, led the cutting ceremony.
“I think these river cruises will deliver the Crystal elegance and style like nobody else is doing it on the river. They will be really different, everything from our shore excursion options to our exclusive dining venues,” says Rodriguez.
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| Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman and CEO of Genting Hong Kong (left), and Edie Rodriguez, president and CEO of Crystal Cruises (right) |
During Genting Hong Kong's shipbuilding contract signing with Lloyd Werft Group, Genting, the owner of Lloyd Werft and Crystal Cruises, signed an order for ten ships from Lloyd Werft's four ship yards, including the six new river ships for Crystal River Cruises, the Crystal Endeavor yacht, one exclusive Crystal class ocean liner, and two new ships for Star Cruises (also owned by Genting).
Genting touched on the future of the company and the investment in the Lloyd Werft ship yards. "We hope that we would not stop at just 10 ships ... The potential in the cruise industry is tremendous, it is a growth industry, so I am personally confident that we will continue to build more cruise ships than the 10 that we are currently contemplating,” says Sri Lim Kok Thay, the chairman and CEO of Genting Hong Kong.
Crystal Mozart will include touches like a pop-up bar area on the Vista deck, complete with a vanishing movie screen for al fresco evening show times, as well as dining venues. The ship will be able to hold up to 158 guests (91 crew members) and will have suites ranging from 219 square feet to 883 square feet.
The ship is designed to fit into the wider locks of the Danube River from Passau in Germany to Budapest in Hungary.
The additional two river ships announced today do not have names yet, but they are expected to be delivered by 2019.